NPR News

Mixologist Gina Chersevani's Berry Cocktails

NPR

Published November 12, 2010 at 1:48 PM EST

Chersevani recommends juicing fresh cranberries for this drink.

Cranberry Antioxidant Punch

Makes approximately six drinks

2 cups fresh cranberries

6 to 8 pears, medium size

1 cup quince simple syrup -- make ahead, recipe below

Feed cranberries and whole pears into a juice machine. Double strain the juice through a fine mesh strainer to remove the cranberry seeds. In a pitcher, mix the pear and cranberry juice with the quince simple syrup. To serve, pour over ice and garnish with fresh cranberries.

To make alcoholic, add 1 1/2 ounce of vodka per cocktail.

Quince Simple Syrup

1 cup honey

2 cups water

3 medium-sized quinces, sliced with seeds removed

In a small pot, combine honey, water and quince. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow quince to simmer for about 10 minutes or until fruit is soft. Remove from heat, strain the quince out, discard. Let syrup cool to room temperature before using.

A ginger simple syrup gives this drink a spicy note.

Blueberry Ginger Smash

Makes one drink

15 blueberries

2 lemon slices

2 lime slices

1 1/4 ounce ginger simple syrup, recipe below

ice

coconut water

Place the blueberries in a rocks/tumbler glass. Cover them with two lemon slices and two lime slices. Gently muddle (crush) the fruit, leaving the citrus slices as a cover for the berries. Add the ginger syrup, fill with ice and top with coconut water. Give a gentle stir.

Ginger Simple Syrup

Makes enough for six drinks

1 ounce fresh ginger, sliced

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

In a small pot, combine the ginger, sugar and water, bring to a boil. As soon as it boils, remove from heat and allow ginger to steep for another hour. Strain out the ginger and store in a glass container for later use.

Go easy on the muddle; too much crushing can make the berries overly tart.

The Berry Blues

Makes one drink

10 blueberries

1 1/2 ounce grapefruit juice

1 ounce honey simple syrup, recipe below

sparkling water

fresh mint garnish

Place 10 blueberries in a mixing glass. Gently muddle (crush) them until the skin is smashed. Muddling the blueberries breaks the skin and releases the fruit, but be gentle. If you smash them too much, the berries will become increasingly bitter. Add grapefruit juice and honey syrup. Shake the drink until frothy, then double strain a fine mesh strainer to get the seeds out. Pour into a rocks glass and top with sparkling water. Garnish with mint. (Slap the mint against your wrist first to release the fragrant oils in the leaves.)

Honey Syrup

Makes enough for 14 berry blues drinks

1 cup of honey

2 cups of water

In a small pan, combine the honey and the water, then bring to a boil. As soon as it boils, remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature.

A little Splenda keeps the calorie count down.

Low-Calorie Berry Cocktail

Makes one drink

15 to 20 blueberries

1 1/2 ounce lemon juice mix, recipe below

3 ounces iced pomegranate green tea

lemon zest

In a mixing glass, muddle blueberries and add the low-calorie lemon juice mix and iced pomegranate green tea. Fill with ice and shake until frothy. Double strain into a rocks/tumbler glass and garnish with a lemon zest.

Low-Calorie Lemon Juice Mix

Makes enough for 10 drinks

16 ounces fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/4 cup Splenda

8 ounces water

In a pitcher, combine lemon juice, Splenda and water. Stir until Splenda is dissolved.