Festive Pear + Gin Cocktail with Infused Ice Cubes
Pear puree, lemon zest and cinnamon come together to create a frosty yet festive drink for the holiday season - but the secret is in the infused ice cubes!
Equipment
- large ice cube tray
- Microplane zester
- Blender
- Shot glass or jigger
- Cocktail shaker
Ingredients
- filtered water for infused ice cubes
- 6 thin slices fresh pear for infused ice cubes
- lemon zest for infused ice cubes
- 6 oz pear puree (or 4 jigger shots)
- 4.5 oz gin (or 3 jigger shots)
- 1 oz simple syrup (or 1 shot)
- juice from half a lemon
- dash of ground cinnamon
- soda water, for topper
- cinnamon stick for garnish
Instructions
- Fill ice cube tray with filtered water, and add a thin pear slice to each cube.
- Zest lemon and generously sprinkle ground cinnamon over ice cube tray. Allow cubes to freeze before continuing to next step.
- To make the pear puree: Peel the skin from 2 small Anjou pears, slice, cube and blend on high. Add water in small increments if the mixture is too thick. Pear puree should look like thin applesauce.
- Fill cocktail shaker with plain ice (not the infused cubes!), and add pear puree, gin, simple syrup, and a generous squeeze of half a lemon.
- Shake vigorously for 15 seconds
- Add one large infused ice cube each to two cocktail glasses. If you made smaller ice cubes, add several to each glass!
- Strain into your cocktail glasses, and add a splash of soda water to top off.
- Optional: Garnish with an extra dash of cinnamon and add a cinnamon stick for swizzling.
- Enjoy responsibly!
Notes
As the drink is consumed and the ice melts, the pear and citrus flavors shift and change in proportion. This makes for a cocktail that tastes noticeably different at the end than it did at the beginning! It’s an adventure in a glass.
If you're unable to make a pear puree, you can substitute with apple cider.
In place of simple syrup, a small squeeze of agave syrup would also work!