The Cheers! cocktail this week comes with lots of flavor, but none of it from the alcohol in the drink.
“For me, cocktails are all about the interplay of flavor,” said Tammy Coxen of Tammy’s Tastings.
Vodka brings nothing to the glass as far as flavor is concerned.
It’s odorless, flavorless, and colorless.
“It's meant to be very neutral and very smooth,” Tammy noted.
There’s an advantage if you have a drink that already has great flavors: vodka doesn’t interrupt the ingredients as they play off of each other.
This drink is called the Ramona. Tammy found it on the Internet years ago. If you look for it today, you’ll find ingredients with gin, white rum, tequila, and the other non-alcoholic ingredients might include grenadine and mint instead of this recipe. But, for fall, this Ramona is perfect.
Ramona
5 sage leaves
1/2 oz lemon juice
1 1/2 oz vodka (we used Long Road Distillers vodka)
1 oz apple cider
1/2 oz simple syrup
Garnish: sage leaf
Muddle sage with lemon juice in shaker. Add remaining ingredients to shaker with ice. Shake, strain into cocktail glass. Garnish.
“It’s a fall drink that everyone can appreciate, even if they’re not a cocktail snob like me,” Tammy quipped.
