Raspberry Cider Whiskey |Cooking With Amanda

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Raspberry Cider Whiskey

When I was thinking of how to make a summer cocktail with raspberries and not make it too sweet – I have to admit I was getting stumped. Raspberries are sweet by nature and therefore so is any liquor made from them. What I was looking for was a more refreshing summer cocktail… maybe a little sweet… but definitely something with some punch to it.

We have raspberry bushes that grow wild all along the edge of our backyard. It's pretty fun to go out with a few bowls and come back with them overflowing with berries. Just sitting down and eating them is good for me, smashed into a bowl of vanilla ice cream – awesome – but fresh fruit mixed into a cocktail? There's nothing better.

So I had the fresh fruit for my drink, then I grabbed the Raspberry Dekuyper first. Good stuff, but sweet. I had to find something that would cut the sweetness of the raspberry but not totally hide the raspberry flavor. My first thought was whiskey. I guess whiskey seems to be a lot of my first thoughts…but I had just opened a bottle of Crown Royal Apple and it's been on my brain. A shot or two of this stuff shaken with ice is so good on it's own I had to try it in a cocktail.

My next thought was hard cider. The tart flavor of the cider would cut the sweetness of the raspberry (maybe?) and play off the apple in the whiskey.

Sometimes you just get things right. The first mix of this drink was a winner. It almost tastes like a candy apple… with raspberry… and whiskey. But you get the idea. Sweet but not too sweet, crisp and seriously refreshing.

This was not a mix it up and dump it out recipe tasting day. It was a just a few more sips, and then just one more taste, until it was all gone tasting day – uh, well, morning that is.

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