Very Pink Raspberry Cosmopolitan

Money matters. I'm not a top shelf person by any means. I usually go with what's cheapest when buying alcohol, just because I never drink it straight. This is one of those times, I probably should have spent more money to have a better taste. I used Skyy Vodka in this recipe the first time and you can really taste the alcohol. I tried it later with Ketel vodka and it was much smoother.

Yes, our free martini glasses have flashing lights
in the bottom. It's like a party in a glass!

For Raspberry Juice:

• 1 cup frozen raspberries
• 3/4 cup water

For Cocktail:

• 2 oz raspberry juice
• 2 oz raspberry liqueur (we used Chambord)
• 4 oz quality vodka
• juice from 1/2 lime
• 1 oz simple syrup (bring equal parts sugar and water to boil in saucepan until sugar is dissolved; let cool)
• pink sugar crystals
• raspberries for garnish

Combine frozen raspberries and water in small saucepan and simmer. Mash berries against the sides of the pan to release the juices. Strain into a cup or bowl, scraping the seeds with a spatula along the bottom of the strainer to extract all of the juice.

Chill two martini glasses. In a shaker, combine raspberry juice, liqueur, vodka and lime juice over ice and shake a few times until cold. Dip rims of chilled glasses in simple syrup and then pink sugar crystals. Divide the raspberry mixture between the two glasses and garnish with raspberries.

NOTES: to me, it was very very alcohol-y tasting. It was better with the nicer vodka, but still pretty strong. I added more raspberry juice to water it down a little. I'm sure a professional bartender would make it much better than I did, but it was worth a shot.

Serves: 2
Total Time: 10 minutes

Recipe from www.creative-culinary.com