I made this Cantaloupe Martini for today since I had some leftover cantaloupe from my Cantaloupe and Ice Cream earlier this week. Seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to do, eh?
I think I’m getting better at quickly throwing together cocktails. This one I nailed it on the first try! Well, almost the first…I added a little mint simple syrup after I tasted my first go around since I really love flavored simple syrup in cocktails!
To Muddle or Puree the Cantaloupe?
I know I could have just muddled some of the juicy, sweet cantaloupe with a little mint but as I’ve said before, I don’t care for pulp in my cocktails. I like to sip my drinks without having to chew them! So I cut up a half of a cantaloupe into chunks and puréed it in the blender. To me, it was still a little too “pulpy” so I poured the cantaloupe pulp into a wire mesh strainer over a big bowl and let the juice drip down into the bowl. And it’s the juice that I saved and used in this Cantaloupe Martini. It gives the drink all the yummy goodness of cantaloupe flavor without the pulp. I did, however, muddle a few mint leaves in my cocktail shaker because I wanted a minty flavor and don’t mind a few small mint specs in the drink…and I love mint! And, if I’m being perfectly honest here, I simply didn’t think to add the mint to the blender when I was puréeing the cantaloupe. You could do that if you want and skip the muddle step!
Then it was just a matter of shaking the cantaloupe juice up with some vodka (you might like to try rum), some ginger liqueur, a little mint simple syrup and that’s it.
This Cantaloupe Martini is a delightful little ‘tini and a great way to use up some extra cantaloupe you may have. Who’s ready to drink one of these with me???
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Cantaloupe Martini
Ingredients
- 2 shots cantaloupe juice*
- 1 shot vodka
- 1/2 shot ginger liqueur (I used Domaine de Canton)
- 1/4 shot mint simple syrup
- a few leaves of fresh mint
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker filled with some ice, muddle a few mint leaves. Add cantaloupe juice, vodka, ginger liqueur and mint simple syrup. Shake well and strain into martini glass.
- *To make cantaloupe juice, puree cantaloupe chunks in blender, strain over wire mesh strainer and reserve liquid.
- *To make mint simple syrup, combine equal parts water and sugar (1/2 cup or a cup) in saucepan. Bring to boil, add handful fresh mint, stir. Remove from heat and let mint steep. When cooled, strain and refrigerate. You can read more about making flavored simple syrups here