Purim is one big party. Whether you are attending a Purim carnival or Megillah reading at your synagogue, or celebrating at home, it’s the perfect opportunity to have some fun with spirits.
When creating “Esther’s Revenge” Rabbi Avi Finegold tried to imagine what Esther would serve to Achashverosh and Haman at their feasts.
“The Megillah refers to them as feasts of wine, but she must have started them off with something a little more potent,” Finegold, the creator of the Jewish Cocktail Lab, told the Journal. When he isn’t giving cocktail workshops, Feingold hosts Canada’s leading Jewish podcast Bonjour Chai, among other podcasts.
“I thought of her remembering her days preparing to meet the king, [spending] six months at a spa with various oils and treatments and another six months in an aromatherapy spa,” Feingold said.
Esther starts with her local spirit and adds to it spices from the breadth of the kingdom.
“With a lemon plucked from the palace orchard, she crafts something sweet, tart and guaranteed to get Haman and his ten sons hanged,” he said.
Esther’s Revenge
2 oz. Arak
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1 oz. Six Month Syrup (recipe below)
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe. Garnish with 11 raisins on a 50-cubit cocktail pick.
Six Month Syrup
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
1.5 ounces cardamom pods
1.5 grams saffron
1 stick of cinnamon
1/2 ounce cumin seeds
Cook gently until sugar is dissolved and flavors are infused. Strain syrup and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.
Kosher food blogger Gayle Levine Schindler, creator of FoodyFunKosher.com, said her shul always has a bottle of Sabra on the schnapps table for Purim. Schindler is author of “Stocked: Flavor Bombs & Staples For Your Kitchen.”
“I used it to create a cocktail that is easy and looks festive,” Schindler told the Journal. “Coconut milk keeps it parve for a meat meal.”
Coconut Sabra
1 ounce rum or vodka
1½ ounce Sabra liqueur
2 ounces coconut milk
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa + 1 tbsp sugar OR 1 tbsp hot chocolate mix to rim glass
On 2 small plates: pour a little bit of coconut milk onto 1 plate and cocoa or hot chocolate mix on the other.
Turn the glass upside down; dip the rim first in milk, then in chocolate to coat the glass rim.
Fill the glass with ice.
In a separate glass, combine liquids and stir.
Pour into prepared glass over ice.
Note: Canned coconut milk does not have a strong coconut flavor; it does have a delicious creamy mouth feel. You can use lite coconut milk, regular or coconut cream, but I used the canned version. All three will separate into a thicker layer of cream over a more liquid base in the can. Use a whisk to reincorporate the layers before using.
Anthony Psyk, founder of Brew That Coffee, is a passionate coffee lover who gained extensive experience bartending on the Las Vegas strip for seven years.
“I’ve always had an eye for detail, flavor and presentation in crafting drinks,” Psyk told the Journal.
Psyk put his mixology skills to work to create a unique Purim cocktail for his Jewish friends.
“It was a way for me to show them my care and appreciation for their traditions,” he said. “My friends cleverly named it, ‘The Red Sea Cocktail.’”
The Red Sea Cocktail
2 ounces vodka
1 ounce strawberry liqueur
4 ounces cranberry juice
4 ounces of pineapple juice
Fresh strawberries, sliced, for garnish
Fresh pineapple, diced, for garnish
Ice
In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine vodka, strawberry liqueur, cranberry juice and pineapple juice.
Shake vigorously for 10-15 seconds until well combined.
Strain the mixture into a tall glass filled with fresh ice.
Garnish with a slice of fresh strawberry and diced pineapple.
Chef Rossi’s favorite drink works for Purim, Passover or really any celebration: her world-famous Manischewitz Spritzers!
Rossi is the owner and chef of The Raging Skillet, a cutting-edge catering company and author of the memoir, “The Raging Skillet: The True Life Story of Chef Rossi.”
Manischewitz Spritzers
2 shots Manischewitz Concord grape wine
1 shot apple juice
Pour over ice. Top with club soda and orange wedge
Happy Purim!
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