Cranberries are often considered a holiday staple in the states, but beyond cranberry sauce dabbed right between the turkey and stuffing on your plate, they really don’t see as much attention as they deserve.
This was the thinking behind the Sassamanash cocktail at Seattle’s MistralKitchen, created by general manager Amber Johannson. The name “Sassamanash” was derived from the Algonquin word for cranberry in part because it is the start ingredient, but also to pay tribute to the old Thanksgiving lore of Native Americans bringing cranberries to European settlers.
“They’re in season right now, they’re delicious and we don’t really use them for that much,” Johannson says. “They’re in your Cosmo, but [otherwise] you don’t really see them taking the spotlight. I’m championing the cranberry!”
The cocktail balances the sweetness from two simple syrups, the bright berry and tart flavors of the cranberry, the warming holiday spices with the oakiness of the rye whiskey and finishes with a candied cranberry garnish that becomes “a little boozy snack at the end.” Johannson says the Sassamanash loosely resembles a cranberry Old Fashioned and pairs well a cheese and charcuterie plate, or any pork dish on the menu, like their Pork Loin with Garbanzo Beans and Black Olive Caramel.
“The dark, cold weather definitely lends itself to whiskey drinks that you want to sit around and drink,” Johannson says. “There’s also a little bit of an added spice in the syrup—a little bit of clove and star anise. Those kind of spices with a little oak profile that you get from the whiskey are really complementary and definitely have a holiday, snowy day feel to them.”
Check out the recipe for the Sassamanash cocktail below. For more holiday cocktail recipes from our installments of Holiday Cocktail Central, click here for the Plum & Clove, here for the Fremont Fog, here for the Gingerbread Flip and here for the Toffaha Toddy.
Sassamanash
Ingredients:
1 ½ ounces Old Overholt Rye
½ ounce Cranberry Syrup (recipe follows)
¼ ounce honey simple syrup (1:1 ratio)
2 dashes Scrappy’s Old Fashioned bitters
Garnish: candied cranberries (recipe follow)
Directions:
Stir ingredients with ice and strain into a rocks glass over three (or so) cubes of ice. Garnish with a barspoon-full of candied cranberries in the glass.
Cranberry Syrup
Makes 1 pint
Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups water
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 cloves
2 star anise pods
6 ounces fresh cranberries
Directions:
Combine sugar, water cloves and star anise in a heavy bottom pot. Bring to a simmer and let the spices infuse into the syrup for 20 minutes. Remove spices and add cranberries. Continue to simmer until cranberries pop. Remove from heat and let cool. This should have at least one day to continue to steep so that the cranberries will look more candied and the syrup will take on the red color. Two-three days is even better if you have time to make ahead. Strain to separate the solid cranberries and syrup. Store both in the fridge.
