Minimalism is in, Boozers. After enduring day after day of record-breaking heat, with no relief in sight, we’ve given up. We expend the minimal amount of energy these days on pretty much everything — cooking, moving, thinking — and so our cocktails have gone the same way. Call it Zen, if you will — less is more.
This led us to one of our summertime favorites — sparkling sake. Cool and refreshing with a pleasant bubbly effervescence, it cheers us up even as the mercury tops 100. But even this charming libation likes to get dressed up a little — and by “a little”, we mean minimally. Which brings us, once again, to cubes. As you know from previous Tipples, we like to add a little zip to hot weather cocktails with frozen additions that subtly enhance the flavor with only a soupçon of effort. Welcome to our version of Zen.
We love the flavor of plum and ginger with chilled sake, and combined them into zesty little ice cubes that melt slowly into the sparkling sake, altering its essence with every sip. We call it a Moment of Zen. You can call it a welcome respite from reality.
Moment of Zen
Plums are in season now, but they can become overly ripe quickly, making them great candidates for juicing. Frankly, it’s a bit messy, but only takes a few seconds. Just take several soft plums, slit them open on one side (but don’t cut all the way through), and squeeze the heck out of them into a bowl. Strain out the pulp, add a little grated fresh ginger, and pour into an ice cube tray. If you don’t have a silicone ice cube tray, now’s the time to invest — the cubes will pop out perfectly every time.
1 plum-ginger frozen cube
4 ounces chilled sparkling sake
Chill a small wine glass for 15 minutes in the freezer. Pour in the sparkling sake, drop in the cube, and plop yourself into a hammock for your own personal moment of zen.
That sounds really good! Do you have a favorite sparkling sake? I’ve only tried one or two and they weren’t very amazing. (your ice cubes definitely sond genius, and would be tasty in all sorts if drinks!)