The Peppered Pear

A robust and sophisticated drink, anytime of the year. This cocktail has a forward Asian pear and gin flavor with a spicy hint of black peppercorn to finish. This is a wonderful way to utilize overly ripe pears in the kitchen, as they muddle well and have a sweetness that works perfectly with the other ingredients. The pear garnish has been soaked in a menagerie of delicious liqueurs and is essential to make this cocktail pop.

Ingredients

- 1 1/2 oz. good Gin
- 1/2 oz DRAM Pine Syrup
- 1 Asian Pear
- black peppercorns
- 3 shakes DRAM Black Bitters

For the soaked Asian Pear Garnish:
- 1 oz Fernet
- 1 oz Black Walnut Liqueur such as Lux Alpina Nocino
- 1 oz DRAM Black Bitters
- sliced Asian pear
20 minutes before making the cocktail, thinly slice half of an Asian Pear. Place the pear slices into a shallow bowl containing all of the ingredients listed above. You can completely submerge the pear, or gradually slide it into the concoction over time to create an Ombré effect. The idea is to have the pear absorb the mixture of bitters and liqueurs. Black walnuts were historically used to dye fabrics, and we've used this idea to create a lovely colored garnish. It's also delicious!

Directions

In a cocktail glass or martini shaker muddle 2 pear wedges per cocktail, along with the black peppercorn until finely mashed. Add ice, gin, Pine syrup and bitters and shake very very well to further pulverize the pear and peppercorn. Using a cocktail strainer, strain the mixture into a chilled martini glass, top with the soaked pear garnish and enjoy!