Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Toast the New Year with a Ciroc Cocktail

Over the past year or so, I've gotten friendly with the folks at Diageo, which means that they occasionally send me some of their products to have fun with.

That company might not sound familiar to you, but you're probably familiar with many of their brands like Captain Morgan, Smirnoff, and Guinness, among others.

This time around, I received a bottle of Amaretto-flavored Ciroc from them. If you're not familiar with Ciroc (and I wasn't particularly familiar), it's a vodka distilled from French grapes. Fancy.

They have an unflavored version, as well as several flavored ones, but so far I've only tried the Amaretto-flavored.

I have to say I was pretty impressed with it, and as soon as I tasted it, I knew I was going to have fun making some cocktails.

This creamy cocktail is rich and elegant. Perfect for toasting the New Year at home in front of a fireplace. Or at a party. But I'm more likely to be home and safe and cozy.

Before I created a recipe for the New Year, I looked up things that are considered lucky, thinking I might incorporate one of them. Some weren't worthy for ANY cocktail. Let's not even go there.

Round fruits were a possibility for some sort of cocktail, but probably not this one. So I opted for a giant round ice cube instead. Because it's not the fruitiness that's lucky. It's the roundness.

Creamy Ciroc Amaretto Cocktail

1/2 ounce Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur
1 ounce half-and-half
1 ounce Ciroc Amaratto

Put a large round ice cube in an appropriate glass. No round cubes? Use cubeular cubes. Or any shape, really.

If you want a layered drink, pour slowly and carefully to create those layers. The Baileys will sit happily on the bottom of the glass, the half-and-half will float on that, and the Ciroc will float on the very top.

If desired, you could substitute milk, heavy cream, non-dairy creamer, soy milk, nut milk (or anything else you like) for the half-and-half. 

If you don't want to bother with layering, just add all of the ingredients to the glass and stir to combine. The layering is just for presentation. But it's kind of neat.

Another option is to mix the half-and-half with the Ciroc, then  layer that on the Baileys, giving you two creamy layers.

Serve! Drink! Yum!

Have you tried Ciroc yet? Plain or flavored?
Yum