The Obama-Rama

It has been mentioned that I'm missing the shopping gene. I'm also missing a sweet tooth. Neither of these, I have discovered, is required for a happy life.

Another thing I don't do is mixed drinks. Probably because 99% of the time, it comes back to that "sweet" thing. This weekend, I had a lovely brunch with the ladies in Birmingham, and one of them ordered this drink.

Turns out, the NYT had run the recipe in an article. The Pink Door (must) be a restaurant in D.C., and this drink has become a national fad. The problem was, at brunch, that the drink calls for a specific vodka...Crater Lake, a handcrafted vodka from Oregon...of which I have never heard. Neither had the bartender. And then there was the fresh-squeezed grape juice thing (I got tickled and swallowed the wrong way picturing a grape juicer...wonder if it gets lost in the drawer like my lemon juicer?) and...something else.

At this point, the waiter goes to the bar and gets a bartender who shows up with pencil and paper. And we go through the entire spiel. Again.

HOWEVER. The four ladies who ordered this liked it so much...they ordered it again. To much acclaim.

I had a bourbon and water. Gratefully.

The Obama-Rama

2 ounces vodka

2 ounces freshly pressed grape juice or bottled white grape juice

1/2 ounce Cointreau

1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice

Dash of blue Curacao

Sugar, for frosting the glass

To frost the glass, spread sugar in a saucer and wet rim of glass with a lemon slice. Dip rim into sugar, rotating so that sugar adheres evenly. This is best done in advance, to allow the sugar time to crystallize.

Combine ingredients in cocktail shaker with ice, shake and strain into the prepared glass.

That's a grape in the bottom of the empty glass.