At Portland’s Room for Improvement, the cocktails are rooted in classics but feature spins that keep the drinks feeling fresh. For the bar’s Cosmopolitan, that means creating a “cranpari” cordial—cranberries blended with sugar and water, then mixed with Campari—that lends the cocktail some welcome bitter notes. Meanwhile, the blend of orange liqueurs not only adds depth of flavor, it also amps up the body of the cocktail, giving it a more rounded mouthfeel than the traditional version.
Room for Improvement’s Cosmopolitan
Arvid Brown | Portland, Maine
Ingredients
Serving: 1
- 1 1/2 ounces vodka, preferably St. George California Citrus Vodka
- 1 ounce “Cranpari” (see Editor’s Note)
- 3/4 ounce lime juice
- 1/4 ounce Curaçao, preferably Pierre Ferrand Dry
- 1/4 ounce Clément Créole Shrubb
- 2 drops saline solution (see Editor’s Note)
Garnish: lime wheel
Directions
- Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice.
- Shake, then fine-strain into a coupe glass.
- Garnish with a lime wheel.
Editor's Note
“Cranpari”
500 grams cranberries
500 grams sugar
500 grams water
60 grams Campari
1. Add the cranberries, sugar and water to a Vitamix. Blend on medium-high speed for approximately 1 minute, until the mixture is smooth and the sugar is dissolved.
2. Pour the mixture through a chinois and add the Campari to the strained liquid.
3. Keeps, refrigerated, for 2 weeks.
Saline Solution
400 grams warm water
100 grams Maldon sea salt
Combine the salt and warm water, and stir until dissolved. Keeps at room temperature for up to a month.