Murphy Lake & Minnesota Winter: Summer Cocktail Week 14 (Adam & Michelle)

Savage and the Twin Cities take on different lives in summer versus winter, so our 'tribute to our city' theme took the form of dual cocktails.  The first is a sparkling lake scene, brought to life with the edition of Swedish Fish (appropriate given the large Scandinavian population in MN).  The second is a snowball of shaved ice that's as versatile as it is refreshing on a hot day like today.  It's so versatile that we couldn't help but make two variations and pay homage to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and specifically the "Spoonbridge and Cherry."  To top it off we paired this week's drinks with a song from Minnesota natives, the Gear Daddies: 'Cut Me Off.'  It was a fun flashback to college days and great background music to enjoy a couple Sunday cocktails.
Link to Live Version of 'Cut Me Off'

Murphy Lake

Ingredients:
White Rum (used Bacardi)
Triple Sec
Tropical Blue Schnapps
Club Soda
Orange Bitters
Swedish Fish
Orange

Fill a collins glass with ice and wedge a couple Swedish Fish on the outside of the ice.  Add 1/2 shot rum, 1/2 shot triple sec, 1/2 shot blue schnapps and 3 drops of orange bitters.  Top off with club soda and garnish with an orange slice.

Minnesota Winter, Pure Snow

Ingredients:
Ice
UV Cake Vodka

We used UV Vodka because it's made in Minnesota and also because I had heard rumors that its flavored vodkas had more distinct flavors.  The cake vodka was an easy choice because of its clear color and it did indeed taste like frosted sheet cake.  Using an ice shaver (we used a cheap manual version that worked just fine), shave enough ice to fill a small bowl and transfer to a chilled martini glass.  Pour a shot of cake vodka around the edges of the glass to keep a snowball-like mound in the middle.

Minnesota Winter, Cherry

Ingredients:
Ice
Cherry Snow Cone Syrup
Black Cherry Rum

Using an ice shaver, shave enough ice to fill a small bowl and transfer to a chilled martini glass.  Combine equal parts cherry snow cone syrup and black cherry rum and pour over the ice.  To create the "Spoonbridge and Cherry" effect balance a spoon with a cherry over the top of the glass.