Raspberri Martini

8-12 fresh raspberries 
20-24 frozen raspberries

2 oz simple syrup

6 oz citrus vodka

Wet rims of four martini glasses with lemon, then dip in sugar. Place a skewer or toothpick holding 2-3 fresh raspberries in each glass and set glasses in refrigerator to chill. Muddle frozen raspberries in syrup. Pour muddled raspberry mixture into cocktail shaker and add ice and vodka; shake until chilled. Strain (use an actual strainer!) into chilled glasses. 

Absolut emailed this recipe to Kathy (hence the peculiar spelling of raspberry), so we decided to try it. My parents were staying with us, and my mom claimed this was the first cocktail she had ever tried. She's 70. I'm not sure I really believe her, but anyway she loved this, as did we all. Partly because it's so pretty to look at, and partly because it tastes heavenly. Not too tart, not too sweet, just a perfect balance of the two. And the citrus vodka (which was our own little addition to the Absolut recipe, because we didn't have any regular vodka) made it even better. We'll definitely be drinking this again. I wouldn't be surprised if my mom tries making it too...

• Nose: raspberries!
• Taste: sweet and rasberryish and lemony and very, very drinkable
• Looks: a beautiful red raspberry color with white sugar trim... Like Santa Claus on a summer's day. In a martini glass
• Goes with: cakes or cookies, maybe? We just drank it as an aperitif without food, and that was perfect. Plus you get to eat the raspberries and even the (nicely alcoholic) raspberry pulp left in the strainer!
• Rating: 8 out of 10. Maybe even 9?

Verdict: Delicious! But one of those drinks that doesn't taste as strong as it really is, so go easy.