The Ritz-Carlton Montreal has created the Oriental Cosmopolitan with women in mind.
It's summer, and better than a garden full of flowers is a cocktail with a real orchid brightening up a martini glass.
The large orchid frozen in a ball of ice lends instant glamour to the Oriental Cosmopolitan, so named because of its inclusion of the ingredients ginger and coriander, staples of Asian cuisine. It's the Ritz-Carlton Montreal's signature drink and perennial favourite.
Mixologist Jack Cheam created the cocktail for Maison Boulud, the Ritz's award-winning bar and restaurant, using vodka and fruit liqueur combined with lemon juice and simple syrup, whose secret recipe includes ginger-infused white cranberry juice and fragrant coriander grown locally in Quebec.
"It's fresh, it's cold, it's tasty," says Cheam, an 18-year industry veteran, in explaining the appeal of a cocktail designed especially for women.
Patrons help release the cocktail's subtle bouquet of flavours when they pour its liquid ingredients, served up in a mini carafe, over the ice, which then melts away, revealing the flower within. "It's one of the strongest offerings we have," Cheam adds.
And the prettiest, by far.
1½ ounces of Quartz Vodka.
¼ ounce of Jean-Paul Metté Mandarine fruit liqueur.
¾ ounce of ginger and coriander syrup.
¾ ounce of white cranberry juice.
¾ ounce of lemon juice.
Shake and double strain in a chaser carafe; pour over an orchid frozen in a ball of ice in a martini glass, and serve.