Doug Quinn, a bartender at the Manhattan fixture P.J. Clarke’s, isn’t fazed by much. During a busy happy hour this week, we brought him a bag full of traditional Rosh Hashanah food items—apples, pomegranates, honey, dates, black-eyed peas, and, of course, a fish head—and asked him to work them into cocktails. We also brought some variations on those ingredients—apple cider, pomegranate juice, and sardines—to make things easier, but we needn’t have worried. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with that fish head, so I’ll just make a classic gin martini and rather than put olives in it, I’ll garnish with a fish head,” Quinn said. “For the adventurous.”
Ari M. Brostoff
Ingredients
For the Pomegranate Martini
- 3oz citron vodka
- 1oz pomegranate juice
- Seeds of half a pomegranate
- Juice of half a lemon
- ½oz simple syrup
For the Apple Cart
- 2-½oz cognac
- 1oz Cointreau
- Juice of 2 lemons
- Juice of 1 orange
- 1oz fresh apple cider
For the Rosh Hashanah Sangria
- 1bottle of red wine, Merlot recommended
- 4oz peach schnapps
- 2apples, chopped
- 10dates
- Juice of 1 orange
For the Fishy Mary
- 2oz vodka
- 4oz tomato juice
- Dash Tabasco sauce
- Dash Worcestershire sauce
- Dash bitters
- 1sardine
Preparation
To make the Pomegranate Martini
- Step 1
Garnish with lemon twist
- Step 2
Serve chilled straight up in martini glass
To make the Apple Cart
- Step 1
Shake well with ice and serve chilled in cocktail glass.
- Step 2
Garnish with apple slice.
To make the Rosh Hashanah Sangria
- Step 1
Refrigerate overnight.
- Step 2
Pour in wine glass over ice, garnish with apple slice.
To make the Fishy Mary
- Step 1
Shake well, pour into wine glass over ice.
- Step 2
Add salt and pepper; garnish with wedge of lime and a lemon.