Cheers to the New Year – Orange-Coconut Alcoholic Drink

The New Year in almost here! …and who doesn’t love having something celebratiously sweet to mark the special event. I rarely create drinks and I’m far from being a professional mixologist, but I do know a thing or two about flavor, and this one has “Happy New Year” taste written and dripping all over it…

You will need:

2 Oranges

¼ cup Sugar

¼ cup Water

¼ cup Coconut Milk

3 tbsp. Vodka

2 tbsp. Pomegranate Liqueur

1 tbsp. Pear Liqueur

For the Topping:

¼ cup Heavy Whipping Cream

1 tbsp. Coconut Milk

1 tbsp. Powdered Sugar

Coconut Chips

Orange Zest

Let’s do this:

Start by making simple syrup. Simple syrup is a combination of sugar and water in equal ratio. In a small saucepan on medium heat, combine sugar and water and mix together until the sugar dissolves.

When little bubbles start to form on the edges and the syrup is unified, turn off the heat. Let the syrup cool a bit and then move to the refrigerator to chill.

Zest the orange to create long and curled thin zest pieces…it smells amazing and it tastes good too!

This will be for our topping later so set it aside.

Time to juice the oranges…

From these two juicy oranges I got a little less than one cup of juice.

Combine the orange juice with the simple syrup and move to the refrigerator to chill as well.

Meanwhile for the topping, make the coconut whipping cream… I was too lazy to get my big mixer out, so I decided to hand whip this one using a whisker. I ended up working my muscles like crazy… 🙂

Either way, combine the heavy cream with 1 tbsp. of coconut milk and 1 tbsp. of powdered sugar and whip until it becomes just a little stiff.

You have your whipping cream!

This drink is best when served very cold, so when you are ready to serve, combine the alcohol: vodka and the liqueurs and mix together.

If you have a cocktail shaker that’s great – pour the orange juice with simple syrup and add the vodka, the pomegranate liqueur and pear liqueur add the ice to the mixing glass, close and shake away…

I don’t have a cocktail shaker set, so I keep everything possible chilled until served. I also have another little trick: I take my ‘to go’ coffee cup and put it in the freezer.