Clifton Sunset Martini

Clifton Sunset Martini. Don’t you love a gorgeous sunset? When I was designing a name for this beautiful martini, it was obvious that Clifton, Virginia would be a part. Clifton is a tiny quaint town near our home. Our favorite Trummers on Main restaurant with fabulous martinis is located in Clifton, as well as our favorite sweet-treat Cupcaked Bakery. And I picked “sunset” since it’s the time that most people would enjoy a martini.

Sometimes you are waiting for a “sunrise” and other times you are looking for a “sunset”. Usually a sunrise makes me energetic. For years, I’ve taken photos of sunrises and even would get up early on weekends to watch the sun come up. One of the best places to view the sunrise is on the beach in Bethany Beach, Delaware. When we can, my husband and I like to spend early mornings walking on the beach and watching the sun come up.

Sunsets can also be spectacular. Sunsets can symbolically mark the end of an event. It could be the end of a relationship when two people have grown apart. It could be a sudden or long expected death of a loved one or a pet. Or a sunset could just mark the happy ending to a particularly enjoyable day. I’m picking the latter to describe this refreshing new martini. Some of my favorite sunsets have occurred over the Indian River Inlet in Delaware.

Since my husband and I remodeled our 1970s bar in our basement, we’ve enjoyed many evenings with friends while sitting at our fancy bar. My Pomegranate Pear Martini, my Blue Hawaiian Cocktail and my Christmas Cheer Cocktail have all graced our bar. It wasn’t until we had a particularly pleasant day with some dear friends that I created the Clifton Sunset Martini. I enjoyed a few Clifton Sunset Martinis at Delaware House prior to its sale last year.

Grapefruit vodka, regular vodka, Campari, cherry liqueur, orange juice, and simple syrup are shaken with ice in a cocktail shaker and strained into a martini glass over a Tillen Farms Bada Bing cherry. It’s a favorite martini to end the day. I hope you’ll try it.

Enjoy!

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From the kitchen of A Food Lover’s Delight….

Clifton Sunset Martini

Ingredients:

6 ice cubes
1 oz. Absolut Ruby Red grapefruit vodka
1/2 oz. plain vodka
1/2 oz. Campari liqueur
1/2 oz. Heering cherry liqueur or Grand Marnier Cherry Orange liqueur
2 oz orange juice
1/2 oz simple syrup (combine equal parts water and sugar, heat in a saucepan until sugar has dissolved, cool and store up to a week in the refrigerator)

Tillen Farms Bada Bing Cherry, stem removed, to garnish

Method:

Place the cherry at the bottom of a martini glass. Put the ice into a cocktail shaker. Add the remaining ingredients to the cocktail shaker. Securely replace the top on the cocktail shaker. Shake the cocktail shaker vigorously, holding the shaker closed tightly, until you can hear the ice cubes breaking up. Strain the contents of the cocktail shaker into the martini glass and serve.

Makes one delicious martini.

Variations: Use a regular maraschino cherry to garnish. Swap out the grapefruit vodka for grapefruit juice. Substitute tart cherry juice for the Heering or Grand Marnier cherry liqueurs if you can’t find them.

PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY.

Order some Tillen Farms Bada Bing Cherries from Amazon.com:

And you’ll need some gorgeous martini glasses from Amazon.com:

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