This being barbecue season, DIY Cocktails and I thought it would be a good time to try a grilled fruit cocktail. So we experimented and came up with the Honey Barbecue Plum Cocktail.
It uses bourbon, honey liqueur, and, of course, grilled plums.
To make the cocktail, we put the plums on the grill while making other food, just as you would if you were making a grilled fruit dessert. It took 7 minutes over medium-high heat to get the plums caramelized and lightly charred. Then we used them in the drink.
And we discovered something pretty interesting: grilling fruit enhances the fruit flavor of a cocktail.
The grilled plums gave the drink a deeper, brighter, more plum-like flavor than if we had used them raw. In fact, when we tried the recipe without grilling the plums, the drink tasted a little tart. But grilling them made the plums blend with the other ingredients so that the cocktail came together beautifully.
(Enough grilled plums for three cocktails)
This is even more impressive when you consider that we purposely used lackluster plums. That means this cocktail is an excellent way to use up those unexciting plums you get from the grocery store. You know those plums that you buy and somehow they never ripen or taste all that great, no matter how long you leave them out? Yep. Here’s a way to make them sing.
Honey Barbecue Plum
(Makes one cocktail)
Ingredients:
-
1 plum
1 1/2 ounce bourbon
3/4 ounce honey liqueur (learn to make your own honey liqueur here.)
1/2 ounce agave nectar or simple syrup
1/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
Dash Peychaud’s bitters
Directions:
Cut the plum in half and remove the pit.
Grill the plum on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, or until it begins to caramelize and you see grill marks. Turn over and let it cook on the other side for another 2-3 minutes, until the plum is soft. Remove from the grill.
In a cocktail shaker, combine all the ingredients except the bitters.
Muddle the plum thoroughly. Fill the cocktail shaker with ice.
Put on the lid and shake for at least a solid minute, or until ice starts to form on the outside of the container. This is especially important if the plum is still hot. You don’t want a warm cocktail.
Strain the drink into a glass. Add a drop or two of Peychaud’s bitters. Enjoy!