Chilled Drink of the Week: Frozen Tundra

The Spirit of Adventurous Mixing with Mamont Vodka, Part 5.

“Frozen Tundra” is a cool refreshing cocktail that brings a soft mouth feel to Mamont Vodka’s interesting peppery finish. I wanted to use light fruit and herbs to keep it an all-round easy drink with complementary flavors. Mamont is a typical Russian style vodka with a lingering and well-deserved hot hit at the end, even when ice cold!

In the “Spirit of Adventure” I thought about going against the grain of the “normal and obvious” heavy herbs and root vegetables this vodka cries out for and ultimately decided to abandon themes and gimmicks. I was really tempted to freeze the entire cocktail by blending it (hence the name) but felt it watered down the drink; plus, not many bartenders blend these days.

San Diego’s weather is consistently warm, so a cool refreshing option was the best way to go. In the end, I went with freezing just the grapes garnish because I guess I do hit up a theme or two sometimes.

Frozen Tundra

Frozen Tundra

By Derwayne Chesterman

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz. Mamont Vodka
• 1/2 oz. Simple Syrup
• 3/4 oz. Lime Juice (Fresh Squeezed)
• 1 dash Angostura Bitters
• 1 dash Ginger Beer
• 5 White Grapes
• 2 Large Basil sprigs
• 2 Frozen White Grapes (for Garnish)
• 1 Basil sprig (for Garnish)

Preparation: Fill a martini glass with ice to chill. Add the following ingredients to a cocktail shaker and crush with a muddler – lime juice, simple syrup, white grapes and basil sprigs. Add ice, Mamont Vodka and bitters, then shake vigorously. Remove chilling ice from martini shell and place 3 frozen grapes in the bottom and a dash of ginger beer. Using a hawthorn strainer and mesh strainer, double strain into the martini shell. Float basil sprig gently atop the cocktail and serve.

Meet Derwayne Chesterman

CHILLED 100 Member, San Diego

Derwayne is a third-generation barkeeper and has a passion for the mixology trade and the craft of freestyle bartending. An avid professional flair bartender that has represented San Diego in competition, he has been an integral part of the town literally exploding onto the cocktail scene. He is one of the first members of the San Diego USBG and owner of Bartenders Pimp, the number one independent agency for professional event niche bartenders.

Derwayne Chesterman

Visit Derwayne at BartendersPimp.com and Flairaholiks.com, and on Facebook and Twitter.