Happy Hour: Rambutan Martini

When Frieda's got wind of how much I loved their feijoas, they sent me a giant box of rambutans. I'm very quick to embrace exotic new fruit, but I'm not going to lie: I'd never tried rambutans before or even seen them in the flesh, and they looked kind of scary.

After mustering up the courage to tackle one, I realized they're a lot like lychees, only covered with a layer of spiky red hair. Break them open and you're privy to an opalescent jewel of a fruit, the same milkiness and size of a lychee, with a woody pit on the inside. I love lychee martinis so much that I couldn't resist making the same merry with rambutans.
Inspired by last week's Scarlet Harlot, I used the same muddling method to bring out the fresh juice in these redheaded berries. Do the same when you

From Susannah Chen

Rambutan Martini

Ingredients

Ice cubes
1/2 cup pitted, peeled rambutans (fresh is preferred, but canned will work, too)
1-1/2 ounces ginger-flavored vodka, such as Skyy Infusions Ginger
1/2 ounce Cointreau
1 ounce club soda

Directions

1. In a cocktail shaker, combine rambutans and muddle until they are broken up and have released their juices, but not completely pulverized.
2. Fill the shaker halfway full with ice, then add ginger-flavored vodka, Cointreau, and club soda. Shake vigorously, then strain into a martini glass.

Serves 1.

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