When I decided to develop a pear martini (a peartini!) I wanted a drink which was All About the Pears. This meant I needed to make a pear syrup and then combine it with some pear brandy for double the pear. If you have some pear vodka on hand, make it triple pear!
When I was deciding on what sort of pear ‘juice’ to add to my pear martini, I had a choice. Either make a puree from the pears and cook that into a syrup or make a clear syrup from diced pears.
So I took a bunch of ripe pears and make two syrups and made two sets of drinks to try. And then tried some more variations the next day and so on until I got it right. (The husband thinks cocktail testing time is HELL. 😉 )
It turns out that the pureed pear syrup makes a great bourbon drink (which is on my list to share) while the clear pear syrup makes a great martini. I test these things so you don’t have to!
My clear pear syrup is roughly based on my strawberry vanilla bean syrup.
In each recipe I cook fruit with spices and water and then gently strain them to keep most of the solids out leaving a clear syrup behind. Pears do break down a little more than strawberries as they cook, so you will get a little sediment, but the basic method is great for both fruits.
And, as with the strawberry syrup, where I’ve shared a Chocolate Covered Strawberry Martini and a Strawberry and Lime Vodka Collins so far, there are lots of drinks you can make with this syrup! Add it to prosecco for a pear bellini, mix it with gin for a pear gin fizz, make a kid friendly drink with ginger ale. It’s all good!
Now that I have the syrup, I’m sure I will try different variations for y’all. Today, though, I’m all about this double pear martini.
I started with vodka, pear syrup and lime. Then we tried lemon and liked that better, but it still wasn’t grabbing me. It wasn’t until I looked through my liquor cabinet and pulled out the brandy that I knew I had something.
Basic unflavored brandy all by itself added a dimension to the cocktail which it needed. And then pear brandy took it over the top. As soon as I tasted that version, testing was over and it was time to post. Yes, the husband was a little sad but he cheered up when the wine we ordered from our Napa trip came in. And he knows that I will have another cocktail to test soon. 🙂
– Happy Drinking, Annemarie
Spiced Double Pear Martini
Ingredients
Spiced Pear Syrup
- 2 pears, cored and chopped into 1 inch pieces
- 6 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 cinnamin stick
- 1 tbsp chopped crystallized ginger
- 1 tsp allspice berries
- 1 1/2 cups water
Double Pear Martini
- 3 oz vodka
- 2-3 oz pear syrup, start with less and add more if needed
- 1 oz pear brandy, or standard brandy
- ice
- 1 pear, halved and thinly sliced
Instructions
Spiced Pear Syrup
- Add all the ingredients to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and let the syrup simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set up a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and pour the syrup into the strainer. Don't press down on the solids! You want a clear (or mostly clear) syrup.
- Move the syrup to the refrigerator and chill until cold. You can use it while it is still a little warm if you want though the syrup will melt the ice more as you make the drink. The syrup will last about 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
Double Pear Martini
- Combine the vodka, syrup, brandy, and ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake well and divide between two glasses. Fan out two sets of four pear slices each and add them to the martinis. Serve.
Notes
- Pears: I use Bartlett pears in the recipe. They are a soft and sweet pear when ripe. If you are using another type of pear you may need to adjust the sweetness.
- Sugar: Brown sugar gives the syrup a more caramelized flavor which is nice as a twist on the recipe.
- Ginger: You can certainly use fresh ginger in place of the crystallized. I usually have crystallized ginger in my pantry so that is what I used.
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