Recipe: Twinkling Pear Cocktail

In my quest for the perfect Passover cocktail to share with you for today’s 10-Minute Happy Hour, my first instinct was to phone a friend. Since she converted to Judaism as an adult, I thought she would forgive my ignorance and be able to give me the inside scoop on what a kosher cocktail might look like. Her hard and fast answer was, “We don’t really drink cocktails. We just drink wine and champagne.”  Hmmm, I thought, that’s a start.

I’ve had a few delicious kosher wines, so I started there with a slightly spritzy Moscato d’ Asti I’d had once before.  For the liquor component, a quick Google search turned up several sites with information on which liquor brands are considered kosher. I was pleased to find Stoli and Grey Goose were among them, both of which I had on hand.  

I set to stirring up a pear cocktail with a little twinkle using a pear-flavored vodka and the kosher Moscato d’ Asti. The slight spritz from the melony Moscato worked perfectly with the pear vodka.  As I sipped my congratulatory kosher cocktail I continued to click around and was quickly deflated to read a site stating that not all of the flavored vodkas of these brands were kosher or kosher for Passover (which has slightly different guidelines). Oy vey!

Instead of starting from scratch, I called the 1-800-number on the side of my bottle of Grey Goose La Poire to inquire. A lovely woman from Bacardi International told me, “We have not submitted all products for kosher certification, but the production process meets kosher requirements.” That was good enough for me, but perhaps not quite a strong enough endorsement to be able to tell you with full confidence that this cocktail is completely kosher for Passover.

For those of you who aren’t keeping strict kosher this coming holiday, I’ve shared my almost-kosher Twinkling Pear Cocktail below. For those of you who are keeping kosher, what are your secrets for making a kosher Passover cocktail? Any good recipes to recommend?

Editor’s Note: Since everyone has different levels of comfort when it comes to keeping kosher for Passover, be sure to check with your guests before serving this cocktail. A good resource for kosher products can be found here:

→ OU Product Search for Passover and Year Round

Maureen C. Petrosky writes what she knows, food, booze and parties.  Author of The Wine Club, she appears regularly on The TODAY show to share her vices, and advice with the world. For more info check out www.maureenpetrosky.com or follow her on Twitter @maureenpetrosky.

(Images: Maureen Petrosky)