Stained Glass
A built vodka highball with fresh lemon, soda and rosemary, finished with a sinking layer of pomegranate juice and grenadine for a two-tone look.
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz / 45 ml Vodka
- 0.5 oz / 15 ml Lemon juice, fresh
- 3 oz / 90 ml Soda water, well chilled
- 0.75 oz / 22 ml Pomegranate juice, 100%
- 0.25 oz / 7.5 ml Grenadine (pomegranate)
- 1 sprig, about 4 inches Rosemary sprigSlapped once against the palm to release its oils, then built into the glass.
- Technique
- Layered
- Glass
- Highball
- Ice
- Cubed
- Prep
- 3 min · Intermediate
- Garnish
- A fresh rosemary sprig and a few pomegranate seeds (arils) dropped on top.
- Approximate strength
- about 9% ABV in the glass
- Allergens
- Sulfites
Method
Fill a highball glass with cubed ice; clear ice shows the color best. Slap the rosemary sprig once against your palm and slide it into the glass against the side so it stands upright.
Set the leading first: one green line down the side of the window.
Pour the vodka and lemon juice over the ice.
The clear pane goes in first.
Top with the chilled soda water and give one gentle lift with a barspoon to combine; do not stir hard or the soda goes flat.5 sec
One lift of the spoon, enough to wake the lemon.
In a jigger or small glass, combine the pomegranate juice and the grenadine.
Mix the color in a small vessel, the way a glazier mixes a pigment.
Hold the back of a barspoon against the inside of the glass just above the liquid line and pour the pomegranate mixture slowly down the spoon, taking about 15 seconds. It sinks through the ice and settles in the lower third of the glass. Do not stir.15 sec
Pour slowly and watch the red find its way to the bottom of the window.
Garnish with a second rosemary sprig and a few pomegranate seeds, and serve with a straw so the guest can stir the layers together or sip them separately.
Serve while the color is still settling. The glass changes as it is watched.
Flavor notes
Stirred together, it tastes like a dry pomegranate lemonade with a pine-and-resin note from the rosemary. Sipped unmixed, the top is a clean lemon soda and the bottom is sweet and tart. Dry overall.
Substitutions
- Rosemary: Thyme, 2 sprigs · Softer and more floral; thyme leaves shed into the drink, so garnish on top rather than building it in.
- Vodka: London dry gin, 1.5 oz (45 ml) · The drink becomes a pomegranate collins; juniper and rosemary sit well together.
- Grenadine: Simple syrup, 0.25 oz (7.5 ml) · The red softens to rose; the layer still sinks on the sugar.
- Pomegranate juice: Unsweetened tart cherry juice, 0.75 oz (22 ml) · Keeps the depth of color with a sharper, more sour finish.
Without alcohol
Build exactly as written with 1.5 oz (45 ml) chilled water or a zero-proof spirit alternative in place of the vodka, or simply raise the soda to 4.5 oz (135 ml). The rosemary and the sinking pomegranate layer do all of the work, so the zero-proof glass looks identical.
Batching
For 8 drinks, pre-mix 12 oz (360 ml) vodka with 4 oz (120 ml) fresh lemon juice and refrigerate, same day only. Separately pre-mix the color layer: 6 oz (180 ml) pomegranate juice with 2 oz (60 ml) grenadine; it keeps refrigerated 3 days. Build each glass to order (2 oz of the vodka-lemon mix, 3 oz soda, then 1 oz of the color layer poured down the spoon). The soda top and the sinking pour cannot be batched; a pre-layered pitcher mixes itself within minutes. No house preparation is needed for this drink.
Vodka, pomegranate and rosemary in a window of color
Hold it up to the light. A clear column of vodka, lemon and soda, a rosemary sprig standing in it like the leading in a window, and then the pomegranate goes in last and sinks, turning the lower glass the deep red of old cathedral glass. Stained Glass is a long drink with almost no labor in it: fresh lemon, a little grenadine, a sprig warmed in the palm. The pleasure is watching the color settle before the first sip stirs it.