Dulcamara Limonatta

By ltrodrigu

This tomato cocktail was inspired by one of O’Brien’s favorite summer snacks, the Limonatta fruit cup at Lottafrutta Gourmet Fruit House in Atlanta. It features a tomato water ice cube recipe from chef Kevin Gillespie.

Ingredients

• For 12 Kevin Gillespie Tomato Water Ice Cubes:
• 4 large yellow tomatoes
• 1 cup basil leaves
• 1 medium sweet onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon salt
• For Cocktail:
• 1/4 yellow tomato
• 1 cherry tomato
• 1 basil leaf
• 1 honeydew melon ball
• 1 slice cucumber
• 1 dash of Tajin chile seasoning, available in Latin markets
• 1/4 ounce Petite Canne sugar cane syrup
• 1 1/2 ounces Farmer’s Botanical Small Batch Organic Gin
• 1/2 ounce Dolin Genepy liqueur
• 1/2 lemon
• ice for shaking
• Tomato water ice cube for serving

Preparation

Step 1

For 12 Kevin Gillespie Tomato Water Ice Cubes:
In a medium mixing bowl, add all the ingredients and hand crush as finely as possible. Let sit for 1 hour. Pour contents into cheese cloth lined colander over a measuring cup. Cover everything and place in refrigerator overnight. Take the drained liquid and put into 1.5 inch ice cube molds and freeze for 8 hours.

For Cocktail:
Muddle tomatoes, basil, melon, cucumber, Tajin and sugar cane syrup together in a cocktail shaker. Add gin, liqueur and lemon. Add ice and shake until well chilled. Double strain into heavy bottomed rocks glass. Add tomato water ice cube (see recipe) or plain ice cube and top with additional Tajin seasoning.