Wedding Cocktail from @MaddieDayAuthor

MADDIE DAY here, excited to share Mac Almeida's wedding cocktail from Murder in a Cape Cottage, which is Cozy Capers Book Group #4. It releases September 27.

Mac and her grandmother Abo Reba put the finishing touch on the special cocktail to be served just after the wedding. Here's a bit from the book before Reba does the last fitting on Mac's wedding dress.

I glanced up at Abo Reba, who approached holding Manhattan glasses full of a lovely pink drink, each garnished with a sprig of fresh mint leaves.

“That’s so pretty.” I accepted mine.

“Isn’t it?” She set hers on the side table next her easy chair by the window. The one with the telescope on the other side. “Cheers, querida.”

I held up my glass, too, then took a sip and tried to deconstruct it. “I know we wanted cranberry juice, because Cape Cod. This also has, what, bourbon? And lime juice.”

“And Grand Marnier. I think it will be a big success.” She took another sip, then set down the glass.

I sipped my drink. “I think this could use a little Grenadine.”

She took another sip. “Or maybe a touch of Cointreau? But no, that’s just another orange-flavored liqueur.”

“Maybe sweet vermouth. A bit more sweetness.”

“Yes. But let's try the Grenadine first."

Mac and Tim's Wedding Cocktail

Ingredients

For one drink:

2 ounces (1/4 cup) cranberry juice (or cranberry mixed with another juice, as I used in this instance)

2 ounces bourbon

1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

1 ounce Grand Marnier

Splash of Grenadine syrup

Mint leaves

 

Directions

Shake all ingredients except mint over ice and serve garnished with a sprig of mint.

For a mocktail, you could increase the Grendadine and lime juice, perhaps.

I served it for this post in a pretty martini glass but there's nothing wrong with presenting the drink over ice in a straight-sided Manhattan glass with a flat bottom.

Enjoy! 

Readers: What's your favorite way to enjoy cranberry juice? The best wedding cocktail or mocktail you've enjoyed - or served?

My most recent release is Batter Off Dead, Country Store Mystery #10, out now!

My next release is Murder in a Cape Cottage, the fourth Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery, out September 27.

"Scarfed Down," my Country Store novella in the collection Christmas Scarf Murder releases the same day.

We hope you'll visit Maddie and her Agatha Award-winning alter ego Edith Maxwell on our web site, sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit us on social media, and check our all our books and short stories.

Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.