Cocktail: Sour Marxist

A synthesis of Marxist ideologies:

Sour Marxist, or Sour Plum Mojito

1 oz rum
1 oz vodka or plum sake
1/2 oz lime juice
2 1/2 oz soda water (Perrier)
3 red and/or salted plums (see photo below)
2 mint sprigs

Combine rum, vodka, lime juice, soda water, and plums with a couple ice cubes in tumbler. Tear up mint sprigs before adding to tumbler. Mix vigorously and strain into cocktail glass.

For accents, garnish with a mint sprig and retrieve a plum or two from the tumbler and drop in the glass.

This week's cocktail was inspired by the soda xi muoi, or salty plum soda, I had at my neighbourhood Vietnamese cafe recently. I love the way the soda combines sweet, sour, salty, and bubbly. But I wanted to see if I could make it utterly intoxication by making it... utterly intoxicating. Taking my cue from the mojito, which with its mint flavor and other ideological affinities seemed a natural match, I decided to mix in a little rum and mint. I was very pleased with the results.

First, I experimented on the soda xi muoi side by soaking in soda water three different types of dried plums I picked up at 99 Ranch market. Pictured below, they are, left to right, salty, preserved, and red:



All were salty, sour, and sweet. The red plums (right) imbued the strongest flavor and dyed the water pinkish, while the salted plums (left) were the saltiest. I'd recommend either for the cocktail. The preserved plums (center) weren't bad. I wouldn't recommend for the drink, but they make great treats to idly suck on as you tinker.

Once that was settled, I knocked out a few trial-size mojitos until I found a recipe with which I was satisfied. From there it was a pretty straightforward synthesis of ingredients. As is my wont, I measured out the ingredients, together with a couple ice cubes, into a tumbler. I shook well, in order to release the flavor of the plums and mint, then strained into a cocktail glass.

The red plum recipe (the "pinko" version with plum sake in lieu of vodka), pictured below, gave the spirit a bit more fruit and blush. But I think I liked the slightly drier character of the straight salted plum, pictured above.



I figure there's plenty of room for further experimentation and I would like to try versions substituting a little ginger ale for the soda water as well as one that uses champagne for the second alcohol.