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As soon as you write two cocktail books, you’re required to become a cocktail suggestion service. I must have missed that line in the contract, but it’s true. In normal times it’s a few texts a month, but the messages always become more frequent come November. “I’m cooking for Thanksgiving, what do we drink?” “I need a cocktail that’s really easy and doesn’t require a cocktail shaker!"
So before you ask, here’s the answer: The Thanksgiving cocktail you should make this year is, without question, this new recipe from San Francisco bartender Christian Suzuki-Orellana.
The Lipstick Memory is a refreshingly tangy cranberry number that starts with sparkling wine (but definitely doesn’t require fancy Champagne.) It’s tart, herbaceous, and bold, but not so strong that your one-drink-a-year relative will fall asleep in the soup. You can start drinking these as you cook, and keep going as you eat.
Upon first read, the simple combination of sparkling wine, cranberry, Campari sounds like a spritz, but really, this isn’t frothy summer fizz. The bubbles give this drink a rounded tartness and just a prickle on the tongue, but the combination really lets the punch of Campari and the bold, tangy flavor of cranberries shine. The ruby-red cocktail is bracing and tart, the way an uncooked cranberry relish can be. Though it has a palate-cleansing bitter backbone, it’s a bright spot in the meal. In other words, it’s just the kind of zingy, uplifting drink we need during this particular holiday season.
The key to getting the best flavor and balance here is using 100% unsweetened cranberry juice. (R.W. Knudsen’s Just Cranberry or Lakewood Pure Cranberry will work; be careful to avoid 100% juice options that mix in other, sweeter fruit.) You could make fresh cranberry juice and use it here, too, if you have a juicer and some free time on your hands.
Suzuki-Orellana, who is currently running a popup called Kagano in San Francisco, grew up spending Thanksgiving with family friends: “Before feasting, we were always welcomed to cozy houses with joy, hugs, and big lipstick kisses on the cheeks.” He named this drink after those memories, and thinks of it as an aperitif: “Its low ABV makes it perfect to sip early in the day,” he says, describing the flavors as “voluptuous and sassy.”
When devising the recipe, Suzuki-Orellana said he imagined this cocktail kicking off a Thanksgiving gathering of his quarantine pod, “laughing and gossiping, preparing a meal made by hand, off-pitch singing to music, and reminiscing. It’s the perfect introduction to a night of feasting.”
Even if that’s not what your Thanksgiving looks like this year—even if it’s a long-distance gathering via Zoom, or just two plates at the table—this drink will bring a touch of festivity into a challenging season. Graze the rosemary garnish over the flame of your stove for a wisp of fragrant smoke, and if you blink, we’re all here, celebrating together.
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