Pink Bear

For those who don’t know it, “crème de cassis” is a sweet black currant French liqueur used mainly in drinks, but also in sweet and even savoury dishes. One Friday night I wanted desperately to mix it with my favourite drinks ingredient – cointreau. That is how I found the “pink bear”. Someone with an “oursbleu” nickname (“blue bear” in French) proposed it at the French website www.1001cocktails.com. Hence the name I suppose. The taste is perfectly balanced between the sweet and the sour, the strong and the delicate… Not to mention the joyful pink hue. It is really addictive and perfect to start the weekend… Anyway, I modified the original recipe using limes instead of lemon juice.

Ingredients for 1 drink:

4 cl gin

3 cl cointreau (or other similar liquor, such as triple sec or grand marnier, but cointreau is my all time favourite for drinks)

1 cl crème de cassis

1 lime

4 cl tonic water

ice

Cut the lime into 8 pieces, squash it with a fork or a special drink squasher directly in a glass. Pour the remaining ingredients, stir, add the ice and serve it.