Pomtini

Falling both into the health-nut and cocktail-loving categories, this may be the cocktail that barks up your tree if you’ve an eye on healthy living, due to the known and guessed-at benefits that pomegranate juice boasts. That isn’t to say that this a) isn’t tasty, and b) won’t start the party in the way other Martinis might. It is, and it will.

If actual pomegranate seeds aren’t available for garnishing purposes, a lime slice may be substituted, but a mythical pallor might be cast on the evening. Just ask Persephone (who sacrificed six months of the year to living with Hades in the netherworld just so she could eat six pomegranate seeds--well, that’s my take on it), or look it up in the Song of Solomon (which equated the two sides of a pomegranate cut in half to a bride's two cheeks beneath her veil), or other histories that have the pomegranate as a fertility symbol. Whether the legends are based in fact or myth, having the pomegranate present is always better.--A.J. Rathbun, from Good Spirits

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Ice cubes
1 1/2 ounces vodka
1 ounce pomegranate juice
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed orange juice
3 or 4 frozen pomegranate seeds for garnish

1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add the vodka, pomegranate juice, and orange juice. Shake well.

2. Add the pomegranate seeds to a cocktail glass. Strain the mix over the seeds.

A Note: If the pomegranate seeds aren't frozen, that doesn't mean more winter's on the way (as another legend asserts). It only means the drink won't stay chilled as long.

ABOUT A.J. RATHBUN

A seasoned party host and master mixologist, A.J. Rathbun is the author of Good Spirits (winner of an IACP Cookbook Award), as well as Luscious Liqueurs, Party Drinks!, Party Snacks! (all from Harvard Common Press), and a collection of poetry, Want. He has worked as a bartender, a waiter, a rock-band roadie, the director of the Poetry After Hours Program at the Seattle Art Museum, and more.

In addition to his books, A.J.'s essay “Rummie” is featured in the anthology Food and Booze: A Tin House Literary Feast, and he has written for Everyday with Rachel Ray, Fine Living, and other on- and offline magazine. And his poetry has been published in numerous national literary magazines, including Crazyhorse, Gulf Coast, The Poetry Miscellany, The Indiana Review, The Sonora Review, The Southeast Review, The Spoon River Poetry Review, Third Coast, Tin House, Willow Springs, ZYZZYVA, and others, and has had poetry anthologized in Pontoon: An Anthology of Washington Writers, Volumes III and V. Learn more on his website at www.ajrathbun.com.