Perpetual Motion

Photo: Brian Klutch • Food Styling: Jessie YuChen • Prop Styling: Paige Hicks. Photo: Brian Klutch • Food Styling: Jessie YuChen • Prop Styling: Paige Hicks

The beverage team at Cambridge, Massachusetts restaurant Sumiao Hunan Kitchen uses strong-aroma baijiu to make this refreshing baijiu smash cocktail recipe. This category of baijiu, which includes brands like Ming River and Mianzhu Daqu, lends a pineapple scent and hint of umami to this mixed drink, while blood orange purée lends a pleasantly bitter base note.

Featured in “ Baijiu, the World’s Most Popular Spirit, Is Coming for Your Cocktail ” by Megan Zhang.

Yield: 1 cocktail Cook Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

Ingredients

For the blood orange purée:

• 1 blood orange, peeled and quartered
• 2 Tbsp. simple syrup

For the cocktail:

• 4 mint leaves, plus more for garnish
• 1 oz. strong-aroma baijiu
• 1 oz. St-Germain

Instructions

1. Make the blood orange purée: To a blender, add the blood orange, simple syrup, and ¼ cup of water and blend until smooth.
2. Make the cocktail: To a rocks glass, add 1 or 2 large ice cubes. In a cocktail shaker, lightly muddle the mint, then add the baijiu, St-Germain, 1 ounce of the blood orange purée (reserve the rest for another use), and enough ice cubes to fill the shaker about halfway. Shake until chilled, about 15 seconds, strain into the glass, garnish with more mint, and serve.