How to Toast with Pixie Tangerine Classics

(Gerry Furth-Sides) Cheers to you and to and with the magical Ojai Pixie season! Let’s toast with two cocktails, starting with a tangerine martini! We used naturally sweet Ojai Pixie tangerine juice instead of regular tangerine juice. Natalie of “TASTES lovely” provided the base idea recipe for this Tangerine & Honey Thyme Martini. 

Tangerine & Honey Thyme Martini

• 2 ounces vodka (we substituted gin)
• Juice from 1 tangerine, about 1/2 cup
• 1 tablespoon honey thyme simple syrup, equal parts honey, water
• spring of thyme for garnish

• In a small sauce pan, bring water and honey to a boil. Stir until the honey is dissolved. Keep an eye on it, the simple syrup will bubble up as soon as it starts boiling. Pour the warm simple syrup into a glass container and add the sprigs of thyme to steep. Transfer to the fridge to cool.
• In a martini shaker, combine all the cocktail ingredients with ice and shake until cold. Strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a sprig of thyme.

We start with a box of medium-small size Pixies from Melissa’s Worldwide Product. These can be ordered online. Pixies can vary in shape, size, texture and color! Their deep orange yellow skin can be smooth or slightly pebbly, varied as well in shape, size and texture for a little bit of novelty.  

Because pixie tangerine’s are sweeter than oranges cocktail master Philip Dobard suggested we substitute gin for vodka. Gin has more botanicals and more flavor. 

“Besides, “he added, “the thyme plays well with the botanicals in the gin. Taste and see what you prefer.” We tried the saffron honey and it added richness. 

Philip added the instruction of shaking, rather than stirring, this cocktail. While it is a Martini and thus, as a rule, stirred, this twist contains fruit juice and thus must be shaken so as to emulsify the citrus and, as a bonus, lends the finished product an enticing frothy texture. The Italy pitcher, fresh thyme are from @tableconversation. Please slide to see the recipe. 

This was the first cocktail I ever made. I celebrated by having it for lunch. We would recommend cutting down the honey syrup by at least one half. 

Grown in Southern California’s Ojai Valley, Pixie tangerines are available right now in the supermarket and directly through Melissa’s Produce who supplied these beauties. 

We toast with Barbara Hansen’s Pixie Tangerine Cocktail Grab the Pixies while they last! Sweet enough to alone with a BRIX Refractometer sweetness level of 21 (strawberries are 18!)

Toasting Barbara Hansen in her garden and with her beautiful, enticing words: 

“The last rays of the sun mean it’s time for a tequila sunset— and if you’re lucky, it will be one like this. 

Instead of the usual orange juice, it’s made with Pixie tangerine juice, so sweet and intensely flavored that this will be one of the best drinks you can have this spring—by summer Pixies will be gone.

Grown in Southern California’s Ojai Valley, Pixie tangerines are available right now, so grab a few and wind up your day with this Pixie-flavored tequila cocktail.

PIXIE SUNSET 

1/4 cup Pixie tangerine juice 
2 teaspoons lime juice 
2 teaspoons grenadine 
1 1/2 ounces tequila
Ice cubes
1 thin slice Pixie tangerine.

Combine the tangerine juice, lime juice, grenadine and tequila in a cocktail glass. Add ice cubes and place the Pixie slice on the rim.
Makes 1 serving.

For more information about Pixie tangerines, go to www.melissas.com. Below is the bright package you see in the store.