Strawberries & Cream

Sometimes, drinks aren’t highbrow affairs with rare liqueurs and botanical spirits made by mountain-dwelling monks. Sometimes, even bartenders dedicated to creating mature, thoughtful concoctions want to have a little fun. The accurately named Strawberries and Cream from New York City bartender and bar consultant Michael Waterhouse is one such exemplar, relying on the simple pleasure of strawberries, white chocolate and cream.

At first glance, the gin drink is superficially similar to the Pink Squirrel, an often ignored cocktail from the 1940s. Like the Pink Squirrel, the Strawberries and Cream has both white creme de cacao and cream, though in this case half-and-half rather than heavy cream. Additionally, it’s a much stronger and more botanical drink with two full ounces of gin rather than another liqueur. With everything else going on in the drink, the gin is fairly muted, so feel free to use whatever London dry-style gin that best fits your budget and tastes.

Strawberry liqueur is not a common ingredient in cocktail menus, and can potentially be hard to find on liquor store shelves. It’s especially hard to find ones that don’t rely on artificial coloring, flavoring and sweeteners. Giffard, a French label, consistently produces quality fruit liqueurs, and Fragoli is a liqueur that contains whole strawberries in it.

White creme de cacao and the strawberry liqueur mimic the pleasures of white chocolate-coated strawberries, and it gets even more rich and delicious with the half-and-half. With over four ounces of liquid in it, it’s a fairly hefty-sized drink, especially after it gets shaken up and foamy. Also, with two very sweet liqueurs and half an ounce of cream, it packs a larger caloric punch than your standard cocktail. Because of this, it’s probably best to stick with just one—maybe two—at a time.