Three Purim Cocktails for Three Women in the Purim Story

Three Purim Cocktails for 3 Women in Megillat Esther!

Happy Purim!  This is going to be a topsy-turvey Purim for a topsy-turvey year!  To keep the joy going, I thought, why create just one drink??  I wanted to create 3 drink recipes to allow people to choose what works for them, especially this year for a Pandemic Purim, and when Purim is on a Friday--why not extend the Purim fun into the weekend??

My brother Josh gave me a fantastic idea:  to create drink recipes for women in the megillah!  So, I went with this idea and created drink recipes for Vashti, Esther, and Zeresh!

Esther Olive Oil Gimlet-

-1 shot (1 1/2 tbsp) gin

-1 lime cut into 4 wedges

-a few fresh sprigs of mint

-splash of olive oil (1/2 tsp)

-ice cubes

-(optional:  1 tbsp of simple syrup)

-put a couple of ice cubes, shot of gin, freshly squeezed lime from 2 lime wedges, and the simple syrup if you opt for that in a shaker, shake 

-put a couple of ice cubes in a cocktail glass, pour the cocktail into the glass

-add the sprigs of fresh mint leaves

-pour a splash of olive oil on top

Zeresh (Haman's wife) Hidden Cocktail-

-1 shot of baileys 

-optional:  1 shot of berry liquor

-1 tsp of berry or fig jam

-2-3 shots of almond or other milk

-pour a shot of baileys, optional berry liquor, and milk into a glass

-drop a spoon of jam into the cocktail

Vashti Festive Punch-

-slice up some fruit (such as apples, oranges, berries, mango-fruit can be frozen!)

-shot of rum (or skip the rum if you want to make it non-alcoholic)

-either 3 shots of bubbly wine or seltzer

-1 shot of either orange, grapefruit, or pineapple juice

-add a few ice cubes to a glass

-add the chopped fruit

-pour the rum into the glass

-add the bubbly wine or seltzer

-then add the juice

Esther Olive Oil Gimlet-

The story of Esther is very much connected to olive oil.  She uses olive oil to beautify herself before the pageant with the king.  It is also told that olives were a main part of her diet while living in the palace when there might not have been many options for her to eat.  Her other name:  Hadassah, alludes to a myrtle tree, found in the middle east where the story of Purim takes place.  So, this cocktail has the greenery of the Hadassah and olive oil.  It also has a Middle Eastern flavour which I hope gives you a little taste of the story.  

Vashti Festive Punch-

For the Vashti drink-I thought it would be fitting to have a lot of choice, since Vashti chose to stand up to the king and refuse to dance at his party!  So, this punch is a very festive drink and it's also sort of a "choose your own adventure" drink.  If you want to add rum and bubbly wine, go for it!  If you want to add juice, go for it!  If you'd rather skip the juice and just add fruit, that works too!  If you'd rather trade the alcohol for seltzer, it'll still be delicious!  Hope that you enjoy this bubbly celebratory drink, which could also work as a Shabbat drink if you want to extend the Purim fun into Shabbat!

Zeresh Hidden Cocktail-

Oy....Zeresh was Haman's wife who did a bad thing in the story...she was the one who suggested to Haman how to kill Mordecai.  As many of you may know, there is a tradition to make hamantashen (triangular shaped cookies with fillings inside) on Purim to help to remind us to behave the OPPOSITE way of Haman (and other reasons too).  So, I thought that cocktail with a hidden "filling" would be perfect for the Zeresh cocktail-a kind of liquid hamantashen.  This drink can be made dairy with creamy liquors and milk, or non-dairy with almond (or non-dairy) liquor and non-dairy milk.  It could be a great dessert cocktail for the end of the evening, or a brunch cocktail for a festive Purim or Shabbat Seudah!