“Vampire’s Kiss” is the name of an absurd 1988 movie starring Nicholas Cage. It’s also the name of a half-dozen cocktail recipes, all of which feature a bright-red color meant to resemble blood. It’s easy to make a red cocktail, but can we make one that tastes any good? Let’s find out!
The Recipe: The recipe I chose requires you to make your own plum syrup. Take a half-dozen red plums, core them and slice them up, and add them to a mixture of 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil, then cool and refrigerate.
Now, prepare a martini glass by rubbing fresh lime around the rim, and turning the rim on a plate of red sugar.
Pour 1/4 cup of the cooled plum syrup into the glass, and add 2 oz of brandy. Top with some ginger ale.
The Ratings: First, a few confessions: I didn’t realize that a plum that’s red on the outside isn’t considered a “red” plum; instead, the inside of the plums I got were yellow. So I had to add some red food coloring to achieve the right color. Second, instead of ginger ale, I used ginger beer.
So, with those caveats, I give 3 points for the appearance of this drink. The color is deep red, suggestive of blood. The drink is even slightly viscous, which further strengthens the blood analogy. The red sprinkles around the rim are playful and in keeping with the overall vibe.
The taste, though, is disappointing. The brandy taste is just too strong, and clashes with the sweet plum syrup and with the ginger beer. Now, I don’t hate brandy, but I don’t especially like the taste either. So I’m willing to admit that you might give this a higher rating if you like brandy a lot. And yet, even a desirable liquor can clash with its neighboring ingredients, and I think that’s what’s happening here.
As an experiment (and on the recommendation of my wife), I made a second Vampire Kiss cocktail that substituted vodka for the brandy. Result: A far better drink. The vodka is pretty neutral, so the plum and ginger were able to shine through.
So, for the original recipe, I have to give 1 point for taste. For the vodka version, I’d give it a 2.5 points.
As for the name: Vampire kiss is a good name for a blood-red drink, so I’ll give it 2 points.
Grand Total: 6 points.
Chasing Phantoms 