Some of you might have noticed that the Lolita cock­tail has seen dif­fer­ent vari­a­tions over the years. Well, I think we nailed it on this one and this ver­sion is here to stay. The inspi­ra­tion for this cock­tail actu­ally came from my chef at work. He was fea­tur­ing a water­melon salad with all the ingre­di­ents seen in this cock­tail. I showed my co-worker and part­ner in crime Paul Palombo and said, “If these fla­vors are work­ing in this salad they can work in this cock­tail.” Thus the Lolita cock­tail was born.

Let’s Make the Lolita

• 2 oz vodka
• 1/2 oz honey syrup (1:1)
• 1 oz freshly juiced tomato
• 2 water­melon chunks for muddling
• 3 basil leaves for muddling
• Cou­ple dashes of bal­samic vinegar
• Gar­nish with a cherry tomato and a basil leaf

Mud­dle the basil and water­melon first in your cock­tail shaker. Add all other ingre­di­ents except the gar­nish and shake with ice. Dou­ble strain into an ice filled dou­ble old fash­ioned glass. Gar­nish with a cherry tomato and basil leaf.

note: the tomato can also be mud­dled in this cock­tail if you’re not juice crazy like me.