My week of five-spice recipes is coming to an end, and I wanted to finish it with a beverage recipe. Yes, a drink made with Chinese five-spice powder. This Ginger, Lime + Five-Spice Cocktail recipe was so intriguing that I had to give it a try. I thought a dessert made with five spice powder would be interesting, but this cocktail recipe really got my attention. I must find out if it tastes as good as it sounds!
You guys…this may be one of my favorite cocktail recipes I’ve ever made (OK, I can’t take full credit – it was a joint family effort.) It starts with smooth, Hangar 1 Straight Vodka that has slight floral and tropical fruit notes. Muddled limes make it perfectly refreshing, and ginger and Chinese five-spice powder add a creative kick.
The Ingredients
As you can see, there were only a few ingredients in this cocktail recipe. I was fortunate to have everything but the limes and ginger on hand. The sugar and Chinese five-spice powder were already in my pantry. I also had the vodka, which is why I used a different brand than the recipe author suggested.
The Process
Making this cocktail was simple and had two major steps: Making the spiced simple syrup and making the actual cocktail. Here’s how the time broke down:
- 13 minutes to make the simple syrup
- 5 minutes to make the cocktail
- 18 minutes total (time to chill the simple syrup not included)
The instructions for both parts of this recipe were clear and easy to follow, and I didn’t need to make any adjustments.
One thing I did to make things quicker was skipping peeling the ginger. It wasn’t specified in the recipe, and the ginger was strained out of the simple syrup and the cocktail itself. I did notice a few tiny pieces of peel in the cocktail, though. You may want to peel the ginger for that step if the bits of peel bother you.
