Sake to me

I love the spicy flavor of ginger and it's medicinal properties, so this Ginger Rum and Sake cocktail has become one of my favorite pre-dinner drinks.

I originally found a recipe for a Ginger Cocktail in the Williams-Sonoma Bride & Groom Entertaining Cookbook a few months ago, but I swap out the vodka in the recipe for Rum, use ginger-infused simple syrup instead of plain simple syrup, and sometimes I add club soda for refreshing fizz.

To start you need to whip up some ginger simple syrup, which is, well, simple.

Peel a one-inch section of ginger and slice it. Put 1/2 cup of sugar into a sauce pan with 1 cup of water and the ginger slices. Heat the mixture until the sugar dissolves, about ten minutes. Let it cool a bit then pour it into a jar and store in the refrigerator.

Here's what you need to make the cocktail:

A knob of fresh ginger

A few fresh mint leaves, torn

1 shot of good quality clear rum

1/2 shot of Sake

Wedge of lime

1/2 tsp Ginger simple syrup (or more if you like sweet drinks)

Now, run your favorite martini glass under cold water and put it in the freezer. Then fill a cocktail shaker with ice.

Combine the ingredients in the shaker and shake it for a good 20 seconds to get it nice and cold.

Strain it into the chilled martini glass, squeeze the lime into it and garnish however you like.

Enjoy!