Last Tuesday evening found me at a table outside Café Kopi, sipping one of my favorite CU coffee shop’s self-titled creations and pondering how utterly European my life was not. I was again reminiscing upon my European adventures of last summer, and thus inspired to deliver another cocktail that reminds me of France. Cassis is both a French village of fair size situated on the sparkling Mediterranean Sea as well as the French word for the fruit we call a black currant in English. The following recipe for cassis has no other relation to the quaint seaside town I visited, but does hold the benefit of only calling for four ingredients. Half fortified wine (or champagne), half sweetened berries, cassis is a simple yet elegant way to enjoy this summer fruit and its beautiful reddish-purple hue.

Ingredients:
2 cups black currants
1/4 cup superfine sugar
2 oz. vodka
sparkling wine (or champagne)*
4 tsp water

*I prefer champagne in this beverage, but it is certainly still delicious when made with sparkling wine. Use your favorite variety of either, or feel free to experiment with new ones because the juicy intensity of the black currants is still likely to be the dominant flavor in the cocktail.

You will also need:
An ice cube tray
A pitcher
A juicer

Directions:
Remove the black currants from their stems (it is best to use a fork to do this because the juice from the fruit is very dark and may stain anything you touch if it gets on your hands.) Scatter 1/2 cup of the black currants into an ice cube tray. Fill the ice cube tray with water until completely full and freeze. Next, place the superfine sugar in a small saucepan along with 4 tsp of water. Heat this mixture slowly until the sugar has dissolved. Bring the mixture to a boil then immediately remove from heat. Pour the syrup into a pitcher to cool. Finally, put the remaining 1 1/2 cups of fruit through a juicer and mix with the syrup and vodka. Add a couple of ice cubes into each glass, then approximately 2 tbsp (1 oz.) of the black currant mixture, then top up each glass with champagne (or sparkling wine).

This recipe makes approximately 16 drinks, if smaller glasses are used. If you want to use larger glasses, put more of the black currant mixture into each serving.

Variation: To make this drink non-alcoholic, simply omit the vodka and substitute mineral water or ginger ale for the sparkling wine/champagne.