Japanese Kiwi

Japanese Kiwi (makes 4 martini-sized drinks)

7 oz of Vodka
4 oz Sake
Juice of 4 limes
5 oz Simple Syrup
5 kiwis 

Puré kiwis in a mini food processor, pulse until smooth with some small chunks remaining. You can add a quick pour of simple syrup depending on the ripeness of your kiwis. 

add first 4 ingredients in a shaker of ice & strain into martini glasses. Add about 3 heaping table spoons of kiwi into the martini glass & stir to incorporate.

garnish with a lime wheel 

(because sakes have varying sweetness and limes have varying tartness…once you make the drink in the shaker, pour a little into a glass, taste and you may need to add more lime or more simple syrup to taste). 

I had this drink at Paragary's, a Sacramento restaurant that opened in downtown Stockton several years ago (it is no longer there). I ordered this drink and could not believe how interesting the combination of flavors was. They called it The Lounge Lizard which I changed for obvious reasons… I told the bartender that night that her tip would double if she could manage to sweet talk  the ingredients out of the bartender. She returned --after what I can only assume was a lot of eyelash batting- with it written on a napkin.   It was worth every penny!

Cheers!