WASHINGTON 鈥� If you think ros茅 wine couldn鈥檛 possibly get any better, prepare to have your mind blown 鈥� or at least frozen.
This summer, Pinterest boards, Instagram feeds and bar menus across the country are filled with a cool cocktail that鈥檚 become the darling drink of 2016. It鈥檚 frozen ros茅, or 蹿谤辞蝉茅 for short.
鈥淥n a hot summer day, the only way to get it better is to freeze it,鈥� said Justin Sievers, the general manager at in Manhattan鈥檚 East Village, one of a number of restaurants that鈥檚 serving 蹿谤辞蝉茅 this season.
Earlier this year, Sievers and his team at Bar Primi purchased a frozen drink machine to make frozen negronis. When summer鈥檚 heat and humidity set in, the group started brainstorming additional uses for the gadget, and a wine-based drink piqued interests.
鈥淓ven as an adult, you want something super cold and refreshing 鈥� Just because it鈥檚 a frozen drink doesn鈥檛 mean it has to be a sugary, sweet sort of drink, so we decided to do something that鈥檚 a little bit nicer,鈥� Sievers said.
They experimented with ros茅, a pink-colored wine that gets its hue from the skins of red grapes.
鈥淸We said] it鈥檚 ros茅 season, let鈥檚 just dump some ros茅 in there and see what happens,鈥� Sievers said.
And 蹿谤辞蝉茅 was born.
Bar Primi isn鈥檛 the only restaurant serving the frozen wine drink. In fact, several spots in the D.C. area are making their own, including Arcuri, Macon Bistro & Larder and Lyman鈥檚 Tavern, .
Food-focused magazines like and have also jumped on the 蹿谤辞蝉茅 bandwagon, publishing recipes for the drink.
If you don鈥檛 have a frozen drink machine at home, Sievers says 蹿谤辞蝉茅 is still relatively simple to throw together 鈥� and perfect for summer鈥檚 hot weekends. The most important thing, he says, is to freeze the ros茅 ahead of time. Don鈥檛 just throw chilled ros茅 into a blender with ice.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 going to water it down and just kind of make the consistency not as nice,鈥� he said.
Rather, empty a bottle of ros茅 into a plastic container (preferably one with a lid) and freeze it for a few hours or overnight. Take it out when the texture is similar to a slushie.
鈥淵ou can scoop it out, almost as like a sorbet or granita, and that gives you your base of frozen ros茅,鈥� Sievers said.
Then, throw in a little vermouth for flavor and strawberry puree for color and texture, and blend it all together.
鈥淚t gives it a little extra body and flavor, because as you freeze ros茅, it tends to kind of dampen some of the flavors,鈥� Sievers said.
鈥淭hat way you鈥檙e not diluting it at all, and you鈥檙e still getting that nice frozen drink texture.鈥�
