Welcome back to the Extra Special Monday Funday Coachella Week Extravaganza (TM)!

For our second desert drink of the day we are traveling to Southeast Asia to discover The Gobi!

The Gobi is a particularly massive desert in Asia, located in China and Mongolia, and spanning about 500,000 square miles. Damn. That is a lot of desert in need of a really good drink. That is where we come in.

If we may, let us jump in your mind for a moment. You are at the grocery store. You see the bag of ridiculously reasonably priced mandarin oranges and/or clementines. You think, “well, these are far too reasonably priced to pass up! I will take them to work every day this week and definitely eat them all!”

Fast forward to 4 days later, and there are 10 Cuties still sitting on your kitchen counter. What do you do now? Come on, we all know what you do–this is not a trick question. You make The Gobi! Here is what you will need:

 

• 2 oz vodka
• 2 oz mandarine orange/clementine juice
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1/2 oz Luxardo cherry liqueur
• Splash of Aperol

Gather your ingredients plus your cocktail shaker, knife, fruit press, and serving glass.

First, prep your juice. To get 2 ounces of mandarin juice you will need between 3-4 pieces. Cut each in half and squeeze!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After you squeeze your juice, save a bit of rind to use as garnish! 

Pour your 1/2 oz lemon juice into your shaker glass, followed by your 1/2 oz Luxardo.

Luxardo is a fantastic cherry-flavored liqueur. You may remember Luxardo from our Basics article on booze as they also make honest-to-goodness maraschino cherries. Luxardo liqueur is a great addition to your bar, as a splash can often add a great pop to a drink! We use it a lot here, so we recommend picking some up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now add your 2 ounces of vodka and 2 ounces of mandarin juice!

Finally, top it off with a quick splash of Aperol. Just gently tip the bottle over the drink for a quick moment. You want a very small amount just to give the drink some depth.

Aperol is an herbal liqueur in the Campari family, but it is much lighter in flavor and alcohol content than traditional Campari. It serves perfectly as an aromatic element to many cocktails, but make sure you don’t go too heavy!

 

Now fill your shaker tin 2/3rds full of ice, pour your combined ingredients in, secure your shaker glass, and shake that mo fo vigorously for 20-30 seconds.

Now pour some ice into your serving glass, and strain your drink in. Finish by garnishing with your mandarin rinds!

Voila! The Gobi. This will definitely keep you company on your next desert trek.

That’s two new drink recipes for the day, now go check out the third!