It’s been about two and a half years since I stopped drinking alcohol, and in that time the mocktail has successfully supplanted the cocktail in my life. Some drinks lend themselves to such a transformation, and the Amber Jewel is one of them. (It also helps that I don’t quite remember the first version because that’s generally what happens when alcohol is involved.) To that point, the ingredients and method to the original Amber Jewel cocktail have been lost in a happy haze of the first and only time it was served, way back in 2011. At the time, it utilized a saffron mango tea for the base, a generous amount of ginger vodka, cointreau, a simple syrup, and a secret ingredient (coming in a sentence or two).
It was an exquisite concoction, one that kept us spellbound in the entry room, and we never got any further that first night (until the skinny dipping began). Garnished with star anise, which looked both starry and spidery, it lent a discomfiting aspect to the cocktail glass, the whisper of licorice mingling beautifully with the few drops of that secret ingredient, which I shall now reveal as, wait for it… root beer. That night, by the sixth or seventh round, we eschewed the complicated and precious parts and ended up downing glasses of vodka with a few splashes of root beer.
We recently revisited this infamous drink this past weekend, when JoAnn joined us for an end-of-winter weekend. It seemed the perfect time to resurrect the Amber Jewel, but in revised and updated mocktail fashion. Missing the saffron mango tea bags of the first version, I decided to go a more gingery route, creating a star anise/ginger simple syrup, a base of ginger lime seltzer, and the requisite splash of root beer. Lighter without all the liquor, it was a refreshing revamp of a drink that brings back some hilarious memories. Here’s the recipe of the ginger/star anise syrup, which can be used in any number of drinks (and you can easily omit the star anise if a hint of licorice isn’t your thing).
- 1 cup sugar (brown sugar may be used for a darker hue and richer flavor)
- 1 cup water
- 2 inches fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced thinly
- 1 star anise pod
Boil for ten minutes, stirring sporadically, then strain and cool. Keeps for two weeks.
