Have you ever had a persimmon before? They always show up in markets late autumn and I must admit that I always say I will buy some but never get around to it before they disappear again. I have very vague memories of having them when I was very little in China, they are after all an Asian fruit, but since then, not a bite. So this year, I was determined to rectify that.

You will most likely find two types in stores, a flat bottomed one called fuyu and an acorned shaped one called hachiya. I bought a couple of both and set them on my counter to ripen. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not known for my patience, so after a couple days I cut open the hachiya to give it a try. The quick succession of thoughts that went through my head as I had that first taste — the progression from hmm sweet to oh my god must comb my tongue of this thing — was comical to say the least. Having done no research, I had no idea that with hachiyas, you absolutely must exercise patience and wait for squishy ripeness. Otherwise, you will be punished severely with a fruit that will slap the spit right out of your mouth. Hachiyas are the astringent variety of persimmons and man are they mean. When under ripe, they are bitter and unpleasant with a horrible almost hairy, stick to your tongue texture. It is basically the worst case of cotton mouth that you will ever get.

Now that I have endeared them to you, go and make my Spiced Persimmon Bourbon Cocktail! I kid, I kid. So after this first experience, I did some research, read the warnings, and properly allowed the persimmons to ripen. Turns out, fuyus are much more forgiving and can eaten while still hard. The other tip that I tried was freezing the persimmons. Freezing accelerates the ripening process and if you eat them straight from the freezer, you get the world’s most pure one ingredient sorbet. When the fruit is unthawed, you are rewarded with a delicate sweetness unlike any other fruit.

When Athena of lifestyle site, eyeswoon, asked me to collaborate with her on a cocktail in partnership with goop and Neiman Marcus, I jumped at the opportunity. And when we were able to get branched persimmons from the flower market for the shoot, I was in absolute heaven. Persimmons have a rather archaic look to them with muddy green leaves that look dry even when freshly plucked and branches that make me think of the asymmetrical aesthetic so loved by the Japanese. They feel perfectly at home in Japanese brush painting or sitting on a table in a chiaroscuro oil piece by an old master. In short, they are stunning with their pops of coral orange and spare lines. I absolutely LOVED photographing them.

For the cocktail, we really wanted to create something that complemented that warmth of persimmons and paid homage to the season when they are most plentiful.  Cloves, cinnamon, maple, and bourbon immediately came to mind. To that we added a little bit of subtle heat with black peppercorns and some rich sweetness from brandy. I am not the biggest fan of cloves. I find them overpowering when overused, so I kept the spices subtle here. They are a background note and don’t hit you over the head like they do in so many other holiday drinks. This is the type of cocktail that I love to drink, well-aged and nuanced in flavor and not overly sweet. I am using fuyus in this recipe but hachiyas will also work. Just heed my warnings and make sure they are ripe! All of the components  of this cocktail can be batched ahead of time for easy mixing the day of a party, so your New Years Eve party impress your friends with my Spiced Persimmon Bourbon Cocktail and Asian Pear + Sage Collins.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

W H E N  Y O U  W I S H  U P O N  A  S T A R • spiced persimmon bourbon cocktail
makes 4 drinks // created with athena calderone of eyeswoon

for the spiced maple simple
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup water
7 cloves
10 black peppercorns
1 cinnamon stick

for the persimmon purée
3 ripe fuyu persimmons
2 ounces lemon juice
1/2 cup water

for one cocktail
1 ounce bourbon
1/2 ounce brandy
1 1/2 ounces persimmon puree
1 ounce spiced maple simple
3-4 drops angostura bitters
club soda, to finish

^^^^^^

to make the spiced maple simple
Using a mortar and pestle, roughly crush the cloves, peppercorn, and cinnamon stick. In a small saucepan, combine the maple syrup and water together, bring to a boil and stir the maple syrup so that it full combines with the water. Add the spices, turn off the stove, and cover to cool completely.

to make the persimmon purée
In a blender, puree until smooth the persimmons, lemon juice, and water together. Vigorously mash through a strainer. After straining, you will have about 1 cup of liquid.

to make 1 cocktail
 combine the bourbon, brandy, persimmon puree, spiced maple syrup and bitters in a cocktail shaker with ice. Cover and shake vigorously for about 15 seconds. Strain the cocktail into a coupe glass. Top with a splash of club soda. Garnish with persimmon slice.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

If you like this recipe, feel free to pin it to Pinterest. Follow me on Instagram for regular updates!