2017 Best Cocktails in America: Praying Osmanthus

These 10 cocktails, selected by the editors of Restaurant Hospitality, showcase bartenders’ creative takes on top bar trends. Read on and get inspired. See all the winners >> 

Praying Osmanthus

Trend: Shareable punch

Where to get it: Dirty Habit, Washington, D.C. 

Creator: Sarah Ruiz, beverage director

Price: $65

Ingredients: Osmanthus-infused lustau fino sherry, shochu, apricot, house orgeat and citrus. 

About the drink: Ruiz wanted to add a communal cocktail to go with the restaurant’s shareable style of dining. The Praying Osmanthus is her take on a punch bowl. It incorporates Ruiz’s love of sherries and showcases her skill for infusing exotic Asian teas like osmanthus into different types of spirits. She said this beverage mimics the flavor profile of a tropical adult Capri Sun and is a feast for the eyes as soon as it arrives tableside.

A look at the trend: Tiki drinks are back in vogue, and so is punch, a broad category in which bartenders have room to create.

In the case of the Praying Osmanthus at Dirty Habit, a Kimpton restaurant, this punch is designed for sharing. Priced at $65, the drink serves four to six people.

And forget about individual glasses. The idea is to grab a straw and dive in.

It’s a low-alcohol drink, using shochu as the base, which fits with the restaurant’s culinary theme and location in Washington, D.C.’s Chinatown.

“It’s one of those things that, value wise, it’s nice for a group to start with,” said beverage director Sarah Ruiz. “The straws are super long, so it’s not like people have to go cheek to cheek.”

It’s also another example of a cocktail that draws attention. 

“When people see it in the dining room, they want to know what it is,” Ruiz said. “So it sells itself.”