Produced by Margaret Zainey Roux

Sunspots

With rum or without it, Maggie Moser’s ‘Sunspots’ will have you tipsy from the fruity, tangy flavors

Ingredients
2 ounces Cheramie rum (100% fresh cane juice from Louisiana)
1 ounce Ponchatoula strawberry syrup* 
½ ounce lime juice
2 dashes Bitter Truth cucumber bitters
Soda water 

*Ponchatoula strawberry syrup
1 cup water
1 cup white sugar 
2 cups quarter strawberries

1. Combine water and sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat; stir until sugar is dissolved. Mix strawberries into a saucepan and bring to a boil; boil for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until strawberries are mushy and sauce is thick, about 10 minutes. Strain liquid into a bottle and refrigerate.

2. Add rum, strawberry syrup, lime juice and bitters into a cocktail tin. Shake. Strain into Collins glass. Add soda water and ice. Garnish with strawberry on the rim.

3. For a non-alcoholic mocktail, omit rum and bitters and add a cucumber slice. 

About Maggie Moser

Maggie Moser has tended bars in New York, Hong Kong and across New Orleans at Meauxbar, Cane & Table and Jewel of the South. She is currently the bar manager at Anna’s. Moser regularly competes in cocktail competitions and recently ranked among the Top 12 in Bombay Sapphire’s Most Imaginative Bartender.  She is also actively involved in Tales of the Cocktail and helped curate local artists to showcase during the summer 2022 event.