Christmas Cocktails!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Here are the Christmas and winter cocktails and drinks we've seen this month:

French 75 in New Orleans
Winter Waltz: rye whiskey, Averna, allspice dram, Angostura bitters, star anise garnish

Dickens Toddy: bourbon, maple syrup, Angostura bitters, orange peel & cherry garnish

Contessa: gin, Aperol, grapefruit, cranberry, orange bitters

Charante Hessian: Cognac brandy, pumpkin butter, allspice dram, hot water, nutmeg & cinnamon garnish

L'Abattoir in Vancouver
Strathcona: candy cap mushroom-infused rye whiskey, Punt e Mes, Becherovka, chocolate bitters, cherry garnish

Teardrop Lounge in Portland
Boogie Street: bourbon, cachaca, orange juice, creme de cacao, pear butter, pear garnish

Moon on the Rain: calvados, quince-pecan gastrique, Dubonnet, whiskey barrel-aged bitters

Long Time Coming: pisco, cherry digestif, port reduction, truffle bitters

Humble Pie: applejack, blended Scotch, ginger syrup, pimento dram, Angostura bitters, peppercorn, candied ginger

Veneto Tapa Lounge in Victoria

Yukon Cornelius: chai spice-infused rye whiskey, chestnut syrup, menthe pastille, egg, nutmeg & cinnamon garnish

Rockefeller: chai spice-infused rye whiskey, sweet vermouth, aromatic bitters, cherry & orange oil garnish

Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco

Spiced Manhattan: spiced rum, dark rum, sweet vermouth, Tiki bitters

Wilford Brimley: hot buttered rum batter, coconut cream, high-proof rum

The Refinery in Vancouver

Bear Skin: aged rum, chocolate vermouth, Punt e mes, orange-cinnamon syrup, coffee bitters

The Violet Hour in Chicago

Cold & Delicious: Cognac brandy, port, Spice Trader syrup, walnut liqueur, apple bitters, egg, cinnamon garnish

Historical Drinks (History & Recipes)
Eggnog

Mulled Wine & Cider

The Flip

Hot Buttered Rum

The Hot Toddy

Trevor Kallies in Vancouver
Gold: Irish whiskey, Benedictine, peach-jalapeno preserves, plum & rootbeer bitters

Frankencense: gin, grapefruit juice, yellow Chartreuse, orange & juniper bitters

Myrrh: Scotch whisky, sherry, Lillet, Moondog bitters

Shea Hogan in Vancouver

Old Saint Juan: mezcal, Angostura bitters, lime juice, mint garnish

Slanted Door in San Francisco

Hot Buttered Rhum Cider: dark rum, compound butter, mulled cider, orange peel, star anise, cinnamon

Winter Cocktails: French 75 in New Orleans

It is with great appreciation and honour that I present a whopping total of four Christmas cocktails from the historic New Orleans bar, the French 75. The bar itself was built in the late 1800's, but was renovated in the 1970's, and reinvented in 2003 with an emphasis on premium spirits and cigars, and of course the new renaissance in cocktails. This award-winning bar is the first in New Orleans to grace this site, and they have graciously contributed a handful of recipes.

"The Winter Waltz," a rye, amaro, and Christmas spice mix, is named after head bartender Chris Hannah's favourite Frank Sinatra Christmas Carol. "The Contessa" is a nod to the character in Tennesse Williams' novel, "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone." Contessa was the swindler in the book who introduced the Negroni to the characters in tho novel.

Winter Waltz
2 oz Rye Whiskey
1/2 oz Averna Amaro
1/4 oz St. Elizabeth's Allspice dram
2 dashes Angostura bitters
 
Shake with ice, strain into cocktail glass, garnish with star anise.

Dicken's Toddy
2 oz Wild Turkey bourbon
1/2 oz Maple Syrup
3 dashes Angostura Bitters
 
Build like and Old-Fashioned in a rocks glass with ice, garnish with an orange peel and a cherry.

Contessa
3/4 oz London Dry Gin or Plymouth Gin
3/4 oz Aperol
3/4 oz Ruby Red Grapefruit juice
1/2 oz Cranberry Cordial
2 dashes Orange Bitters

Shake with ice, strain into chilled cocktail glass, garnish with an orange peel.

(We make the Cranberry cordial similar to making Cranberry Sauce)

A fairly simple alternative to making a cordial is making an infused simple syrup. By adding equal parts water to sugar (usually 1 cup) and adding fresh cranberries to the mix once the sugar dissolves over low heat, you can make a cranberry syrup to use in this and other similar Christmas cocktails).  

Charante Hessian
1 1/2 oz Cognac
1 1/2 oz Pumpkin Butter
1/4 oz St. Elizabeth's Allspice dram
4 oz boiling hot water
 
Build in a tempered glass or mug, stir and garnish with grated cinnamon and nutmeg.

Pumpkin butter is a compound butter with added pumpkin puree.

Cheers to the French 75 team and their amazing bar in such a historically exciting city.
Merry Christmas everyone!

Winter Cocktails: "Strathcona" from L'Abattoir

It's so close to Christmas! There are still a handful of recipes to share. If you're like me, you'll be drinking holiday drinks throughout the rest of winter, so while these recipes are late at least they'll still be usable.

Today, Shaun Layton at L'Abattoir in Vancouver is sharing one of his holiday drinks using Rittenhouse rye that's been infused with candy cap mushrooms, ones they use in desserts at the restaurant. Chocolate bitters and Becherovka supply a good amount of spice to this Red Hook variation.

Strathcona

45 ml Candy cap mushroom-infused Rittenhouse Rye Whiskey

25 ml Punt E Mes

10 ml Becherovka

3 dashes Bittermens Xocolatl Mole bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe. Garnish with a cherry.

Also stop by L'Abattoir this month for the festive "Slaughternog."

See you very soon for the final cocktails of the season from the French 75 bar in New Orleans.


More Holiday Drinks!
[[ Teardrop Lounge Part 1 ]]

[["Yukon Cornelius" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ "The Rockefeller" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ The Hot Toddy ]]
[[ Winter drinks from Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco ]]
[[ "Bear Skin" from The Refinery in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Cold & Delicious" from The Violet Hour in Chicago ]]
[[ The history of Eggnog ]]
[[ "Gold," "Frankincense," and "Myrrh" from Trevor Kallies in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Old Saint Juan" from Shea Hogan in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Hot Buttered Rhum Cider" from Slanted Door in San Francisco ]]
[[ The history of mulled wine ]]
[[ The history of The Flip ]]
[[ Hot Buttered Rum ]]

Winter Cocktails: Teardrop Lounge in Portland Part 2

Daniel Shoemaker at the Teardrop Lounge in Portland is kindly sharing two more winter cocktails with us. "Boogie Street" is a rare combination of bourbon and cachaça with the added flavours of fruit and chocolate. Daniel is also sharing Teardrop's house-made crèmede cacao recipe should you feel adventurous enough to make your own. After that is "Moon on the Rain," a cider-like cocktail using a house-made gastrique, for which there are again instructions for the adventurous.

Thank you again to Daniel and the Teardrop team for running such a great establishment and for contributing their holiday recipes. Cheers!

Boogie Street

1 ½ oz. Maker’s 46 bourbon

¾ oz. Novo Fogo silver cachaça

¾ oz. blood orange juice

½ oz. crème de cacao*

Barspoon pear butter

Shake, double-strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass. 
Garnish with a fan of Bosc pear slices.  

*Crème de Cacao:

3 ½ cups Theo Cacao nibs

1 cup Cane Sugar

1 cup Distilled Water

4-750 ml Lemonhart 151 rum

Dissolve sugar in water at slow simmer.  Add cacao nibs & stir constantly.  Sugar will re-granulate, smoking, until it begins to slowly caramelize & coat the cacao nibs. The entire process should take no more than 20 minutes. Remove from heat, lay out cacao nibs on parchment sheet. Let cool, then break up with spoon into container, topping off with rum. Let steep for 1 week, strain through cheesecloth. Cut to proof with equal parts distilled water.

Moon on the Rain

2 oz. Daron Calvados

¾ oz. Quince-Pecan Gastrique*

¾ oz. Dubonnet Rouge

2 dashes Fee’s Whiskey-Barrel bitters

Stir, strain into a chilled cocktail glass, garnish with an orange zest.  

*Quince-Pecan Gastrique:

6 cups cane sugar

3 cups balsamic vinegar

1 cups brandy

3 cups Quince, coarsely chopped

1 cups pecans

Caramelize sugar on medium, then slowly add vinegar, stirring to incorporate. Add quince & brandy, simmer for 10 minutes. Add pecans, simmer for another 10 minutes. Steep for 2 hours, strain & bottle.

(NOTE: this is good with American Dubonnet, but AWESOME with Canadian)

More Holiday Drinks!
[[ Teardrop Lounge Part 1 ]]

[["Yukon Cornelius" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ "The Rockefeller" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ The Hot Toddy ]]
[[ Winter drinks from Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco ]]
[[ "Bear Skin" from The Refinery in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Cold & Delicious" from The Violet Hour in Chicago ]]
[[ The history of Eggnog ]]
[[ "Gold," "Frankincense," and "Myrrh" from Trevor Kallies in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Old Saint Juan" from Shea Hogan in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Hot Buttered Rhum Cider" from Slanted Door in San Francisco ]]
[[ The history of mulled wine ]]
[[ The history of The Flip ]]
[[ Hot Buttered Rum ]]

Winter Cocktails: Teardrop Lounge in Portland

Portland will be making its first appearance on this site today! Having finally been able to visit for my first time this year, I was blown away by the amount of great food and drink available (and also by the number of strip clubs, but that's not really relevant). The cocktails were consistently great, as was the coffee, and of course the prices (no tax is as fun as you think). Taking a tour down Distillery Road and seeing the impressive number of great spirits being made in one city was also exciting. House Spirits Distillery stood out to me in particular, with Krogstad aquavit and Aviation gin, and their delicious and fresh-tasting coffee liqueur. The number of high quality bars in the city is exciting as well, with Clyde Common, Kask, Rum Club, Beaker & Flask, The Driftwood Room, and Teardrop Lounge - just to name a few. It is with great pleasure that I am able to share some holiday drink recipes from the most latter of these names, one of the best bars in the U.S., the Teardrop Lounge.

Teardrop has an amazing program with a focus on fresh and high-quality ingredients, adopting as they say the "Golden Rule of the kitchen: the finished product relies entirely upon the quality of source ingredients." Their
diverse menu has a nice collection of original drinks, obscure classics, and those made by friends in other renowned bars. Each of the three menus offer a punch for the table, an excellent and fun way to start your drinking evening.

Bartender and co-owner Daniel Shoemaker has graciously contributed a total of four holiday drinks along with recipes. I will separate these into two separate posts for easier absorption.

First up is the Long Time Coming, a pisco-based cocktail with three house-made ingredients: a cherry digestif, a port redux, and truffle bitters. Daniel shares his recipes for each of these ingredients below, and I hope you find them as creatively inspiring as I do!
Following that is the Humble Pie, a mix of blended Scotch and applejack with Christmas spice flavours like pimento, ginger, and peppercorn.

Long Time Coming

2 oz Campo de Encanto pisco

¾ oz Cherry Digestif*

½ oz Port Reduction*

8 drops Truffle bitters*

Stir with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  

No garnish.  

*Cherry Digestif

8 Quart cherry pits, topped with GNS, stored in cool place for 1 month, agitated daily.  Strain, add:

40 g dandelion root, toasted                                                

15 g gentian, toasted

40 g cedar chips, toasted                                    

8 g rhubarb root, toasted

40 g dong quoi                                                            

3 g horehound

15 g Cherry Bark                   

Steep all ingredients for an additional 24-36 hours.  

Strain, bottle.

*Port Redux

750ml Ruby port

1/4 oz cane sugar

6 cloves

2 star anise

15 green cardamom pods

1 Indonesian cinnamon sticks, crushed

Bring all ingredients to a light simmer, stirring occasionally until total liquid has reduced by 1/3.  

Allow to cool to room temperature, strain & bottle.

*Truffle Bitters

1 lb unsalted butter

½ oz Oregon black truffles

2 – 750 ml high-proof rye

½ cup toasted quassia

1/8 cup rose hips

1/8 cup sweet orange peel

1 tablespoon grains of paradise

1 tablespoon angelica

1 teaspoon fennel seed

1 teaspoon cumin seed

Clarify butter in heavy-bottomed saucepan at low heat for 1 hour.  Remove from heat, pour over thinly sliced truffles.  Let steep for 1 hour.  Strain through sieve into large, non-reactive container.  Pour rye in with butter, let steep airtight for 6 weeks. Freeze overnight to let separate. Strain off butter & all solids, returning rye to container. Add rose hips, orange peel, & qussia. Let steep for 10 days.  Add remaining spices & seasonings, let steep for 3 more days. Strain, add 1 tablespoon caramelized sugar syrup. Pour through funnel into oak barrel (treated with fine sherry for previous 6 weeks). Let age for 3 months. Strain, filter through brita filter & bottle.

Humble Pie

1 oz Laird's bonded applejack

1 oz Famous Grouse blended scotch

1/4 oz ginger syrup (2:1)

1 teaspoon rich demerara syrup (2:1)

4 dashes pimento dram

1 dash Angostura bitters

2 grinds black peppercorn

Candied ginger

Stir all ingredients with ice, strain over a large ice cube in a  rocks glass.  
Garnish with a piece of candied ginger on a small skewer. 


Stay tuned later tonight for two more holiday recipes from the Teardrop Lounge!


More Holiday Drinks!
[[ Teardrop Lounge Part 2 ]]

[["Yukon Cornelius" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ "The Rockefeller" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ The Hot Toddy ]]
[[ Winter drinks from Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco ]]
[[ "Bear Skin" from The Refinery in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Cold & Delicious" from The Violet Hour in Chicago ]]
[[ The history of Eggnog ]]
[[ "Gold," "Frankincense," and "Myrrh" from Trevor Kallies in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Old Saint Juan" from Shea Hogan in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Hot Buttered Rhum Cider" from Slanted Door in San Francisco ]]
[[ The history of mulled wine ]]
[[ The history of The Flip ]]
[[ Hot Buttered Rum ]]

Winter Cocktails: "The Yukon Cornelius" from Veneto in Victoria

Last week Veneto shared their "Rockefeller" - a Manhattan with chai-spiced whiskey. Bar manager Simon Ogden has contributed another tasty winter drink, again employing the infused rye. This nog finds its name from the 1964 holiday stop-motion classic, "Rudolph: The Red-Nosed Reindeer." In the film, Rudolph meets the self-proclaimed "greatest prospector in the north," Yukon Cornelius, who eventually finds what he's spent his whole life seeking: the legendary peppermint mine. This drink is brimming with Christmas flavours, and is an excellent reason to make a chestnut syrup, which makes for some festive baking as well as cocktails.

The Yukon Cornelius

2 oz Chai spice-infused rye whiskey

1/2oz chestnut-infused syrup

A whisper of Menthe Pastille mint liqueur

1 whole egg

Dry shake all ingredients together, then shake briskly with ice and strain. 

Finish with a little fresh-grated nutmeg and cinnamon bark.

More Holiday Drinks!
[["Yukon Cornelius" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ "The Rockefeller" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ The Hot Toddy ]]
[[ Winter drinks from Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco ]]
[[ "Bear Skin" from The Refinery in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Cold & Delicious" from The Violet Hour in Chicago ]]
[[ The history of Eggnog ]]
[[ "Gold," "Frankincense," and "Myrrh" from Trevor Kallies in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Old Saint Juan" from Shea Hogan in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Hot Buttered Rhum Cider" from Slanted Door in San Francisco ]]
[[ The history of mulled wine ]]
[[ The history of The Flip ]]
[[ Hot Buttered Rum ]]

Winter Cocktails: Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco

Today we get to try some Christmas rum drinks courtesy of one of the greatest rum bars there is: Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco. This is one of the coolest bars I've ever seen, and has the biggest rum selection I've ever seen. The bartenders here, headed by Martin Cate, are Tiki masters, and the menu boasts some ancient, classic, and contemporary drinks with complicated and secret recipes. You can see a little more information on Smuggler's Cove here in a post during Amaro April.

Martin has kindly donated recipes for two of their delicious winter cocktails - the Spiced Manhattan and the Wilford Brimley. The former is familiar but uses both a Jamaican rum and a spiced one from St. Lucia that brings Christmas flavours like nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, clove, vanilla, and citrus. The latter cocktail employs a hot buttered rum batter, the recipe for which Smuggler's Cove keeps secret, but there are plenty of variations online that you can try. (Here is Zig Zag's recipe on the Small Screen Network, for example.) The finished product, as Martin puts it, "should look like a cappuccino. It gives you a white milk mustache when you drink it, hence the name. It's the ultimate caloric death bomb."

Cheers to Smuggler's Cove for the holiday recipes and for being an amazing bar! If you're anywhere near San Francisco, this has to be your next bar visit.


Spiced Manhattan – by Justin Oliver
1 oz Chairman's Reserve Spiced Rum
1 oz Smith & Cross rum
1 oz Dolin Sweet Vermouth
2 dashes Bittermens Tiki Bitters

Stirred over ice and served with an orange twist.


Wilford Brimley - by Dane Barca
1 heaping barspoon of hot buttered rum batter
1 oz Coco Lopez coconut cream
1 oz  Lemon Hart 151 rum

Cream ingredients together in 6 oz irish coffee glass. 
Fill with hot water.
Float 1 oz lightly beaten and sweetened cream on top.
Top with grated cinnamon.

[ A note to Canadian drinkers: unfortunately we can't get Dolin vermouth nor Smith & Cross rum up here, so you'll have to substitute as you see fit. Of the sweet vermouths available, Cinzano Rosso and Carpano Antica are the only ones worth using. As lovely as Carpano is, it has a tendency to overpower certain drinks, so keep that in mind. For the rum, Chairman's is available though likely only through independent stores, and the Smith & Cross can be substituted by another Jamaican rum like Appleton Estate (the 12 year is my favourite for the price). ]


More Holiday Drinks!
[["Yukon Cornelius" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ "The Rockefeller" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ The Hot Toddy ]]
[[ Winter drinks from Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco ]]
[[ "Bear Skin" from The Refinery in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Cold & Delicious" from The Violet Hour in Chicago ]]
[[ The history of Eggnog ]]
[[ "Gold," "Frankincense," and "Myrrh" from Trevor Kallies in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Old Saint Juan" from Shea Hogan in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Hot Buttered Rhum Cider" from Slanted Door in San Francisco ]]
[[ The history of mulled wine ]]
[[ The history of The Flip ]]
[[ Hot Buttered Rum ]]

Winter Cocktails: "Gold," "Frankincense," and "Myrrh" by Trevor Kallies in Vancouver

There are a lot of newcomers to the site this month, and today I have the pleasure of sharing three drinks from a Vancouver veteran. Trevor Kallies is currently the bar and beverage director for the Donnelly Group, owners of sixteen bars, nightclubs, pubs, and barber shops in the city. He is an award-winning bartender and also a director and founding member of the Canadian Professional Bartenders Association. 

Trevor is graciously sharing recipes for three holiday drinks he's been working on, all festively named and all using a Kale & Nori Bittered Sling Extract, a line of bitters created by local chef and mixologist team Jonathan Chovancek and Lauren Mote.

Gold

1oz Jameson Irish Whiskey

1oz Benedictine

1 barspoon peach-jalapeño preserves

3 dashes Bittered Sling Plum & Rootbeer bitters

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass rimmed with gold flakes. 

Frankincense

1.5oz Beefeater 24

1oz white grapefruit juice

0.5oz Yellow Chartreuse

3 dashes Bittered Sling Orange & Juniper bitters

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a spruce tip.

 
Myrrh

1oz Glenlivet Scotch Whisky

1oz Tio Pepe dry sherry

0.5oz Lillet

3 dashes Bittered Sling Moondog bitters

Stir ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with mandarin orange zest layered with cranberries on a pick.  

[[ Photography by Fred Fung ]]


More Holiday Drinks!
[["Yukon Cornelius" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ "The Rockefeller" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ The Hot Toddy ]]
[[ Winter drinks from Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco ]]
[[ "Bear Skin" from The Refinery in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Cold & Delicious" from The Violet Hour in Chicago ]]
[[ The history of Eggnog ]]
[[ "Gold," "Frankincense," and "Myrrh" from Trevor Kallies in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Old Saint Juan" from Shea Hogan in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Hot Buttered Rhum Cider" from Slanted Door in San Francisco ]]
[[ The history of mulled wine ]]
[[ The history of The Flip ]]
[[ Hot Buttered Rum ]]

Winter Cocktails: "The Rockefeller" from Veneto in Victoria

Today Katie McDonald from Veneto Tapa Lounge in Victoria gives us her Christmas Manhattan. It's named in honour of the plaza dead-centre of the city where the lighting of New York's giant Christmas tree is an annual tradition: The Rockefeller.

She infuses a Canadian whisky with a Chai tea, which employs the usual Christmas suspects: cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, allspice, and cardamom.

The Rockefeller

2oz Chai spice-infused Alberta Premium Rye Whisky

1oz Cinzano Rosso

2 dashes Aromatic Bitters

Gently stir all ingredients together and strain into a chilled coupe, 

garnish with a brandied cherry and some torched orange oil.

Bar manager Simon Ogden explains the Chai: "We infuse ours with Silk Road Chai, made by a Victoria-based tea company, but it's fun to make your own as well from winter spices. It doesn't take much to infuse, maybe an hour, and it can definitely overpower the whiskey if you're not careful."

Searching online for homemade Chai brings an array of recipes and is fun to do during this season anyway, so give it a try!

Click below to see other drinks from Veneto:

Pandemonium from Fernet February

Cherry Bob-omb from Maraschino March

The Barjonesing

The Satchmo from the Fall Cocktails series

[["Yukon Cornelius" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ "The Rockefeller" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ The Hot Toddy ]]
[[ Winter drinks from Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco ]]
[[ "Bear Skin" from The Refinery in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Cold & Delicious" from The Violet Hour in Chicago ]]
[[ The history of Eggnog ]]
[[ "Gold," "Frankincense," and "Myrrh" from Trevor Kallies in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Old Saint Juan" from Shea Hogan in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Hot Buttered Rhum Cider" from Slanted Door in San Francisco ]]
[[ The history of mulled wine ]]
[[ The history of The Flip ]]
[[ Hot Buttered Rum ]]

Winter Cocktails: Old Saint Juan by Shea Hogan in Vancouver

Today we have a change of pace in terms of style. Shea Hogan from Vancouver's West and Bitter brings us a mezcal cocktail simple in ingredients but dense and robust in flavour. A cocktail that makes me really think of winter is the Trinidad Sour, employing a full ounce of Angostura bitters to give heavy hits of cinnamon, clove, and other Christmas-like spices (something only possible by balancing with orgeat). Here, Shea uses 3/4oz along with the mezcal for a very spicy and smoky winter drink.
He explains it himself:

"It's rather simple, but that's my style. I like to create drinks that almost anyone can make almost anywhere and that are still delicious while holding true to the theme I'm tasked with. Inspired from the aromas of Christmas, mezcal conjures up memories of sitting around the fireplace, watching the flames dance late at night all season long. Sombra mezcal comes from a little village called San Juan, 100 kilometers or so south of Oaxaca. San Juan means Saint John, Santa is Old Saint Nick... you get the idea."

Old Saint Juan
1 1/2 oz Mezcal (Sombra preferred, though Fidencio works nicely as well)
3/4 oz Angostura Bitters
3/4 oz simple syrup (1:1)
1/2 oz lime juice

Shake ingredients with ice and double strain into couple glass, 
garnish with one decent sized mint leaf.


You can see Shea's drink from last month's Halloween series here





[["Yukon Cornelius" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ "The Rockefeller" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ The Hot Toddy ]]
[[ Winter drinks from Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco ]]
[[ "Bear Skin" from The Refinery in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Cold & Delicious" from The Violet Hour in Chicago ]]
[[ The history of Eggnog ]]
[[ "Gold," "Frankincense," and "Myrrh" from Trevor Kallies in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Old Saint Juan" from Shea Hogan in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Hot Buttered Rhum Cider" from Slanted Door in San Francisco ]]
[[ The history of mulled wine ]]
[[ The history of The Flip ]]
[[ Hot Buttered Rum ]]

Winter Cocktails: Mulled Wine & Cider (Glögg, Glühwein, & Wassail)

Opening the door to a discussion of mulled wine would result in hours of debate and anecdote, (made all the more difficult if simultaneously consuming said wine). This can be proved simply by listing even a handful of its names and variations: Glühwein, Glögg/Gløgg, vin chaud, greyano vino, izvar, Glintwein, Caribou, Hippocras, Negus, and Feuerzangenbowle. It can have different bases, such as port (called a "Smoking Bishop"), ginger wine and raisins ("Smoking Beadle"), or Champagne ("Smoking Cardinal"). Then there are the mulled ciders, ales, and meads, and the close relation to punch, bringing with it further wealth of history and variation. The number of cultures with a version of this theme is mind-boggling, but the purpose behind the practice is consistently the same.

Before proper storage techniques were invented, food and drink spoiled fairly quickly. One had to be creative to keep food fresh longer or at least to make stale and spoiling food more tolerable (practices that also masked poor-quality products). In Roman times, spices and sugars or honey were added to wines to delay spoilage or mask flavours, typically a practice done in the early winter once the wines harvested in early fall began to stale. This practice dates back to Greece as well, where a wine, spice, and honey mixture called "Hippocras" or "Hypocrace" (supposedly created by Hippocrates as a health tonic) was used and later became popular England for the next thousand years. Other cultures figured out similar strategies for wines and juices and as years passed practical process became tradition.

In Southern England where apples and cider (fermented fruit juice) were an important part of agriculture, a yearly autumn ritual was created sometime before the 11th century called "Wassailing." This was a ceremony celebrated in early January involving drink and song that blessed the health of the trees, scared away evil spirits, and ensured a good harvest for the following autumn. (Wassailing was also a traditional exchange between lords and peasants in the middle ages that encouraged charity, which is the origin of what we consider Christmas Caroling, but has no direct relation to drinking). The drink for this ceremony was aptly named the "Wassail," a heated ale (and later cider) mulled with sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and sometimes fruit, brandy, sherry, and even bread.

By the 18th century, most cultures had a solid tradition and recipe for mulled wine. We will only look at a few of the most popular here: Glühwein and Glögg (pronounced "gloo-vine" and "gluig"). While similar, the differences in alcohol, spice, and garnish are very important to those who carry the tradition. Every town has its own secret recipe, so I am amalgamating the ones I've come across as there are several consistencies. The one thing I don't like in my mulled wine is fruit juice, and this doesn't show up very often save for more modern North American versions. It's not necessary and mutes the spice.

Glühwein (German Mulled Wine, dating to early 15th century)
1 bottle of dry red wine (750ml)
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 lemon or orange, sliced
10 whole cloves
3-5 cinnamon sticks

Pour the wine into a large pot and add other ingredients. Simmer at low heat (do not boil) for 30-60 minutes and serve.
There are MANY options here, including adding some allspice berries, maybe a 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg, and adding some water should you simmer the wine too long or too hot, which will make it thick and syrupy.
Serve in warmed mugs, and optionally add an ounce of brandy to make things interesting. Do not add the brandy to the heated mixture as the alcohol will boil off.
(Feuerzangenbowle is a Glühwein that leaves a sugarloaf soaked in rum then set aflame sitting atop the wine, slowly dripping sugar into the mix.)

Glögg (Nordic Mulled Wine dating to early 17th century)
1 bottle of dry red wine
1 bottle of port
[2 cups brandy (optionally akvavit or vodka)]
2 cups water
1 peel of orange (the whole orange), cut into strips
10 cardamom pods or about 1/2 tsp of cardamom seeds
10 whole cloves
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup blanched almonds
1 cup sugar (or less to taste)
2 cinnamon sticks
3-5 slices of peeled ginger (optional)

Processes consistently differ, with some boiling the brandy with sugar to create a syrup with which to sweeten the mulled wine and port mixture. Myself, I prefer the highest alcohol content and flavour possible in my drinks, so I prefer to add the brandy last to each mug before serving, as with the Glühwein. The 2 cups of brandy above is a measurement if combining it to the wine mixture while heating, but if you choose not to do this as I have, just measure 1-2oz of brandy per mug before serving. Having said that, here the best process:
Combine wine, port, water, orange peel, cardamom, cloves, sugar (start with 1/2 cup), cinnamon, and ginger in a pot and simmer at low heat for 10 minutes. Add more sugar to taste. At this point you can optionally let the mixture cool and have it steep in the fridge overnight before reheating to maximize the flavour. For those of you like me who are less patient, keep the mixture at low heat for another 20 minutes or so, being careful not to boil. Prepare 10 mugs by warming them and dishing out about 1tsp of almonds and raisins to each, along with the brandy if not used in the first step. Strain mulled wine into each mug and garnish optionally with a fresh orange zest or whole clove (or better yet, an orange zest with a whole clove stabbed into it).
To be further adventurous, you can soak the almonds and raisins beforehand in a mixture of spice and akvavit. Leave them in a sealed bag or container for at least 24 hours with some cardamom seeds, cloves, and cinnamon, and enough akvavit to ensure they're covered. Even just soaking in the akvavit will extract a surprising amount of flavour from the spirit, which includes caraway, cardamom, cumin, anise, fennel, and citrus. For anyone not accustomed the flavour of this spirit, soaking the raisins and nuts and adding them to the mug when served is a subtle and fancy addition of the flavour.

Mulled cider is another very common and fitting winter drink (and is synonymous with Wassail today). I feel it would be redundant to list a recipe here. Following either of the above mulled wine recipes or variations thereof would work just fine if cider is substituted for the wine and the sugar is omitted. For all three drinks, other spices that would make great additions include a little nutmeg, whole star anise, allspice berries, and a few slices of citrus. Broken cinnamon bark can be used in place of cinnamon sticks, though use it more sparingly as it has higher surface area. I again stress that adding the spirit while serving and not while steeping is a better option to ensure full flavour and alcohol.

[["Yukon Cornelius" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ "The Rockefeller" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ The Hot Toddy ]]
[[ Winter drinks from Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco ]]
[[ "Bear Skin" from The Refinery in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Cold & Delicious" from The Violet Hour in Chicago ]]
[[ The history of Eggnog ]]
[[ "Gold," "Frankincense," and "Myrrh" from Trevor Kallies in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Old Saint Juan" from Shea Hogan in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Hot Buttered Rhum Cider" from Slanted Door in San Francisco ]]
[[ The history of mulled wine ]]
[[ The history of The Flip ]]
[[ Hot Buttered Rum ]]

Winter Cocktails: The Flip

"The Flip" is one of the earliest recorded mixed drinks, dating back to at least the late 17th century in colonial American taverns. Sugar or molasses, spices, and rum were added to a large bowl of beer, a practice likely derived from masking or delaying spoilage similar to mulling wine. A red hot loggerhead, or fire poker, was inserted into the mixture, causing it to froth and the sugar to caramelize - a process called "flipping." As far as is known the recipe remained unchanged until the mid-19th century, listed in Jerry Thomas' seminal tome "How To Mix Drinks" (1862). Here warmed ale and a mixture of eggs, sugar, rum or brandy, and ground nutmeg, ginger, and lemon peel are tossed between pitchers until smooth (perhaps another origin of the name "flip"). Likely due to the streamlining of this time-intensive process, the Flip (like the Punch before it) evolved into a single-glass drink and the hot temperature became optional. In Thomas' 1887 revision of his book he included seven cold and six hot Flips, each listed simply as a liquor with egg, sugar, and water (hot or ice), topped with freshly ground nutmeg.

(A note here that while the modern [meaning 19th century] Flip seems similar to Egg Nog, they differ in one important aspect: milk. Nog contains milk or cream while the Flip does not. It  was often made in a punch bowl, but like the Flip it did have a by-the-glass recipe as well. More on Nog later this month.)  

Flips have evolved into a whole range of uniquely satisfying drinks, and I will be sharing some modern ones soon. For now I'll share Jerry Thomas' 1887 recipes for both a Hot and Cold Flip, and then his Hot English Flip of old.

Hot Flip (Jerry Thomas, 1887)
1 tsp sugar 

1 wine-glass liquor (2oz) 

Yolk of one egg

Dissolve the sugar in a little hot water, add the brandy and egg, shake up thoroughly. Pour into a
medium bar-glass and fill it one-half full of boiling water. Grate a little nutmeg on top, and serve.

Here, many liquors are possible. Thomas listed brandy, rum, Holland gin, and whiskey, but feel free to experiment. For the sugar, you can replace it with the same amount of 2:1 simple syrup, or twice the amount of 1:1.

Cold Flip (Jerry Thomas, 1887)

1 tsp powdered sugar 

1 wine-glass of liquor (2oz)

A little water
1 fresh egg
2-3 lumps of ice

Dissolve the sugar in the water, add the liquor, egg, and ice, shake up thoroughly. Strain into a small bar-glass. Grate a little nutmeg on top, serve. 

Thomas here listed brandy, rum, Holland gin, whiskey, port, and sherry. When shaking a Cold Flip, ensure you shake long and hard to really emulsify the egg. See above for replacing sugar with simple syrup.

Lastly, here is the original Flip using ale and rum.

Hot English Rum Flip (Jerry Thomas, 1887)

1 quart of ale
1 gill of old rum (4oz)
4 raw fresh eggs
4oz of moist sugar
1 tsp of grated nutmeg (or ginger)

Heat the ale in a saucepan ; beat up the eggs and sugar, add the nutmeg and rum, and put it all in a pitcher. When the ale is near to a boil, put it in another pitcher, pour it very gradually in the pitcher containing the eggs, etc, stirring all the while very briskly to prevent the eggs from curdling, then pour the contents of the two pitchers from one to the other until the mixture is as smooth as cream.

To make a "Hot English Ale Flip," simply omit the rum and two of the eggs. 

[[Photograph from "Stagecoach and Tavern Days" by Alice Morse Earle, 1900]]

[["Yukon Cornelius" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ "The Rockefeller" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ The Hot Toddy ]]
[[ Winter drinks from Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco ]]
[[ "Bear Skin" from The Refinery in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Cold & Delicious" from The Violet Hour in Chicago ]]
[[ The history of Eggnog ]]
[[ "Gold," "Frankincense," and "Myrrh" from Trevor Kallies in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Old Saint Juan" from Shea Hogan in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Hot Buttered Rhum Cider" from Slanted Door in San Francisco ]]
[[ The history of mulled wine ]]
[[ The history of The Flip ]]
[[ Hot Buttered Rum ]]

Winter Cocktails: The Hot Toddy

Winter is here! This is probably my favourite time of year. Decorations, lights, Christmas music and movies, warm fires, presents, and of course, winter drinks. In October we looked at both classic and contemporary seasonal drinks that were tasteful, and this month I'm going to be doing it all over again with a winter and Christmas theme. We'll start off by looking at the classics in their original incarnations. After that we'll be looking at some contemporary versions and new creations from a handful of great bars from all over the place, including a lot of newcomers to the site.

To begin it seems fitting to start with, well, the beginning. Foregoing a detailed history of mixed alcoholic drinks (for which you read David Wondrich's "Imbibe," if you haven't already), a simple description of the progression will suffice to bring us to out first winter drink, the Hot Toddy. The beginning of the mixed drink can essentially be be credited to punch, being a combination of wines and/or spirits with fruits and sugars that dates back to the 16th century. Throughout the next two hundred years the desire for a faster and therefore smaller version of these drinks came about, which brought us to the Collins, Daisy, Fizz, Cooler, and Cobbler. By the mid 18th century, further simplifications of these drinks came about, removing fruit from the equation, and likely due to this decision happening during the winter, hot water often replaced the cold. Now we simply have spirit, sugar, and water, with varying garnishes. These drinks were, like all mixed drinks at one time, considered medicinal - a cure for ailments of any kind, particularly those of the stomach. These drinks were named the Toddy, Sling, Julep, Smash, Sangaree, and Skin.

Now this collection of drinks were essentially all the same save their garnish and their temperature, which of course became confusing for patrons and bartenders alike. For example, a Toddy could be either hot or cold, and by the late 1800's was sometimes garnished with nutmeg, while the Sling could also be hot or cold and was always garnished with nutmeg. Both were simply spirit, sugar, and water. A cold Toddy with shaved ice garnished with orange slices and a little mint is a Smash, a cold Sling with shaved ice and mint instead of nutmeg was a Julep, and so on and so forth. Over the next hundred years or so these drinks all evolved into much more distinguishable but often terrible drinks, incorporating liqueurs and juices galore.

In the winter, a hot Sling or Toddy is a beautiful thing, and if you haven't tried a traditional one, today is the day. They're extremely simple to make and will warm you like you never thought possible. The recipe is from the 'grandfather of mixology' himself, Jerry Thomas in his 1862 tome, "How to Mix Drinks or the Bon Vivant's Companion" (essentially the first book on bartending). While future generations of Toddies suggest using honey instead of sugar and adding lemon juice, I suggest doing neither. The simplicity of the drink is wonderful. If you want to make the drink more modern I make one suggestion: add bitters (thereby making it a hot Cock-tail). Angostura is often best, but try pairing Peychaud's with brandy or Scotch, Bitter Truth's Jerry Thomas' Decanter Bitters with rum or brandy, or any kind of aromatic bitters that pleases you.


Hot Toddy
2oz of spirit
3-4oz hot water
1tsp sugar

Stir with a spoon.

Thomas' 1887 revision adds further instruction: "First rinse the glass with hot water, put in the sugar, fill the glass half-full of boiling water, add the spirits and stir."

As for the choice of spirit, use what you like or try them all and find your favourite. As with any drink, but particularly simple ones, the better the quality of spirit the better your drink will be, so use a good product if you can. There's something wonderful about a Brandy Toddy, but a Scotch or Bourbon one is wonderful as well. As for rum, I might suggest going fancy and making a Hot Buttered Rum, which I will discuss very soon.

Adding a nice large piece of lemon peel and removing the sugar (the former is delicious and the latter I don't suggest) makes this a "Skin." If using whiskey, this becomes a "Whiskey Skin," for example. Adding full slices of citrus makes for quite a different drink that should not bear the name "Toddy." Stick with the peel or nothing.

Originally, the Toddy was distinguished from the Sling by its absence of nutmeg, but later versions of the drink often included it as a garnish. Use at your discretion. As always, the freshest ingredients are the best, so grate your nutmeg if you can instead of using pre-ground.

As for sugar, raw or Demorera sugar (and simple syrup) is always best in mixed drinks as it gives a richer flavour. I only suggest using white sugar if you are hellbent on maintaining a clear colour in you drinks, as the raw sugar is brown. If you don't have sugar handy for some reason, you can use the same amount of 2:1 simple syrup, or twice the amount of 1:1.



Stay tuned for more classic winter drinks.


[["Yukon Cornelius" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ "The Rockefeller" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ The Hot Toddy ]]
[[ Winter drinks from Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco ]]
[[ "Bear Skin" from The Refinery in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Cold & Delicious" from The Violet Hour in Chicago ]]
[[ The history of Eggnog ]]
[[ "Gold," "Frankincense," and "Myrrh" from Trevor Kallies in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Old Saint Juan" from Shea Hogan in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Hot Buttered Rhum Cider" from Slanted Door in San Francisco ]]
[[ The history of mulled wine ]]
[[ The history of The Flip ]]
[[ Hot Buttered Rum ]]