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: 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 ]]