Snowed In? Here, Have a Drink…

Well, it happened.  Snow fell by the centimeter in the Seattle area and, predictably, everyone freaked out.  If you want my advice, which I assume you always do, the first thing you should do is go build a snowman or have a snowball fight with the neighborhood kids.  Enjoy the snow while it lasts.  After you’ve had your fun and pummeled the neighbor’s twelve year old with a snowball attack that could take down an adult grizzly bear, you should treat yourself to a nice warm drink… here are three great suggestions for a cold winter’s night.

Blood Orange Hot Toddy

Blood Orange Hot Toddy

10 oz Blood Orange Rachel’s Ginger Beer

2oz Bourbon

Star anise and clove garnish

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Heat the ginger beer in a tea kettle pour into a heatproof mug, add whiskey and garnishes to taste.  It’s delicious but, full disclosure, I’ve yet to make to make this one at home (hence the bad photo at the RGB bar in Pike Place).

The Bourbon Furnace

The Bourbon Furnace

5oz hot apple cider

1.5oz Bourbon

0.5oz Allspice Dram

Apple slice (garnish)

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Combine ingredients in a heatproof mug, sip, enjoy, relax.  Be warm.  See my Cocktail Christmas write up on this delicious drink here.

Never Dry Hot Toddy

4oz Hot Water

2oz Goslings Black Seal Rum

0.5oz Allspice Dram

0.5oz Simple Syrup

2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Lemon wheel studded with cloves

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The photo on the right is not my hot toddy.  It’s a fantasy of what this drink should look like.  The Never Dry Hot Toddy is not photogenic, in fact it comes out looking like dark black tea, but it is damn good. Like, really good.

It’s by far the best iteration of a hot toddy that I have ever even heard of.  That’s right, it’s the real deal.  I’m proud enough of this drink to put my name on it and send it out in batches to my friends.  It’s not only a great drink, it’s  a miracle cure.  It will get rid of your flu or cold.  It might even have other magic properties to it that haven’t been discovered yet.  Get on that.

Anyway, I hope you try these three great winter drinks and enjoy them on a cold day like today…preferably by the fire.  Even if that fire is an app on your iPhone.

Cheers!

Sugar & Spice Makes Everything Nice – None but the Brave

Full disclosure, I made three of these to get it right and I didn’t just throw the other attempts out when they weren’t perfect.  I was pretty happy with my previous attempts.  I just knew I could make it better and get a better balance and find the right recipe to make this drink amazing.  This drink is like taking a deep inhale in a cabinet full of fresh spices.  It’s challenging and entertaining and will leave you sneezing… but maybe that’s just the congestion that I can’t seem to shake.

The original recipe for this cocktail shows up in a 1956 book called the “Official Mixers Manual” and it bounces around into a few different books before landing on the one I liked from Stan Jones’ Bar Guide.  The recipes vary widely from the original which included something called Jamaican Ginger, a highly alcoholic ginger extract, which I couldn’t seem to locate anywhere in Seattle.  Other recipes turn the drink into a highball with a float of ginger beer on the rocks.  For tonight though, I wanted a cocktail.  I tried out the Stan Jones recipe but added a garnish to return the drink to something closer to the original recipe.

None but the Brave

1.5oz Brandy

0.5oz Allspice Dram

0.25oz Simple Syrup

0.25oz Dark Rum

0.25oz Fresh Lemon Juice

Garnish with lemon peel & crystallized ginger

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Mix ingredients over ice in a shaker.  Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass or coupe.  Garnish with lemon peel and small piece of crystallized ginger.

The resulting drink is quite good.  It’s spicy with cinnamon, allspice, and ginger at the forefront.  But it’s also sweet with a little bit of citrus kick to it.  Another variation was a little overpowering as there was just a touch too much allspice dram.  It’s a powerful ingredient and balance is key to this drink.  I like this drink a lot in this proportion.

Just a note on the garnish– The lemon twist should be peeled from the lemon over the glass to make sure that the oils being released when you peel land on the rim and in the drink.  I also twist the lemon over the already made drink.  After you’re done, you just drop it right in.  The crystallized, or candied (whatever you call it), ginger is available at my local QFC and fairly cheap.  To be honest, it didn’t make an appreciable difference in the drink.  It just made me feel classy and like I was doing justice to the original drink.

Stay classy Seattle.

Cheers!

Cocktail Christmas Day 21: The Eagle Rare 10 Lords a’ Leaping

What on earth was the person in The 12 Days of Christmas going to do with the 10 lords a’ leaping?  Do they continuously leap?  If so, I bet they A) have pretty massive quads and B) get thirsty pretty quickly.  Today’s drink is a solid choice for a Lord or Lady with a strong post-leap thirst.

The Eagle Rare 10 Lords a’ Leaping is a unique combination of bourbon, bitters, spice, and lime juice.  The citrus and spice make me a very happy drinker!  Here’s how it’s done…

The Eagle Rare 10 Lords a’ Leaping

2oz Eagle Rare 10 year bourbon

0.5oz fresh lime juice

0.5oz honey syrup

.25oz Allspice Dram

5 dashes Angostura bitters

Combine ingredients over ice, shake or stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The drink isn’t something extremely special but it is a very nice drink that adds an element of holiday cheer to a simple drink.  The Eagle Rare 10 year bourbon is very nice and I normally wouldn’t mix it into a cocktail other than a Manhattan or something similar.  Eagle Rare is a very strongly flavored bourbon with many levels and a powerful punch towards the finish.  It was a hit at the Bourbon tasting I had late last month.  Adding so many other powerful ingredients can overpower a lesser bourbon but the Eagle Rare stands up to the Allspice and bitters quite well.

The honey syrup is simple to make.  Mix equal parts hot water and honey together and let it cool.  It’s just like watered down honey but it mixes well into drinks and gives it a nice clover honey flavor.

Really, this drink could be made with any aged spirit.  The original recipe calls for Scotch (I didn’t have a 10 year scotch and still wanted to make the joke) but I think a good rum or even tequila could work well.  Give it a try and let me know what works.

Cheers!