Mixology Monday: Christmas Cheer

Mixology Monday: Christmas Cheer

This round of Mixology Monday, kindly hosted by Kevin of Beers in the Shower, carries the theme of "Money Drinks." According to the MxMo announcement post, that means a drink with wide appeal -- and it also means a top shelf twist on a classic drink. My submission aims for both categories, with holiday festivity thrown in as well.

This drink -- dubbed Christmas Cheer -- features lemon and orange sour flavors with the earthy caramel appeal of dark rum, tempered with fizzy dry champagne. This combination results in a balanced taste that should appeal to a variety of palates. This drink is also money because of the esteemed pedigree of its base liquors. Finally, it plays on the currency of holiday punches in the cocktail scene, reducing the bowl of rum, citrus, sugar and fizz to a simple glass full of holiday cheer.

Christmas Cheer

2 oz aged rum (I used Cruzan dark rum)
1/2 oz Grand Marnier
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Juice of 1/2 orange
1/2 oz simple syrup
Brut champagne

Shake rum, Grand Marnier, juices and syrup together with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Top with champagne. If you like, garnish with a strip of orange or lemon.

A Bitter Late Fall's Day

A couple of weeks ago I made another run at seasonal bitters. The fat pomegranates at all the stores were all the inspiration I needed. The ruby color and rummy background present a host of holiday options.


Pomegranate Orange Bitters

Arils of one large pomegranate
4 oz overproof rum (I used Bacardi 151)
1 oz Grand Marnier

Combine ingredients in a flat-bottomed mixing bowl. Muddle until arils are crushed. Cover and store overnight. Strain into a small bottle.

Gingerbread Liqueur Contest, Revisited

I'd like to extend my thanks to Samantha at Cocktail Culture and to Hiram Walker for hosting their contest to create a new drink using Hiram Walker gingerbread liqueur. I was fortunate enough to enter and win with the Bronze Autumn Cocktail. Please check out Cocktail Culture to see the amazingly creative entries other bloggers submitted.

The prize was a bottle of the hard to find spirit of my choice. Remembering how much I enjoyed Midleton Irish whiskey while in Ireland, I asked for a bottle of the limited run of Midleton Single Cask. Little did I know what a challenge that was to get. Samantha and others really went above and beyond, because the distiller had concerns with shipping a bottle, but came thorugh in the end.

On Wednesday night, after a nasty ice storm, FedEx arduously delivered the long awaited box. Now the only only challenge is how best to drink it. I plan to share it with the friends who helped me choose among the various entries for the contest, and with another who lived in Ireland for a time. The rest I might just enjoy myself, adorned only with a couple of chunks of clear, bottled-water ice already frozen just for the occasion.

So, Samantha and Hiram Walker, thanks so much -- it has been a challenge and lot of fun.

Slainte!

Glad Tidings

At this time of year, a refreshing and colorful cocktail with seasonal ingredients is key. So much moreso if it is simple. In that spirit, check out the Glad Tidings cocktail. Happy holidays to all.


Glad Tidings

2 oz vodka
1 oz triple sec
1 oz pomegranate juice
Clementine soda (I used Izze)
1/2 oz grenadine

Shake first three ingredients together with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Top with clementine soda and add grenadine.

Holly Berry Cocktail

Determined to create a new holiday cocktail, I shook up some festive and seasonal ingredients for the Holly Berry Cocktail. To enhance the fresh holiday experience, snip some soft evergreen tips -- I used clippings from my fir tree -- and nestle them around the glass, along with some thicker stem clippings that pack a stronger scent. This garnish would work well with other cocktails as well, such as the peppermint martini.

Holly Berry Cocktail

2 oz vodka
1 oz triple sec
1 oz pomegranate schnapps
1/2 oz peppermint schnapps
Juice of 1/4 lime
Juice of 1/2 clementine

Shake ingredients together with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Gingerbread in a Glass

A couple of weeks ago I was delighted to receive an invitation to join a contest to create cocktails using Hiram Walker gingerbread liqueur. This liqueur has a delicious flavor that plays into a host of different drinks. In the span of a few days I shook up eight potential entries and invited some good friends (with equally good palates) over to sort them out. One of them bubbled to the top -- a drink pairing subtle apple vodka with the distinctive gingerbread liqueur, topped with dry champagne to balance the sweetness and add its elegance and effervescence. I was tempted to by other complex and decadent creations, but in the end the simplicity and complementary flavors won the day.

By the way, those flavorful (if sometimes drably named) runners up are posted here:

Gingerbread with Caramel Three Ways
Vanilla Gingerbread Cream
Gingerbread Runner-Up #1
Gingerbread Runner-Up #2
Gingerbread Runner-Up #3

And now for the bubbly standout:

Bronze Autumn Cocktail

2 oz apple vodka (I used Van Gogh Wild Appel vodka)
1 oz Hiram Walker gingerbread liqueur
Dry champagne

Shake liquors together with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Top with champagne. Garnish with an apple slice and a disc of crystallized ginger.

Bubbly Snowbird

A New Year's Resolution

I fear I have disappointed a friend. Stacey (as in Stacey's Vietnamese Buzzsaw) asked me what I would drink on New Year's Eve, and if I had any practical suggestions, considering that recent posts have called for a bit more hard-to-find ingredients. (Sub Rosa is working hard on that, by the way!) Unfortunately, I didn't get the e-mail until late and failed to respond.

The champagne cocktail is an easy choice this time of year, and a batch of Snowbird Rum Runner left from a dinner party last night looked inviting. They made a great pair...and I hereby just need to resolve to be more responsive in 2008.


Bubbly Snowbird

2 oz Snowbird Rum Runner
2 oz dry champage

Pour Snowbird Rum Runner into a champage flute. Top with champagne.

Tuaca Pom Fizz

It's true of both food and drink -- often a pairing of a few quality ingredients results in the best flavors. That certainly was the case with Tuaca and pomegranate soda.

Tuaca Pom Fizz

2 oz Tuaca
2 oz Izze pomegranate soda

Stir together with ice in a highball glass.

Mixology Monday -- Snowbird Rum Runner

Thanks to Jeffrey Morgenthaler for hosting the last MxMo of 2007, with the particularly rich theme of Repeal Day. I'll take up the offer to post an original drink inspired by the Prohibition Era.

The usual image Prohibition is a crew of revelers gathered around a bathtub of gin in a crowded urban basement. Let's not forget that while these parties were jumping in the cities, further south rum runners were smuggling rum and other liquors into the States. Considering that Prohobition Era liquors often were not, shall we say, of sipping quality, this cocktail gives a nod to the rum runner's pluck, the flavors of the season and the forgiving nature of assertive mixers.

Snowbird Rum Runner

1/2 oz white rum

1/2 oz gold rum

1/2 oz pineapple rum

1/2 oz Chambord

1/2 oz triple sec

1/2 oz pomegranate schnapps

1/4 oz grenadine

1/2 oz freshly squeezed orange juice

Shake ingredients together with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Sloe Cherry Fizz

A richly red drink, perfect for the holidays.

Sloe Cherry Fizz

2 oz gin
1 oz sloe gin
Cherry soda

Combine gin and sloe gin with ice in a double old fashioned glass. Top with soda.

Autumn Punch

Autumn Punch

2 parts apple cider

1 part applejack

1 part pomegranate schnapps

1 part pomegranate soda

For a cocktail, one part equals one ounce; stir ingredients together with ice in a double old-fashioned glass. For a crowd, simply expand the proportions and serve in a pitcher or a punch bowl.

Caramel Apple Shots

A whimsical drink in tune with the onset of fall.


Caramel Apple Shots


First Shot:

1/2 oz apple vodka
1/2 oz sour apple schnapps


Second Shot:

1/2 oz caramel Irish cream liqueur
Dash cinnamon schnapps


Shake ingredients for each shot together with ice and strain into a shot glass. Drink apple shot followed by Irish cream shot.