This recipe is cross-posted (with permission) from the Good Booze kitchen:

Hang onto your helmets, Boozers. Yep, it’s time for that most hallowed of all American days: Super Bowl Sunday. Even as we write, tortilla chips are being crisped for homemade queso, pots of Mom’s secret chili are bubbling, and charcuterie enthusiasts are eagerly stuffing sausage casings. Let the games begin.

We’re pretty sure that you can’t enjoy football without a beer — or two — and a nice cold one can be tasty when you’re tucked up by the telly with a plate of nachos. But what if you’re tailgating in Indianapolis with a portable barbecue brimming with bratwurst? Time for a Tailgater’s Toddy.

If you’ve ever trekked through the frosty Eastern European countryside and stopped off at a roadside pub, then you’ll have encountered what can only be described as mulled beer — basically a strong beer that has been simmered with spices and is served warm in a large mug. The flavor is smooth and dark and brimming over with bone-warming richness; with the explosion of craft breweries across the United States, it’s easy to find a lovely local amber or brown ale or perhaps even a porter to serve as the base for this brew. We like to add just a tot of brandy, although a bit of bourbon would do just as nicely — it helps ease the pain, just in case your team doesn’t grab that trophy. Touchdown!

We like to use a beer that is somewhat malty but with a bite of hops to it — basically providing a balance of bitter and sweet that melds with the fruit and spices. Check out your local brewery and pick up a growler or two to bring home — brewers love to talk about flavor profiles and can suggest which of their beers will work best in this recipe.

4 cups beer (we like our local DC Brau, Port City, and Chocolate City)
1 cinnamon stick
¼ tsp ground cardamom
¼ tsp ground allspice
1 slice of fresh ginger, about an inch in diameter
2 wedges of apple, such as Granny Smith
1 small orange, sliced in half
2 Tbsp honey (an orange blossom honey is nice if you have it)
¼ cup Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye, 1757 Brandy or Pearousia (any of our oaked offerings will do)
Orange wedges for garnish (optional)

Put all ingredients except brandy into a 4-quart saucepan and simmer over very low heat, stirring occasionally, for 30 to 45 minutes. Remove from heat and add whisky/brandy just before serving in mugs or heat-proof glasses with a wedge of orange.

Serves 2 – 4; okay, maybe just 1.

Courtesy Good Booze kitchen, and used with permission.

This recipe is cross-posted with permission from the Warren Bobrow, The Cocktail Whisperer, at Foodista:

In my twisted thoughts, the Moonshine Cate cocktail is named for a hypothetical gal named Cate who ran the Moonshine stills in the dark, humid air of the backwoods in Virginia.

She was quite a cooker and could run like the wind when the Federal Gov't came a knockin'!

The songs of this region speak tales of hardship and clear to the eye, hard likker.

Syrop of Canne is Cane syrup. Could I combine the two, with a squeeze of lime? Certainly! That's what gives me a voice in this oft challenging world of cocktail whispering. I don't just whisper. I shout. Are you listening!?!

Makes two strong drinks that will make you want to jump up and play the fiddle!

4 oz Catoctin Creek Organic Roundstone Rye
1 oz Rhum J.M. Sirop de Canne
1 squirt of Bitter End Bitters (Memphis BBQ)
4 oz of SWEET iced tea
2 coconut water ice cubes (pour unsweetened coconut water in an ice cube tray and freeze)
Hunk of lime
Fresh spearmint

Add a couple regular ice cubes to an cocktail shaker along with the Canne Sirop, Roundstone Rye, sweet tea, and bitters. Shake and strain into a pre-chilled rocks glass. Add a couple cubes of coconut water ice cubes. Garnish with a hunk of lime and a sprig of fresh mint.

Sip and DANCE!

Courtesy Warren Bobrow at Foodista, and used with permission.

Pfeffernüsse are traditional German cookies served at Christmastime.  The cookie is a sharply spiced gingerbread cookie rolled in powdered sugar.  The name, literally, means pepper-nuts, which gives a hint to the ingredients in the cookie.  Here we've reproduced the experience in a cocktail version.  Scofflaw's Den barrel aged bitters provide the spice, with a sharp homemade ginger syrup providing the backbone.  And for a garnish, just a sprinkle of cracked black pepper, to add that authentic German touch.  Schmeckt gut!

2 oz Catoctin Creek Organic Roundstone Rye
1 oz homemade ginger syrup
3-4 dashes of Scofflaw's Den barrel aged bitters
splash of soda
sprinkle of freshly cracked black pepper for garnish

In a cocktail shaker, stir together rye, ginger syrup and bitters with ice.  Strain and pour into rocks glass.  Add 3-4 ice cubes, top off with soda, and sprinkle with fresh cracked black pepper.

Ginger seems to be all the rage these days. Folks are eschewing traditional bland and sweet ginger ale for the bite of a crisp ginger beer. Ginger also soothes the tummy, and herbal ginger teas have been used for years for those feeling not quite up to par.

If you are one of these people who just can't seem to get enough ginger, this is the cocktail for you. A classic Gin Crusta, with ginger, turned up to eleven.

2 oz Catoctin Creek Organic Watershed Gin
Juice from ¼ lemon
½ oz homemade ginger syrup
Gosling's ginger beer
1 slice candied ginger
Lemon peel for garnish

Shake Gin, lemon juice, and syrup with ice. Pour into a martini glass and top off with a floater of ginger beer. Add candied ginger and lemon peel to garnish.

Courtesy Tea Fougner and Emily Landsman.

This modern take on the Old Fashioned may not be kosher, but for those of you who enjoy bacon, it' is a real treat!  The smoke from the meat gives this cocktail an almost Islay Scotch flavor.  Loads and loads of phenols from the bacon and the sweetness of the Roundstone Rye and maple syrup make an enticing combination.

2 oz Benton's Bacon infused Catoctin Creek Organic Roundstone Rye (see below)
½ oz Vermont Maple Syrup
2 dashes orange bitters
Maraschino cherry

In an old fashioned glass, add one Maraschino cherry and ice cubes. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a shaker, shake and pour into the glass, topping with 1 teaspoon of Maraschino cherry juice, and serve!

~~~~~

To make the Benton's Bacon infused Roundstone Rye:

1 bottle of Catoctin Creek Organic Roundstone Rye
1 pound Benton's Bacon

Empty one bottle of Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye into a large glass bowl. In a cast iron pan cook the pound of bacon till crispy. Set the bacon aside and allow the drippings to cool slightly. Add all the drippings into the bowl of Roundstone Rye. Cover with plastic wrap tightly and let sit on counter for 2 hours. Add 5 slices of cooked bacon, recover, and let sit on counter for an additional 2 hours. Place bowl in freezer for a couple hours till fat rises and becomes solid.

Take bowl out of the freezer and discard fat. Discard Bacon slices. Place white paper towel in a fine mesh strainer over a clean bowl. Pour Rye through slowly. Repeat process one more time. Using a funnel, pour bacon infused Rye back into the Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye bottle and seal.

Courtesy Cheryl and Bill Bunce.

This recipe is cross-posted (with permission) from the Good Booze kitchen:

We’re lucky bastards, Boozers. The nice folks at Catoctin Creek Distilling Company blessed us with an early sample of their 1757 Virginia Brandy — still young and not quite ready for prime time — and we’ve been contemplating it for several weeks.  Richly mellow and lightly fruity, brandy can truly elevate winter cocktails to a new level of warm delight.

There are several cocktails that feature brandy, such as the Brandy Alexander and the Vieux Carré, but we weren’t inspired until we decided to check out the Boxcar Tavern, a new establishment in our area. As always, we eagerly examined the signature cocktail menu, and, while we were intrigued by the nutmeg syrup used in the whiskey-based Warm Winter Night, we were surprised that a place called the Boxcar wouldn’t have a signature Sidecar. Just seems like a natural fit.

So we’ve created it ourselves: the Boxcar. A classic Sidecar features brandy (or cognac, and we’re sure you know that all cognac is brandy but not all brandy is cognac), Cointreau, and lemon juice. But that nutmeg syrup just begs for brandy, and, with images of boxcars trundling north through the swamps of central Florida piled high with citrus, we felt that fresh oranges were a natural complement. The result is a gorgeous little burst of winter spice with subtle notes of spring break sunshine. Santé!

As you know, we hate to see dusty bottles of so-called “seasonal” liquors languish in the cupboard, so we eschewed the Cointreau, generally used in a traditional Sidecar, in favor of triple sec. You may only think of triple sec as used in summer margaritas, but its softly bitter orange flavor works just as well as Cointreau in this application.

3/4 ounce freshly-squeezed orange juice (we used a couple of clementines; mandarins and tangerines would also work quite well)
3/4 ounce triple sec
1.5 ounces Catoctin Creek 1757 Virginia Brandy
Scant teaspoon nutmeg syrup (basically, just add a 1/4 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg to 1/4 cup of simple syrup)
Sugar and lemon, for coating the rim of the glass

Run a slice of lemon around the edge of a martini or cosmopolitan glass and dip in sugar. Put the orange juice, triple sec, brandy, and nutmeg syrup into a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into glass and enjoy.

Courtesy Good Booze kitchen, and used with permission.

A new take on a classic Negroni.

1 oz Catoctin Creek Organic Watershed Gin
1 oz Dolin blanc
1 oz Aperol
2-3 dashes orange bitters

Shake the ingredients and serve in a rocks glass with a slice of orange or lemon.

Courtesy Chad Robinson.

This recipe is cross-posted (with permission) from Flavor magazine.

1½ oz Catoctin Creek Organic Roundstone Rye
1 oz Drambuie
½ oz house-made orgeat (an old-school syrup made from almonds, sugar and rose water)
Lemon juice to taste
Splash of tonic

Shake first four ingredients and serve on the rocks in a Collins glass. Top with tonic and draw up.

Courtesy Zinc restaurant in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Flavor Magazine, photo courtesy Andrea Hubbell, and used with permission.