This cocktail tastes like Christmas. From Kara Newman's book, Nightcap:
“At Brooklyn's Sauvage, bar director William Elliott batches up large quantities of this refreshing drink, then sets it in the freezer for a wonderful syrup-like viscosity. While Elliott favors white crème de menthe, particularly Giffard Menthe-Pastille, for a crystal-clear drink that resembles a minty Martini, green crème de menthe can yield a striking variation.
[Part of the Art of the Cocktail series, season two.]
1½ oz 1757 Brandy
¾ oz crème de menthe (Kara prefers the white variety, not the Dayglo™ green variety.)
dash absinthe
lemon peel garnish
Coupe glass
Combine ingredients in a shaker of ice and strain into the coupe. Garnish with the lemon peel.
Recipe courtesy Kara Newman and her book, Nightcap.
Amer Picon is a French bitter which is quite hard to find in the USA. It is made from tiny orange peels, but has a deep caramel texture and flavor, which is most pleasing. You can sip it on its own, as a aperitif or digestif, or use it as we do here, to make a delicious cocktail. This one is courtesy my friend, Gary McGraw, with credit to Vintage Spirits for the recipe.
[Part of the Art of the Cocktail series, season two.]
¾ oz Roundstone Rye Cask Proof
¾ oz Dolin sweet vermouth
¼ oz Amer Picon
Brandied cherry garnish
Rocks glass, big ice
Recipe courtesy Gary McGraw, and used with permission.
This cocktail comes to us from @fractionsofzero on Instagram.
Manhattan Riff with a twist and a shake. The complexity of the Rye and subtly of the Vermouth imbued with dull chocolate notes finds a greasy balance when shaken into a fresh duck egg yolk. Traditional strength and dryness of a Manhattan with the subtle richness of a creamed cocktail.
2 oz Catoctin Creek Chicken & Whiskey Barrel Select Rye
¾ oz Drapo Rosso Vermouth
2 dashes Scrappy's Chocolate Bitters
1 Duck Egg Yolk
Shake & strain eggy Manhattan into a coupe with bee ambrosia dusted lemon twist.
Recipe and photo courtesy @fractionsofzero. Model is @witchcrafty22 on Instagram. Used with permission.
This cocktail is just about as fun as the song for which it is named. Occasionally, we get cocktail submissions from the Internet, and this one comes to us from Chris West (@pourmansalmanac on Instagram). Check out his feed for more fun cocktail creations! From his post:
can I explain this cocktail using only lyrics to all star by smash mouth? no, but I’ll try. someBODY once told me that star fruit is sweet, slightly tart, and delicious. okay, google told me that, and upon tasting, can confirm true. it also serves as a stunning flavor addition to a daiquiri, which is a perfect drink, but what’s wrong with taking the backstreets? god. stop it. riffing on a classic daiquiri spec, we’re splitting the sour between star fruit and lime, going full hemingway with the addition of maraschino liqueur for the sweet. as for the booze, we’re using an amber rum, as well as a ridiculous peach brandy. finally, you’re an all star, not one star, so we’ve added an absinthe rinse and shaved star anise onto our garnish.
3 slices star fruit
¾ oz lime juice
¾ oz Luxardo maraschino liqueur
1 dropper Bittermens hopped grapefruit bitters
— muddle —
1½ oz Gosling amber rum
½ oz Catoctin Creek peach brandy
— shake over ice // double strain —
Mt Defiance absinthe rinse
Garnish with anise-dusted star fruit
Recipe and photo courtesy Chris West, and used with permission.
Sultry and supple, this mix of brandy, sherry and honey-sweetened liqueur is delicious any time of year.
[Part of the Art of the Cocktail series, season two.]
2 oz. 1757 Virginia Brandy
1⁄2 oz. Amontillado sherry
1⁄2 oz. Drambuie or saffron honey syrup
Rocks glass, big rock
Orange peel
Shake ingredients together with ice in a shaker, and then strain over a big rock in a rocks glass. Garnish with orange peel.
Recipe courtesy Chris Lane, Lolinda, San Francisco.
One remarkable fact is that the largest consumers of gin in Europe are... (drum roll, please)... the Spanish. They drink twice as much gin per person as do the British. So we cannot enjoy Spain without a gin cocktail. The most consumed gin beverage in Spain (again, remarkably) is the gin & tonic. We are going to side-step the G&T for now, and introduce a more sophisticated gin fizz.
[Part of the Art of the Cocktail series, season two.]
1½ Watershed Gin
½ oz Pedro Ximénez sherry
½ oz simple syrup
¾ oz lemon juice
1 egg white (or 1 oz aquafaba)
2 oz soda water
lemon twist garnish
Collins glass
Dry shake the gin through the egg white/aquafaba. Then, strain over ice in a collins glass and top with soda.
This cocktail is a rather simple version of a martini, but substituting dry fino sherry for vermouth, giving a nuttier, yet bone dry take on the traditional martini.
[Part of the Art of the Cocktail series, season two.]
2 oz Watershed Gin
1 oz fino sherry
1 dash orange bitters
Martini glass
lemon twist
Stirred, never shaken, and strained up into a martini glass.
This cocktail, as many are, was born out of necessity. In the early 2000's, you could not get a decent drink in Loudoun County. I would go into bars and ask for a Manhattan, and the biggest letdown would come when the drink was served: elderly, un-refrigerated, spoiled vermouth, shaken within an inch of its life (dilution!), and served in a glass full of ice (this is NOT an iced-tea, sir!). Knowing that these bars had limitations on the quality and freshness of their vermouth, I sought to find a recipe that would give me the richness of a Carpano Antica with an inferior product. By adding the Port, we gained that richness that I was missing from a straight pour of old thin watery vermouth.
[Part of the Art of the Cocktail series, season two.]
2 oz Roundstone Rye 92
½ oz Port
½ oz cheap vermouth (which is kind of the point of this cocktail)
1 dash Angostura bitters
Cherry garnish
Stirred, never shaken, and strained up into a coupe.
Recipe by Scott Harris.
The Negroni is a classic Italian cocktail known for a crisp full flavor and a bitter finish. As Becky Harris (my wife, and our chief distiller) likes to say, “the bitterness reminds you it's a grown-up's drink.” Though variations exist, the most agreed upon recipe is equal parts gin, Italian (red sweet) vermouth, and Campari.
The word “sbagliato” means “broken” or “wrong”. So how do we mess up a perfect Negroni? By adding sparkles! This changes this rather boozy cocktail into something lighter, and more like an aperitivo—that is a perfect welcome cocktail for the evening!
[Part of the Art of the Cocktail series, season two.]
1 oz Watershed Gin
1 oz Don Ciccio Luna Amara
1 oz Tribuno sweet vermouth
rocks glass with ice
top with soda or Prosecco
garnish with orange half-slice
Limoncello is a liqueur particular to Italy, and very popular in the Amalfi coast, where Francesco from Don Ciccio hails. It is an infusion of lemons and zest in spirits with sugar. You can also find an “Orange Cello” or Mandarinetto and a Fico d'india (“Fig Cello”) from Don Ciccio. To close out the evening, a sweet something in a flute is always nice. The combination of fruit brandy, limoncello, and some bubbles should be a great way to end any evening.
[Part of the Art of the Cocktail series, season two.]
½ oz Pearousia pear brandy
½ oz Limoncello
Top with bubbles
Flute
lemon ribbon garnish
Tis the season for autumn flavors! Nothing goes with falling leaves and cooler breezes than crisp apple cider, fall spices and rye whisky! Here is a punch that you can enjoy, cold or hot!
3 cups Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye
1 cup lemon juice
1 cup ginger-cinnamon syrup*
6 cups fresh apple cider
*To make the ginger-cinnamon syrup:
1/2 lb fresh ginger root
5 cinnamon sticks
2 cups water
granulated cane sugar
Thinly slice ginger root (no need to peel!) and boil with cinnamon sticks in water for 45 minutes. Strain, and add 1/3 volume of granulated sugar to remaining hot liquid. Example: if after straining, you are left with 1.5 cups ginger-cinnamon liquid, add 1/2 cup sugar.
Recipe courtesy Linda Jockers.
Johnny Bandanna, aka John Shope, aka The Next Rounds On Me, came up with some lovely fall punch cocktails for a festival we did in Powhatan, Virginia this season. Here they are for your enjoyment.
Appalachian Honey Grapefruit Sour
Glass Type: Rocks Glass or Coup
Garnish: None
Method: Combine all ingredients into ice filled shaker, shake vigorously, then serve on the rocks or neat.
Ingredients:
2 oz. Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye Whisky
2 oz. fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
1 oz. honey syrup
Ice
*Honey Syrup: Simply boil water and mix a 1:1 ratio of hot water and locally sourced honey together, allow to cool and keep refrigerated for up to three months.
W.G.L.L.G. For Me:
Glass Type: Martini or Coup Glass
Garnish: Lavender Sprig
Method: Combine all ingredients into ice filled cocktail shaker, shake vigorously and fine strain into glass.
Ingredients:
2 oz Watershed Gin
Juice from 1 Lime
1 oz Lavender simple syrup
2 Dashes Embitterment Lavender Bitters
*Lavender Simple Syrup: Boil 1/4 cup lavender seeds with 1 cups of water and 1 cup white sugar. Allow to cool to room temperature, strain seeds and then keep refridgerated for up to three months.
(That’s a Watershed Gin Lavender Lime Gimlet for Me, please and thank you!)
