This cocktail is one of our feature cocktails for December.
1½ oz Roundstone Rye
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 c whole milk
¼ cup sugar
½ tsp cayenne powder
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ cup peppermint infused rich simple syrup (to taste)*
Can be served warm or cold. If warm, combine all ingredients except alcohol in a pan and warm (do not boil!). If cold, add the alcohol. Serve in a mug or glass, with a dollop of whipped cream, marshmallows, or a candy cane garnish.
*Peppermint Rich Simple Syrup
Combine 2 cups sugar with 1 cup of water; add 2-3 sprigs of fresh peppermint. Heat until thoroughly combined and steep over low heat for 1-3 hours (a crock pot works great for this). Remove peppermint. Keeps for up to 1 month in the fridge.
Recipe courtesy Denise Petty.
A green Bloody Mary. Incredible!
1 lb roasted tomatillos
2 cloves roasted garlic
½ avocado
½ pint yellow cherry tomatoes
2 Persian cucumbers, peeled
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 Serrano pepper
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp pepper
fresh parsley
1 tsp prepared horseradish
¾ tsp green hot sauce
½ tsp Worcestershire
1 pinch celery seed
9 oz Catoctin white unaged spirit or Watershed Gin
Blend all ingredients except spirit together and strain. Pour over ice with spirit in a highball glass with an agave/smoked sea salt rim and local pickled vegetables. Makes 6.
Courtesy Lauren Barrett.
1½ oz Catoctin white unaged spirit
½ oz Cocchi Americano
½ oz Benadictine
¼ oz Pavan
2 dash orange bitters
Stir all ingredients. Strain into a martini glass with a Luxardo cherry.
Courtesy Lauren Barrett.
Prosecco
1.5 oz Roundstone Rye 80 Proof
Splash of TRUE grenadine syrup
2 dash black walnut bitters
Pour rye, grenadine and bitters into a flute and top with prosecco. Garnish with pomegranate seeds.
Courtesy Lauren Barrett.
2 oz Beet infused Watershed Gin
1 oz Campari
1 oz Carpano Antica Vermouth
splash of pomegranate juice
Stir and pour over a large ice ball in a rocks glass. Garnish with an orange peel.
Courtesy Lauren Barrett.
1½ oz Roundstone Rye
1 oz pineapple juice (fresh pressed)
½ oz lemon juice (fresh pressed)
½ oz lime juice (fresh pressed)
½ oz simple syrup infused with dried guajillo peppers
Shake all ingredients and pour into a Nick and Nora glass over ice. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Courtesy Lauren Barrett.
This cocktail is a fun "bianco" take on the Negroni, using white bitter liqueur and clear vermouth. We add some sweetness from the stevia to counterbalance the dry vermouth in the recipe, without adding any calories. The stevia also adds a nice herbal element and a touch more bitterness, which in this cocktail is desired.
Scott recommends this cocktail with an accompaniment of Burt Bacharach on vinyl. Sublime!
1½ oz thyme-infused Watershed Gin
1 oz Salers Aperitif
1 oz Noily Prat dry vermouth
1-2 dashes orange bitters
½ oz housemade stevia tea (for sweetness, use simple syrup as an alternative)
Combine all in shaker, pour over a large rock in a rocks glass.
A Scott Harris original cocktail.
This cocktail is one submitted by Charlie Berkinshaw from Element Shrub. We were very happy to see the DMV area prominently featured in the 2018 Good Food Awards, with Element Shrub, Embitterment Bitters, and Catoctin Creek all named as finalists. This cocktail celebrates those wins, with a delicious take on local ingredients.
2 oz fig-infused Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye
¾ oz Element Chai Pear shrub
1-2 dashes Embitterment chocolate bitters
Combine all ingredients in shaker with ice, stir and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a brandied cherry and/or a fig slice.
Courtesy Element Shrub and used with permission.
This cocktail comes to us from The Cocktail Artist, Christopher & Beth Cowie. You can check out Christopher and Beth's work at their site thecocktailartist.blogspot.com or on Instagram @thecocktailartist.
Having received a lovely painting and card from them over the weekend, I wanted to share this delightful cocktail from their site:
The Chesapeake Bay is well known for its seafood - particularly crabs. It's a summer ritual in Maryland to enjoy a bucket of steamed Chesapeake Bay crabs caked with Old Bay Seasoning. Old Bay has been produced in Maryland since 1939. It is a spice blend with a very distinct flavor - which includes paprika, pepper and celery salt. Old Bay no longer seems limited to crabs, and it has been showing up in some new and interesting places, in mayonnaise, beer, and in chocolate, among others. We decided to get on board this Old Bay renaissance and give it a try in a cocktail, and we were pretty pleased with the results.
Our Chesapeake Bay cocktail uses r hisky and aquavit. We have tried it with several ryes, and particularly like how Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye works with the other ingredients. This rye is produced in Virgnia, not far from the Chesapeake, so in addition to giving the cocktail the right flavor, it seems like a pretty good fit geographically.
2 oz Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye
¾ oz Linie Aquavit
½ oz Old Bay simple syrup*
2 dashes orange bitters
In a cocktail shaker with ice, combine all the ingredients. Shake for 15 seconds, and strain into an old fashioned glass with a large ice cube. Garnish with an orange twist.
*Old Bay simple syrup
Add ½ cup of water, ½ cup of honey, and 3 tsp of Old Bay seasoning to saucepan. Stir until syrup begins to boil, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heatj and cool to room temperature. Transfer syrup to a jar and keep refrigerated for up to 2 months. Shake well before using.
Courtesy The Cocktail Artist, Christopher and Beth Cowie, links above.
This one comes to us from @spiderwitchfam on Instagram. A lovely study in clear beverages.
2 oz Catoctin Creek white unaged rye spirit
½ oz Carpano Bianco vermouth
½ tsp Laphroaig Quarter Cask
1-2 dashes Jack Rudy Aromatic Bitters
Stir, serve up or over a rock.
Photo and recipe courtesy D.E. Wittkower and used with permission.
One of the feature cocktails for Virginia Spirits Month 2017. This one comes to us from Rebecca Dudley, proprietor at Market Table Bistro in Lovettsville, Virginia.
1½ oz Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye
½ oz elderflower liqueur
1 lemon wedge
1 tsp rhubarb jam
1 oz Cava (or other sparkling wine)
Squeeze & drop lemon wedge in shaker with ice. Add rye, elderflower and jam shake well. Strain into coupe glass and top with sparkling wine.
Courtesy Rebecca Dudley.
One of the feature cocktails for Virginia Spirits Month 2017. This is an easy-drinking crushed ice drink that is presented in tiki style.
1 oz Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye
1 oz Sunset Hills Gin
¼ oz Luxardo
Maraschino liqueur
¼ oz Mt. Defiance Cassis Liqueuer
¾ oz Cointreau
¾ oz Lemon Juice
½ oz Simple Syrup
Build all ingredients in a 14+oz Tumbler or pint glass. Add crushed ice halfway, and “swizzle” with a bois lele (natural swizzle stick) or agitate agressively with a bar spoon. Add crushed ice to fill. Garnish with a mint sprig.
Courtesy Derek Salerno of Shagbark, Richmond, VA.
