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Original Recipe: Fireside Fizz

Cold weather season kicked off in the District this weekend with an inch or so of snow.  It didn’t really turn the city into a winter wonderland, but it did mark a shift to colder temperatures.  That means we have fire in the fireplace for the first time this year.  I love a good fire on a winter weekend night, and to celebrate I decided to concoct a new cocktail.  The result:  the Fireside Fizz.

Now, when I think fire my mind often goes to whiskey, and if that’s your speed you should check out my Decorator’s Drink from my last post if you haven’t already.  This time, I wanted to make use of a Douglas fir pine syrup I received as a gift recently, and I didn’t want to use a liquor that would overpower the the infused pine taste.

So I turned to St.-Germain, that elderflower liqueur that supplies a sweet floral taste, and Suze, an aperitif with an earthy flavor, both of which I thought would complement a pine syrup nicely.  To balance out the sweetness, I also used freshly squeezed lemon juice.  I shook these over ice and strained into a coupe and, for a fizzy finish, I topped it with sparkling wine.  For garnish, I used a part of the lemon rind, a freshly cut sprig of rosemary, and frozen cranberries.  And boom, I had a new fireside companion:

Ultimately, despite my efforts not to bury the pine flavor, it was quite subtle in the finished product.  But I went back at sampled the syrup by itself and, even alone, the pine taste is not strong.  Nevertheless, the drink was delicious, and the rosemary brings up the pine flavor at least a little bit.

Here is the recipe:

Fireside Fizz recipe
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Fireside Fizz

The Fireside Fizz is the perfect drink to enjoy by the fire on the first snowfall of the year, with floral, pine and citrus flavors.
Prep Time7 minutes
Total Time7 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Champagne Cocktail
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 275kcal
Author: Geoffrey Wyatt

Ingredients

  • 1 oz. St.-Germain
  • 1/2 oz. Suze
  • 1/2 oz. Douglas fir pine syrup I used June Taylor
  • 1/2 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • sparkling wine
  • lemon rind
  • rosemary sprig
  • frozen cranberries

Instructions

  • Combine the St.-Germain, Suze, pine syrup, and lemon juice with ice in a shaking tin and shake vigorously.
  • Strain into a coupe.
  • Top with sparkling wine.
  • Garnish with the lemon rind, rosemary, and cranberries.

Enjoy!

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Original Recipe: Decorator’s Drink

I would never suggest that holiday decorating might drive one to drink.  But it is difficult to dispute that decorating can be more fun with a good drink in hand.  Or if that complicates the task of, say, putting up a tree, you might at least be tempted to reward yourself for a job well done after erecting the biggest blue spruce you have ever managed to squeeze into your living room.  For your efforts, I offer you the Decorator’s Drink:

For this cocktail I used Michter’s small batch unblended American whiskey, green Chartreuse, Cherry Heering, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and orange bitters, with a cherry for garnish.  For bonus points I broke out the silver chalice as a nod to the Silver Bells of Christmas.  But any coupe or martini glass will do the trick here.

The whiskey provides that nice, warm base you want on a cold December evening.  And the Chartreuse, Cherry Heering and lemon juice provide a pleasant piney and tangy flavor that tastes like winter break.  So mix yourself one of these, sit back and take a break from decorating or appreciate a job already done.  (And if your thoughts are turning to the gifts for the folks still on your list, check out my recent post with holiday gift suggestions here.)

Decorator's Drink recipe
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Decorator's Drink

Need a cocktail to reward yourself for holiday decorating? Try the Decorator's Drink featuring whiskey and Chartreuse and imbibe the holiday spirit!
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Sour
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 245kcal
Author: Geoffrey Wyatt

Ingredients

  • 2 oz. whiskey I used Michter's small batch unblended American whiskey
  • 1/2 oz. green Chartreuse
  • 1/4 oz. Cherry Heering
  • 1/4 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 dash orange bitters I used Fee Brothers
  • cherry

Instructions

  • Combine the whiskey, green Chartreuse, Cherry Heering, lemon juice, and orange bitters with ice in a mixing glass and stir.
  • Strain into a coupe or martini glass.
  • Garnish with a cherry.

Enjoy!

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Original Recipe: The Autumn Breeze

If you read my last post offering cocktail gift ideas for the 2017 holiday season, you know I’m a fan of shrubs and Chartreuse.  This recipe – the Autum Breeze – shows you how to make good use of these things together.

The context for this recipe is my frame of mind when I was dreaming it up:  thinking about the last days of fall and avoiding unpleasant thoughts of winter by imagining myself on a Caribbean vacation.  This daydream inspired island ingredients like pineapple and rum on the one hand and warm autumnal flavors like smoky scotch and spices on the other.  My ingredient list became clear:  rum, scotch, a pineapple-allspice shrub by Shrub District, and yellow Chartreuse.

This is a spirit-heavy cocktail so I decided that stirring rather than shaking was the way to go.  I stirred the ingredients with ice and strained into a couple glass and garnished with a lemon peel.  And here was the result:

Autumn Breeze

This is a sweet drink, with a pleasant complexity provided by the different flavors.  The smokiness of the scotch and the herbal goodness of the Chartreuse come through clearly, offsetting what might have been an overpowering sweetness if the rum and pineapple flavors had been left alone.  It definitely works as a fall sipping drink, but you could easily pour this over crushed ice and swizzle for a fine poolside (or seaside) drink and throw a number of these back quickly.

Here is the recipe:

The Autumn Breeze recipe
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Autumn Breeze

The Autumn Breeze is the perfect cocktail for that fall day when you're daydreaming about a tropical vacation, with rum, scotch, pineapple and Chartreuse.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Sour, Tiki
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 175kcal
Author: Geoffrey Wyatt

Ingredients

  • 1 oz. aged rum I used Appleton Estate 12-year
  • 1/2 oz. Laphroaig 10-year
  • 1/2 oz. yellow Chartreuse
  • 1 oz. pineapple-allspice shrub by Shrub District
  • lemon peel

Instructions

  • Combine the rum, Laphroaig, Chartreuse and shrub with ice in a mixing glass and stir.
  • Strain into a coupe.
  • Express lemon peel over the glass and add the peel as garnish.

Enjoy!

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Original Recipe: The Smoked Pearl

Last weekend fall truly came to the District:  leaves are finally turning, temperatures are dipping, and to mark the transition we were visited by a heavy rainfall on Sunday.  It’s the perfect occasion for a new cocktail, and for a shift in thinking toward ingredients befitting the new season.

Maple and fire were the first two that popped in my mind, reflecting two of the better parts of fall:  maple leaves and roaring fires.  Not to be combined in a woodland setting, I suppose, but in a shaken cocktail – using maple syrup, mezcal (smoke) and poblano liqueur (heat) as proxies – I thought they would play very nicely together.

And they did.  I combined those ingredients with lemon juice, added ice, and shook, and out came this beauty:

It was absolutely delicious.  The smokiness, spiciness and tangy sweetness produced a satisfyingly complex flavor profile – with the smoke and spice providing some heft, cushioned slightly by the maple syrup.  I settled on the “Smoked Pearl” name because the drink’s ingredients somewhat resemble those of a margarita, which means pearl in various languages, and because of the smoky flavor.

Update:  After I first posted this recipe I came across Tippleman’s smoked maple syrup for the first time.  It takes this recipe to another level, amplifying the smoky goodness of the mezcal.  (It also works very well on waffles, French toast, and pancakes.)

Here’s the recipe:

Enjoy!

The Smoked Pearl Recipe
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Smoked Pearl

Try the Smoked Pearl, an original cocktail recipe perfect for fall with flavors of maple syrup, smoke, spice and citrus.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Sour
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 250kcal
Author: Geoffrey Wyatt

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 oz. mezcal I used El Silencio
  • 1/2 oz. Ancho Reyes Verde
  • 1 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/4 oz. maple syrup
  • 1 fresh lemon

Instructions

  • Prepare a rocks glass with one large ice cube.
  • Combine ingredients in a shaking tin and add ice.
  • Shake ingredients vigorously and strain into the glass.
  • Garnish with a burnt lemon wheel.