Tis the season… to drink! And to do other things too, of course. But today I want to talk about drinking. I love a festive holiday-flavored beverage, especially when it’s nice and boozy. So when Eureka sent me their recipe for a gingerbread old fashioned, I was super into it. Now I can pretend I’m Don Draper and Santa Claus, all at once! (Sorry, is that really creepy? Probably.)
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This way you can be Don Draper and have your holiday spices, too. This Autumn Old Fashioned includes a homemade syrup of orange, cloves, and all-spice, mixed up with bitter and — for an extra warming kick — a little tequila.
First, make the Spiced Orange Syrup:
Zest of 1 Orange
10 to 12 Whole Cloves
1 heaping tablespoon Whole Allspice
3/4 cup Water
1 1/2 cup Cane Sugar
Place all ingredients in saucepan over medium heat. Heat until sugar is completely dissolved (approximately 5 minutes). Strain. Discard zest and spices. Refrigerate syrup.
Now for the cocktail.
2 ounces Camarena Reposado Tequila
1/4 ounce Spiced Orange Syrup *
2 dashes Classic Bitters
Combine liquids in rocks glass over fresh ice. Stir. Garnish with orange twist.
Something funny is happening with vodka. In recent years, more and more small producers have made vodkas that are actually drinkable. Since the clear stuff no longer needs to be dulled over with cranberry juice or Kool-Aid, it’s time to start mixing some vodka cocktails that actually let the booze shine through. Enter: the old fashioned, with vodka subbed in to replace whiskey.
3 oz Broken Shed vodka
3 dash bitters
1 sugar cube
Zest of lemon/orange/grapefruit
In glass, add sugar cube with bitters and few slices of zest, add 3 oz. vodka and 4 cubes ice. Stir for 10-15 seconds.
Now that “handcrafted” cocktails have become about as commonplace as craft beer, bartenders and bloggers are looking for new ways to impress. You might think molecular mixology is gimmicky, but you gotta admit that these 8 cocktail spheres look pretty amazing.
At Grant Achatz’ Aviary in Chicago the old fashioned comes neat — very neat. Drinkers get to smash the sphere open and watch the drink explode out.
Just about every bar in Brooklyn now serves a pickleback (a shot of whiskey backed by a shot of pickle juice). Only Do or Dine—home of the foie gras donut—serves a molecular pickleback, whereby the back — the spherical ball of pickle juice — explodes inside your mouth.
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