El Añejo

Himself came home with a bottle of Bénédictine and started the search for the perfect drink to make with it. We've had some experimentation but this, THIS is the one. Called Nouveau Carré in PDT Cocktail Book we only had Lillet Rose in the house (chilled as always) instead of the Blanc so we felt that justified a name change.

1.5 oz Añejo Tequila
3/4 oz Lillet Rose
1/4 oz Bénédictine
3 dashes Peychaud's Bitters

Stir with ice (no shaking required) and strain into chilled glass. Garnish with lemon twist.

Now he'll have to bring home some more Añejo - we're all out.

Me and Him

Adapted from "Me and Her" recipe in the January/February edition of Imbibe magazine but with there being no Scotch* in the house and me doing the mixing on this one I changed the name slightly.

1.5 oz Highwest Whiskey Double Rye
1 oz Black Bush Irish Whiskey
.75 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
.5 oz Crème de Cassis
.25 oz Campari
Club soda
Lemon twist

Combine all the ingredients except the club soda and shake with ice. Strain into ice filled glass and pour the club soda over it. Garnish with lemon.

* We spell our whiskey with an 'e' in this house!

Paddington

I've long been fan of a little bear called Paddington so I knew I couldn't miss the movie but I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did - so much that we got the marmalade out when we got home and created this. Taken from a recipe in the winter Imbibe magazine but where they used homemade lemon/grapefruit marmalade we added a little grapefruit juice to compensate.

1 1/2 oz Hennessay Cognac
3/4 oz Cointreau
1/2 oz Fresh Meyer Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Fresh Grapefruit Juice
1 tsp Orange Marmalade
Meyer Lemon peel for garnish

Shake all the ingredients together 'dry' first (without ice) to 'dissolve' the marmalade. Add ice to chill and strain  into  chilled cocktail glasses. You might want to spoon some of the marmalade bits into the glasses too. 

Proceed to stick your snout in and guzzle it down Paddington style.

Ginger Snap Side Car

I may have mentioned this before but one of my favorite holiday flavors is ginger so I knew I had to try this side car when I saw it for a pre-Nutcracker drink last week.  Himself recreated it for me here. Too bad there are no molasses cookies left to go with it.

2 parts Brandy (though I'm sure bourbon would be good too)
1 part Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur
1/2 part lemon juice
Ice
Sugar and cinnamon rim

Rub a lemon slice around the rim of the glass and dip in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon to create the sugared rim. Shake the rest of the ingredients with ice and pour into glass.

Clausapolitan

While himself was busy mixing up a batch of molasses cookies I got busy mixing something equally festive to imbibe with them. I revisited my molecular cocktail kit of which the only successful thing we created was a foam using soy lecithin; and I made a more citrus, more cranberry cosmo with a lime foam. Went down well (as did the cookies).


1 part Absolut Citron
1/2 part Cointreau
1 part Cranberry Juice Cocktail
1-2 dashes Snappy Lime Bitters

Lime foam:
3/4 cup lime juice, 3/4 cup water/ 1 sachet soy lecithin, whisked until frothy.


Stir first four ingredients with ice in separate container and strain into chilled cocktail glasses. Spoon the lime foam on top. Garnish with cranberries.

Santa Claus might prefer this over milk this year!

Smoke and Spice and All Things Nice

Tried to recreate a drink from the POV (W Hotel) himself enjoyed after viewing the national Christmas tree. The name completely escapes me but the smell of all-spice reminded me of baking the Christmas fruit cake so it felt very seasonal and perfect for the afternoon that it was.

I steeped 2 crushed cardamon pods in mescal for about 30 minutes (enough time to get some snacks together) and then strained it into cocktail shaker with ice, the lemon juice and the St. Elizabeth All-Spice liqueur. Shake and serve in chilled glasses - for garnish I had lemon slices and cloves. 

The result - smoky and spicy and warming. Loved it.

1.5 oz Mescal
.5 oz Lemon Juice
.5 St. Elizabeth All Spice
Cardamon pods
1 dash Scrappy's cardamon bitters

Honey I Drunk the Whiskey

Made this on a cold Thursday night and was tempted to call it "Sweet Jesus, is it not Friday yet!" but thought better of it. I had half a Meyer lemon left over from what I was cooking and it inspired a honey and Meyer lemon simple syrup - as in, melt about two teaspoons of honey with a little hot water and add the juice of half a lemon. All it needed was whiskey and there was some Powers Gold Label within easy reach!

2 oz Powers whiskey (My Dad's tipple)
1 oz Honey and Meyer Lemon Simple Syrup
Ice

Stir or shake and enjoy with ice and slice.