 Traditionally my family drinks Egg Nog heavily laced with a dark spiced rum. While this has a lot of sentimental value to me, it’s not exactly subtle or sophisticated. This recipe is a little less sweet and heavy handed and a bit more complex and unexpected. I loosely based this off of a Tom and Jerry, never heard of it? Me, either. You can find the recipe in Meehan’s Bartender Manual if you’re curious. Now that I live in Urban California I find myself really missing the snowy pine trees and logs on the fire that used to mean Christmas time when I was a kid growing up in Canada. This recipe is a little bit reminiscent of the smells and tastes of that time. I used a very specific Rhum that lends a woodsy flavor and a slightly smoky Mezcal in this recipe giving the Egg Nog a hint of campfire. Easy to pour, easy to drink, just sit back and pretend you’re relaxing by the fire… and that you’ve finished your Christmas shopping.  Campfire Nog
8oz. Egg Nog .75oz. El Silencio Mezcal .75oz. Yehmon Rhum Evolution 2013 3-4 dashes Bittercube Cherry Bark Vanilla Bitters Combine in a low ball glass, stir and enjoy.
1 Comment
 keep seeing cocktails using fat-washed alcohol and I had to try it for myself. I used brown-butter to fat-wash a bottle of Makers Mark, and I’m pretty happy with the outcome. * Note: it makes the bourbon pretty mellow so I will be using something a bit hotter in the future. The brown butter imparts a nutty and buttery flavor to the bourbon. I couldn't just throw out all of this beautiful bourbon soaked butter so I obviously had to make cookies with it. I used the Scotch Shortbread recipe from The Joy of Cooking. If you like your shortbread really short then you might want to add a little extra flour or some corn starch because the butter had a little extra liquid due to the bourbon soak. This would be the perfect cocktail to serve at a Holiday party along with the shortbread cookies. I will personally be setting one of these baby’s out Christmas Eve for Santa Clause, I feel like he’ll probably be in need of a good cocktail.  Santa’s Bourbon Sour 2oz. Brown butter washed bourbon 3/4oz. fresh lemon juice 1/2oz. Mulled spice simple syrup (make mulled spice “tea”, use spiced water to make regular simple syrup in a 1:1 ratio) 4-5 drops of orange bitters 1 large egg white Garnish with orange peel stars Combine all of the ingredients to a cocktail shaker and dry shake for at least 90 seconds, add ice and briefly shake till chilled. Pour into a coupe glass and garnish with orange peel stars.  Bourbon-washed Brown Butter Shortbread Cookies
3/4 cup Bourbon-washed brown butter, softened 1/4 cup confectioners sugar 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 11/2 cups all-purpose flour Preheat the oven to 300F. Combine the first four ingredients in a bowl and beat. Stir in the flour. Kneed until blended and then press into an 8” square pan. Pierce with a fork and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until edges become golden brown. Cut into bars while still warm and cool completely before serving.  While doing some research for an upcoming cocktail recipe (its going to be good, keep an eye out) I came across the Stone Fence cocktail in Meehan’s Bartender Manual. Full disclosure, I have never heard of this cocktail before but there’s no way I can pass up making a new (to me) cocktail while I also happen to have all of the ingredients on hand. It seemed like fate. Having zero experience with this drink I went by the book right down to the prescribed apple fan garnish, though I did use spicy maple syrup for a little extra kick. This is a really nice seasonal beverage if you’re looking for something a little different.  Stone Fence (Meehan’s Bartender Manual)
3oz. unfiltered hard apple cider (Apple Bite) 2oz. bourbon (Rowan’s Creek) 0.25oz. Grade A dark amber maple syrup (Runamok smoked chili maple syrup) Garnish with apple fan Combine in a chilled highball glass, fill with ice and garnish with apple fan. Cheers! |