A Bitter Spirit

Author: Drew

Day 22: Tennessee Christmas

The song inspiration for today's cocktail is Tennessee Christmas, written by Amy Grant and Gary Chapman. Originally recorded for Amy's 1983 A Christmas Album, it has since been recorded by several different artists.

Tennessee Christmas reminds us of homeyness and homeyness recalls holiday traditions like fruit cake. Fruit cake? Yes, fruit cake. Because we thoroughly enjoy fruit cake. Well, fruit cake done properly with lots of booze like rum and brandy. Of course, rum and brandy together harkens to the classic Between the Sheets cocktail. Similar to a Sidecar, a Between the Sheets combines brandy, rum, cointreau and lemon. For this incarnation, we decided to try and create a fruitcake-like infusion in the brandy.

Tennesse Christmas Cocktail
1 part infused brandy
1/2 part cointreau
1 part rum
1/2 part lemon juice
1/2 part spiced syrup

Place all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

First, a Pro Tip: even though you've finished the bottle, you shouldn't put it in the recycling bin until you've taken the picture; otherwise, you end up with a sticky note on a bottle of Baileys. Second, there is technically no actual fruitcake in this cocktail. The fruitcake represents the myriad of fruits and spices we infused the booze and syrup with.

Cocktail Notes
While you could just slice up a couple of pieces of fruit cake and stick it into some brandy, we decided to build an infusion from scratch. In making it, it was a dash of this and a bit of that kind of concoction but here's the best guess as to the components:
1/4 cup pecan pieces
2 Tbsp raisins
1 Tbsp dried cherries
2 prunes
peel of half an orange, whole piece (not grated)
peel of half a lemon, whole piece (not grated)

Place all the ingredients into a large container and allow to sit for at least 6 days. Strain and use.
Note: originally we had added about 6 prunes, but the infusion was way too sweet after just 3 days so we removed them. One or two will add the depth of flavour without making it too sweet.

We decided to make a spiced syrup so we could control the level of spice better than was possible in an alcohol infusion. For the syrup we used:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cinammon stick
2 cloves
2 cardamom pods
1 tsp nutmeg

The syrup can easily be made in the microwave by placing all the ingredients into a heat proof container (a 2 cup Pyrex measure would be perfect) and slowly heating it until the sugar dissolves. Allow to cool and then strain.

Listen Along

Want to know how to feel old at Christmas? Look for a video of one of the favourite holiday songs of your youth and then realise that some guy has cut 30 years of the same artist performing that song together into one video. THIRTY YEARS! ZOMG.

December 22, 2014
Day 21: The Christmas Song

The inspiration for today's cocktail comes from the classic ballad, The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire). It was written in 1944 by Bob Wells and Mel Torme during a blistering hot summer. Torme recalls that Bob Wells started the lyrics by trying to think of things to help him cool off (hence the opening lines). Within about 40 minutes, one of the most iconic songs of the holiday season was created.

I think someone was drinking this cocktail before we took the picture. Not much left!
Kate's note to self, keep a closer eye on Drew.

We'd been wanting to do a brown butter-washed bourbon .. and what could be tasty in brown butter? Chestnuts! For this cocktail, we butter washed some bourbon and made an old fashioned out of it. We did two batches of bourbon, one with chestnuts sauteed and one without.

This cocktail also ushers in our final theme: Family. Because nothing makes us need a drink like family.

The Christmas Song Cocktail
2 oz brown butter washed bourbon (we used Wild Turkey)
1/2 oz cardamom syrup
1 dropper of Apothecary's General Ambrose's bitters
orange twist

Place all the ingredients but the orange twist into a cocktail tin with ice. Stir until chilled and pour into a rocks glass with fresh ice.

Cocktail Notes
For the most part, we followed the this recipe for making the brown butter washed bourbon. The proportions seem to be about 4:1 for the bourbon and butter. Keep an eye on the butter as it can go from light brown to burnt relatively quickly. To do the chestnut brown butter, we roasted, peeled and chopped 8 chestnuts and put them into the butter as it was melting and browning.

Listen Along

December 21, 2014
Day 20: Mele Kalikimaka

Today's cocktail is based on the Hawaiian themed song, Mele Kalikimaka. The phrase "Mele Kalikimaka" is a direct translation of "Merry Christmas" but since Hawaiian has a much different phonological system than English, certain constraints (only 8 consonants, no words ending in consonants, etc.) had to be made in the translation. The song itself was written in 1949 and while it has been recorded by numerous artists perhaps the most famous was the version recorded by Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters in 1950.

With a Hawaiian cocktail, our minds naturally ventured to daiquiris. But not a blue one because that would be weird. But we do like pineapple so why not a pineapple daiquiri? We grilled the pineapples to sweeten them up a little. And while the grill was on, we threw the limes on for good measure.

Mele Kalikimaka Cocktail
1 1/2 oz dark rum
1 oz grilled lime juice
1 oz grilled pineapple puree
1 oz simple syrup

Grill the fruit until there is some light charring and the fruit are soft. Purée the pineapple in a blender, adding a few tablespoons of water if needed to create the purée. Add all of the ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until chilled and pour into a cocktail glass.

Cocktail Notes
The cocktail is very straight forward. It should be noted that grilling the limes concentrates their flavour and makes them rather tart. This may not be everyone's preference so regular lime juice could be substituted.

A spiced simple syrup would be great in this. We accidentally added some cardamom syrup at one point and it was great. The peppercorn we used earlier in the calendar or a cinnamon syrup would be great too.

Listen Along

Bing and the Andrews Sisters made it famous and then Clark Griswold took it to a whole new level …

December 20, 2014
Day 19: Feliz Navidad

Today's cocktail is inspired by the modern classic, Feliz Navidad. Written by José Feliciano in 1970, the simplicity of the Spanish and English verses resonated internationally and soon it became one of the most played and recorded Christmas songs in the world.

When imagining the cocktail we'd be holding in our hands while belting out Feliz Navidad, we simultaneously shouted "Margarita!". Sure, José Feliciano is technically Puerto Rican, but we had already done a drink from there last year. We debated the type of fruit that we wanted to use but finally landed on the golden berry which gives a nice sunny orange-yellow colour to the cocktail.

Feliz Navidad Cocktail
2 oz reposado tequila
1 1/2 oz Tuaca
1 oz golden berry puree
1/2 oz lime
1 oz simple syrup
2 droppers of Apothecary Bitters Tlalocan
Cocktail glass

Bung everything into a cocktail tin with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a chilled glass.

Cocktail Notes
We made the golden berry puree by whizzing a half a pint of berries with a couple of tablespoons of water in a blender. You may have to strain the puree depending on the strength of your blender.

Originally, we tried persimmon puree for the drink, but the persimmons had absolutely no flavour. Like none. Zip. We happened to have some golden berries in the house and thought, why not? They are slightly sweet and add a nice tartness to the drink.

This is one of those times where bitters helped to really make the cocktail. The component parts of the cocktail were fine but they needed something to join them together and the Tlalocan bitters did the trick. They sweetened the drink, brought out the citrus and vanilla flavours and made an ok cocktail pretty dang tasty.

Listen Along

Oh, Bublé …

December 19, 2014
Day 18: On Christmas Day

The carol for today's cocktail is a contemporary song by the group Father Tiger called On Christmas Day. It's a little funky, a little modern and has an electronic dance music (EDM) groove. And you can download it for FREE!

So here's the deal. We (here "we" means Drew) thought of doing something cool to highlight the EDM nature of On Christmas Day. Maybe some tonic water and a black light? Maybe some coloured frozen ice cubes to represent motes of neon lights in a club? Or maybe Drew had delusions of grandeur (it is, after all, Day 18). Anyhow, we landed on something simpler. Like just using a more "hip" base spirit such as pisco. So here it is…

On Christmas Day Cocktail
1 1/2 oz mulberry tea infused pisco
1/2 oz creme yvette
3/4 oz maraschino liqueur
1/2 oz lemon juice
brandied cherry (for garnish)
coupe glass

Place all of the ingredients but the cherry into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until chilled. Strain into coupe glass and garnish with a cherry (or two).

Cocktail Notes
Drew loves pisco. In fact, 2011 was the year of the pisco sour for him and he's not looked back since. Kate had not had pisco until this cocktail but her exact words after trying some were,"Why are we not drinking more pisco?" So if you haven't had it, TRY IT!

This cocktail is actually a variation of the Pillow Talk. Drew liked the idea of tea-infused pisco. We tried three types of tea infusions: dragon pearl, earl grey and mulberry leaf. Pisco, or at least the pisco we used, really accentuates floral flavours. Who knew? Not us. The dragon pearl had WAY too much of a jasmine overtone and actually did taste like your grandmother's Avon order. The earl grey was rather pleasant (and ended up being a nice infused pisco sour later). The mulberry highlighted the violet notes in the Creme Yvette without being too floral.

Listen Along

December 18, 2014
Day 17: I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

Today's cocktail inspiration is the carol, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. The text of the carol is based on a Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem, Christmas Bells, published in 1865. The poem's narrator opines that the hate in the world mocks the song of peace carried by Christmas bells. But ultimately, the bells triumph and the narrator finds a renewed hope for peace throughout the world. Perfect for our "Spirit of the Season" theme week.

When creating most of our cocktails, we start with a specific ingredient that the carol text inspires or we research a traditional drink from the country of origin. This particular cocktail, however, was inspired by a very specific version of the carol sung by The Civil Wars. It is breathy, warm, and a little sultry (a different kind of Spirit of the Season – wink, wink). To us, the cocktail that best represents these qualities is a sidecar. To make it extra sexy, we used B & B instead of regular brandy and infused it with figs. We also infused the Cointreau with some thyme and made a cardamom syrup to round out the flavours.

I Hear the Bells on Christmas Day Cocktail
2 oz fig infused B & B (Benedictine and Brandy)
1 oz thyme infused Cointreau
1 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz cardamom syrup
coupe glass

Pour all ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake until cold. Strain into a chilled glass.

Cocktail Notes
To make the fig infusion, chop up four dried figs and add to 1 cup of B & B and let it sit for at least 3 days.

To make the thyme infusion, add the leaves from about 6 sprigs of fresh thyme to 1/4 cup of Cointreau. Steep the thyme in the Cointreau for at least 4 hours or longer depending on desired strength.

The cardamom simple syrup is a 1:1 syrup with about 1 Tbsp of green, gently cracked cardamom pods in it.

Listen Along

We couldn't find a version of the Civil Wars doing this live, so you'll have to settle for this rip from the holiday CD. So many other great videos on their site – sad they broke up.

December 17, 2014
Day 16: Here We Come a’Wassailing

Today's carol is the sing along favourite, Here We Come a'Wassailing. Composed in the mid 1800s, the carol tells of the tradition of wassailing where people go from door to door to wish their neighbors good health. Tradition has it that bands of beggars and orphans would sing and dance in the snowy streets for their wealthier neighbors if they would share a bit of food, the warmth of their hearth or a bit of their wassail bowl.

Ok, we admit that we choose this carol because it would be fairly easy to come up with a drink recipe. Wassail typically involves some form of mulled apple cider with just enough alcohol in it to warm the carolers' fingers and toes. We added a little fat to the cider as well (mmm .. buttery) and concocted a hot buttered cider with enough booze both to warm the carolers and convince the listeners to shell out a few pence.

Here We Come a'Wassailing Cocktail
4 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
6 kumquats, sliced length ways
1/2 orange, sliced
1/4 cup Grand Marnier
1/2 cup Calvados
2 cups apple juice

Add butter, brown sugar, fruit and cinnamon stick to a large heavy pot. Warm over medium heat until the butter and sugar melt together and the fruit becomes fragrant. Turn the heat to low and simmer until the fruit is tender. Combine the liquids into a pourable container. Slowly add to the pot and stir to emmulsify. Once combined, simmer on low for about 30 minutes. Strain and serve.

Cocktail Notes
Damn, this is good. Like seriously good. We used this hot buttered cider recipe as a starting point and then added the kumquats (because we had them and thought it would add another flavour to the cider) and the Grand Marnier (because everything is better with Grand Marnier).

Listen Along

December 16, 2014
Day 15: Good King Wenceslas

The carol for today's cocktail is Good King Wenceslas. The lyrics tell the story of the 10th century Duke of Bohemia, Saint Wenceslas I. Legend has it that he rose at night from his bed to bestow alms on widows, orphans, prisoners and others afflicted with various difficulties.

While the lyrics were written by an Englishman (John Mason Neale), the tune is based on an old Finnish spring carol, Tempus adest floridum ("The time is near for flowering"). Consequently, we wanted the cocktail to reflect Finnish culture in some way. There is a traditional liqueur made in Finland using cloudberries (called bakeapple or knotberry in other countries) so we decided to use that as the cornerstone of the cocktail.

Unfortunately, the Finnish liqueur is nearly impossible to get in North America. Luckily for us, a Quebec company makes its own version of a cloudberry liqueur using cloudberries (there called bakeapple) from Newfoundland. Even more lucky for us, Kate has a contact in Quebec who generously shipped a bottle to us (because BC Liquor stores don't stock it – what up with that, BC Liquor?!). So thank you very much, Michelle Sullivan! We couldn't have done this without you.

We want to keep as much of the cloudberry flavour in the drink as possible, so we riffed on a French 75.

Good King Wenceslas Cocktail
1 oz gin (we used Hendricks)
1 oz cloudberry liqueur
1/2 oz peppercorn simple syrup
champagne, prosecco or other sparkling wine
Bittered Sling Denman Bitters
champagne flute

Place the gin, cloudberry liqueur, simple syrup and bitters into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until chilled. Fill the flute half way with champagne. Strain the contents of the shaker into the flute.

Cocktail Notes
We used Hendricks gin because we thought the floral nature of the gin would pair well with the cloudberry. The peppercorn syrup (mostly pink with some black thrown in) added a nice spiciness.

We tried two different bitters in this cocktail, Dillion's DSB & Bittered Sling Denman. Both worked well but the Denman enhanced the cloudberry the best.

Listen Along

December 15, 2014
Day 14: O Tannenbaum

Well, we're into Day 14 of this year's cocktail Advent calendar. We've completed our celebration of Mary and have moved into our Week 3 theme: Spirit of the Season. This is nice and vague and covers anything from Christmas greetings to holiday activities. So we're starting off with the most iconic Spirit of the Season carol we could think of: O Tannenbaum.

The melody for O Tannenbaum (German for "O Christmas Tree") is a 16th century folk song. In the mid-1800's, the modern lyrics first appeared as a tragic love song but were then transformed into the carol we know when composer Ernst Anschütz added a few verses about the faithfulness of the evergreen. Christmas trees were also becoming more popular at this time, so the carol ultimately lost its melancholy origins and became a song of holiday celebration.

The O Tannenbaum Cocktail
2 parts vodka (we used Odd Society's East Van Vodka)
1/2 part Douglas Fir liqueur (we used Clear Creek Distillery's)
1/2 part rose hip syrup
1/4 of a large Asian pear, muddled
3 dashes lemon bitters
ice
cocktail glass

Muddle chopped pear in cocktail shaker. Add vodka, fir liqueur, rose hip syrup, and bitters. Shake over ice. Double strain into cocktail glass.

Cocktail Notes
We have to admit, we lucked out a bit this year. A lot of the holiday drinks we are seeing are using fir infusions or fir liqueurs. We've been planning these drinks since October, so we like to think we're ahead of the curve when Kate said back around Canadian Thanksgiving "Must. Have. Douglas Fir Liqueur." We're SO "on trend".

For this drink, we initially considered a nice botanical gin, but then we tried the East Van Vodka from Odd Society and realized it would be a great fit. The East Van Vodka isn't tasteless, but lightly fragrant, reminding us of a high-quality sake. It enhances the fir and the rose hip flavours.

Listen Along

Sometimes, you want some festive German family from the mid-eighties singing you a Christmas carol. You're welcome.

December 14, 2014
Day 13: The Cherry Tree Carol
Our cocktail inspiration for today is The Cherry Tree Carol, a Child ballad based on an apocryphal story about Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem. While traveling through a cherry orchard, Mary asks Joseph to pick a cherry for her. He refuses saying "get your baby daddy to pick your cherries" (we paraphrase). The in utero Baby Jesus hears his mother's request and bends a cherry tree branch down so she can reach some damn cherries.

We started with a pretty straightforward idea – something cherry. But we didn't want to do just a simple cherry sour or similar. Kate got a butane torch for her birthday last month. This cocktail was calling out for some kind of fire or smoke. Let's burn some cherry wood!

The Cherry Tree Carol Cocktail
2 oz bourbon (we used Trace – so smooth)
1 oz cherry-infused Benedictine
1 dropper Apothecary Spirit Fire Bitters
Orange rind
Cherry wood chips
Cocktail glass
- Combine bourbon, Benedictine and bitters in shaker.
- Light a pile of cherry wood chips on fire.
- Blow out fire when it starts to smoke.
- Invert cocktail glass over smoke and capture in the glass.
- Add ice to shaker and shake to chill.
- Strain into smoke filled cocktail glass.
- Take a slice of orange peel, express the oil over the cocktail glass and light on fire.
- Note: this cocktail is a little easier to assemble if you have two people.
Cocktail Notes
To infuse the Benedictine, we added about 1/4 cup dried cherries into about 1/2 cup Benedictine and let it infuse overnight.

We also made a cherry infusion with Suze (same ratio). It was tasty, but not as good as the Benedictine.

Our cocktail is a variation of one created by the good folks at Apothecary Bitters – the Gedi Prime. They use a cherry-infused vermouth and then infuse the booze with the smoke, rather than fill the glass. We like the smoke-filled glass because of the effect when you serve it. And surprisingly, the smoke stays in the glass longer than you would expect. We refrigerated the cocktail for a few hours before drinking it, and the smoke could definitely still be tasted in the glass.

Listen Along
December 13, 2014

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