Here’s a fun fact you can use as a party icebreaker: The holiday standard “Let It Snow!” ironically originated during a 1945 Hollywood heat wave, when its songwriters were pining for cold weather. (Imagine that, New Englanders.)
Its lyrics suggest “corn for popping” when the snow isn’t stopping. But we’d add hot cocktails to the wintry mix, and Island Creek Oyster Bar general manager Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli always concocts a creative selection of them for the chilly months. He’s shared one of his favorites, the Pomelo Puro, which makes use of marmalade, a tactic for adding texture to water-heavy hot drinks, along with citrus flavors. We often associate the refreshing tartness of grapefruits and oranges with summertime, but Schlesinger-Guidelli points out that citrus fruits are actually at their peak availability and sweetness during the winter. And this cocktail lets you play a bit with kitchen ingredients, an easy exercise for rookie mixologists that will pass some time during a snow day.
Sip up. The weather outside is frightful, but inside, you’re drunk, so who cares?
Pomelo Puro
Ingredients:
1 oz. Pisco Portón, a Peruvian white spirit distilled from grapes
1.5 oz. sage grapefruit marmalade
2 dashes orange bitters
1 dash absinthe
Hot water
You can opt for store-bought, but to create your own marmalade, cut a peeled grapefruit into eighths, then cook until reduced in half. Add 1 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, 15 sage leaves and the zest of one orange. Simmer on medium heat for 30 minutes, and then chop coarsely in a food processor. Let cool before adding to the other ingredients.
Want to offer guests cocktail options without playing bartender all night or buying out the whole liquor store? Schlesinger-Guidelli suggests putting recipes and instructions for two or three drinks in picture frames next to a mixing area stocked with only the ingredients needed.
Tovolo ice cube trays. Tom recommends these for home bartenders. They’re made of flexible silicone, which makes it easy to pop out symmetrical, crack-free cubes.
Il Professore
TYLER WANG OF AUDUBON
Wang is a connoisseur of coffee cocktails. Bars and restaurants often give java short shrift, he says, yet “it is, in my opinion, one of the truest conduits for tasting and understanding terroir, on par with great wine.” The obvious bonus to his Il Professore, a coffee-boosted Negroni of sorts: The caffeine will temper the drowsy effects of imbibing warm booze during the long nights of winter.
Ingredients:
1 oz. Carpano Antica
1 oz. Campari
1 oz. Navy Strength Plymouth Gin
2 oz. freshly brewed coffee (Wang loves Counter Culture’s Idido)
1 fresh-cut orange twist
You chill glasses for martinis, right? Then warm glassware for a hot cocktail to retain the heat where it belongs—in your drink. (Wang says a warm water bath will do.)
A special bottle to share. Skip trendy bar gizmos, says Wang, and give a top-shelf bottle of something a bit unique—with the cute caveat that it can only be imbibed in each other’s company.
OAK Hot Apple Cider
MICHAEL RAY OF OAK LONG BAR + KITCHEN
As long as you didn’t OD on it during the apple picking days of autumn, cider is ripe for spiking throughout the holiday season. Ray has a simple, easy-to-follow recipe for what he serves at the swanky OAK: In a French press, combine 1 part Berentzen’s apple bourbon to 3 parts apple cider, already warmed by low stove heat. Add a bit of cinnamon from hand-crushed sticks. Steep for 5-7 minutes before pressing—enough time to bring out the caramel and cinnamon notes of the bourbon, Ray says.
For an extra hint of holiday flavor, Ray likes to infuse bourbon (or rum) with a combination of cinnamon, vanilla and Craisins. Allow the infusion to steep for 5-7 days at room temperature.
A bar kit from The Boston Shaker. Ray suggests eschewing mass-market retailers (sorry, Crate and Barrel) for supplies from this Somerville purveyor of bar tools and accoutrements.
Holiday Spirits
By Scott Kearnan | Photo Credit: Adam Detour; Prop Styling: Sierra Baskind / Ennis Inc.; Drink Styling: Monica Mariano / Ennis Inc. | Nov. 21, 2014
A Winter Warmer
Here’s a fun fact you can use as a party icebreaker: The holiday standard “Let It Snow!” ironically originated during a 1945 Hollywood heat wave, when its songwriters were pining for cold weather. (Imagine that, New Englanders.)
Its lyrics suggest “corn for popping” when the snow isn’t stopping. But we’d add hot cocktails to the wintry mix, and Island Creek Oyster Bar general manager Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli always concocts a creative selection of them for the chilly months. He’s shared one of his favorites, the Pomelo Puro, which makes use of marmalade, a tactic for adding texture to water-heavy hot drinks, along with citrus flavors. We often associate the refreshing tartness of grapefruits and oranges with summertime, but Schlesinger-Guidelli points out that citrus fruits are actually at their peak availability and sweetness during the winter. And this cocktail lets you play a bit with kitchen ingredients, an easy exercise for rookie mixologists that will pass some time during a snow day.
Sip up. The weather outside is frightful, but inside, you’re drunk, so who cares?
Pomelo Puro
Ingredients:
1 oz. Pisco Portón, a Peruvian white spirit distilled from grapes
1.5 oz. sage grapefruit marmalade
2 dashes orange bitters
1 dash absinthe
Hot water
You can opt for store-bought, but to create your own marmalade, cut a peeled grapefruit into eighths, then cook until reduced in half. Add 1 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, 15 sage leaves and the zest of one orange. Simmer on medium heat for 30 minutes, and then chop coarsely in a food processor. Let cool before adding to the other ingredients.
Want to offer guests cocktail options without playing bartender all night or buying out the whole liquor store? Schlesinger-Guidelli suggests putting recipes and instructions for two or three drinks in picture frames next to a mixing area stocked with only the ingredients needed.
Tovolo ice cube trays. Tom recommends these for home bartenders. They’re made of flexible silicone, which makes it easy to pop out symmetrical, crack-free cubes.
Il Professore
TYLER WANG OF AUDUBON
Wang is a connoisseur of coffee cocktails. Bars and restaurants often give java short shrift, he says, yet “it is, in my opinion, one of the truest conduits for tasting and understanding terroir, on par with great wine.” The obvious bonus to his Il Professore, a coffee-boosted Negroni of sorts: The caffeine will temper the drowsy effects of imbibing warm booze during the long nights of winter.
Ingredients:
1 oz. Carpano Antica
1 oz. Campari
1 oz. Navy Strength Plymouth Gin
2 oz. freshly brewed coffee (Wang loves Counter Culture’s Idido)
1 fresh-cut orange twist
You chill glasses for martinis, right? Then warm glassware for a hot cocktail to retain the heat where it belongs—in your drink. (Wang says a warm water bath will do.)
A special bottle to share. Skip trendy bar gizmos, says Wang, and give a top-shelf bottle of something a bit unique—with the cute caveat that it can only be imbibed in each other’s company.
OAK Hot Apple Cider
MICHAEL RAY OF OAK LONG BAR + KITCHEN
As long as you didn’t OD on it during the apple picking days of autumn, cider is ripe for spiking throughout the holiday season. Ray has a simple, easy-to-follow recipe for what he serves at the swanky OAK: In a French press, combine 1 part Berentzen’s apple bourbon to 3 parts apple cider, already warmed by low stove heat. Add a bit of cinnamon from hand-crushed sticks. Steep for 5-7 minutes before pressing—enough time to bring out the caramel and cinnamon notes of the bourbon, Ray says.
For an extra hint of holiday flavor, Ray likes to infuse bourbon (or rum) with a combination of cinnamon, vanilla and Craisins. Allow the infusion to steep for 5-7 days at room temperature.
A bar kit from The Boston Shaker. Ray suggests eschewing mass-market retailers (sorry, Crate and Barrel) for supplies from this Somerville purveyor of bar tools and accoutrements.
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