Winter is a surprisingly good time for cocktails, and not just because of the many gatherings we have this time of year. Yes, there’s an abundance of citrus, but there are other ingredients too that can properly winterize your favorite cocktail recipes.
While we love a great hot cocktail, there are other ways to melt the snow with a soothing beverage.
David Rowe is the lead bartender at the Four Seasons Embarcadero in San Francisco. He loves embracing seasonality and is always coming up with great ways to have his drinks reflect the time of year. He offered some great suggestions for making quality winter cocktails, including a recipe to try at home. And if you’re continuing with Dry January into February or just looking for a good non-alcoholic option, you’re in luck.
Buddah’s Hand and other citrus
Rowe is quick to admit he doesn’t go for ingredients that are too exotic, as the extra work of getting ahold of them can be too much. He does call on Buddha’s Hand this time of year. The citrus shrub produces evocative fruit that looks very much like a cartoonish hand. “The preparation requires the hand to be peeled, which is easily done with a ceramic peeler,” he says. “After the peel is removed, you soak the peels up to a month in the liquor of your choosing. I prefer either vodka or gin. If you choose, you can add sugar and water to make a lemon cello type of liquor.”
How does one put it to use? Spritzers of Collins’ type cocktails are great. “Or, a great Buddah’s Hand Martini,” Rowe adds.
Winter Spices
“My current choice for winter is taking the bountiful orange and pairing it with the friendly holiday spices of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, allspice, anise, and clove,” the bartender says. “It’s a familiar mixture for that cozy baked aroma.”
What’s his go-to orange? Valencia, which is ideal for juicing. “I’ll take the juice, let’s say a quart, and dissolve a quart of cane sugar into it. Add your mixture to a large saucepan with the spices and reduce it by at least half. After it cools, it will have the consistency of a rich simple syrup,” he says.”
Just like that—at least after if cools—you have an orange spiced simple syrup that can be used in a number of way to impart what Rowe calls “warmth” and a “comfortable element to your cocktails.” The spice mix reminds him of fresh-baked banana bread or the holidays and cider spices.
“Using this syrup in an Old Fashioned transforms the cocktail to a winter wonderland with little effort,” he says. “Replace the agave with the orange syrup in a Margarita and the spices jump forward and pair with tequila’s earthiness.”
Room temperature cocktails
“For novice drinkers I think many of the room temperature cocktails come across as too strong, because the liquor is not diluted in any form,” Rowe says. “With that said, room temperature cocktails can offer a warm comfort during these chilly winter nights.”
He suggests spirits well-steeped in flavors. “Roots, spices, botanicals are all well-curated in many Amaros and liquors,” he says. “One such liquor on every bar’s back shelf is Benedictine. Used judiciously, it adds a complement of botanicals and sweetness.”
And one can always go the way of the apple, expressed greatly in Calvados. “To rinse a brandy snifter with Benedictine and add a shot of Calvados, then you have a very easy and seasonal room temperature cocktail that is very sip-able and complex,” he says.
“A cocktail we make at Orafo is called the White Lotus which easily transitions to a room temperature cocktail. Incorporating a white Negroni idea, it uses Tanquray Suville, amaro Nonino, and Calvados, with a wash of Benedictine. A bit more complex than the for mentioned version but packs the same warm and comforting apple and orange combination so familiar to the season.
Winter NA Cream Soda
“My favorite surprise is how incredible the baking spices come forward when it’s used for a simple NA Italian Cream Soda,” admits Rowe. He notes that if you pour the club soda slowly enough, a pillowy white crown will rise to the top of the glass. That’s some presentation.
Ingredients:
- 1 ounce orange spiced simple
- 1/2 ounce cream
- Club soda
- Ice
Method:
- Combine simple syrup with cream and shake with 1 cup of ice.
- Pour whole mixture into a Highball glass and slowly add club soda.
Rowe likes to apply the syrup to any number of non-alcoholic mocktails. For example, in the winter, he will treat an ounce of the orange syrup to two ounces of pomegranate juice, an ounce of lemon juice, an an ounce of egg white. He dry shakes, chills, and strains into a coupe for a tangy mocktail with warm holiday spices. Don’t forget to garnish with crumbled dehydrated lemon!
