Ah, bless the holidays. The one season of the year where you are actually encouraged – nay, expected – to imbibe. It’s also the most creative time of the year for us bartender types, both professional and home hobbyist. It’s a perfect opportunity to get a little showy, as the staples for holiday cocktail flavours don’t usually stray to far from mint, chocolate and nog. Oh, and the rum gets to be pulled out of the back of the cupboard and given a severe workout. So where can we go with the revered Holiday Spirit to break away from the tried and true?
This is a tasty topic that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. Lori, Brian, Jay and I have been spending a lot of time in the lab in preparation for our ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ holiday cocktail launch, and it’s been some of the most fun research I’ve ever had the pleasure of diving into. We’ve been messing around with flavours like fig, chestnut, gingerbread, grinch (uh…yes, that last one is actually a flavour, as it turns out, but you’re going to have to come down to Voya to find out what it is…), mandarin orange…we came up with a ton of groovy seasonal tastes to experiment with.
They don’t have to complicated, either. It’s crazy expensive to stock a home bar with the myriad of ingredients that we’re able to mess around with at work, but you can certainly impress guests without breaking the already-tapped holiday piggy bank. Allow me to share one of my contributions to the 12DoX list with you, it’s simple to prepare and is guaranteed to impress your house-hopping holiday guests.
I call this baby the Yukon Cornelius. You remember old Yukon, right? That’s him up at the top of the post. The drink I’ve named for him is a made-from-scratch eggnog cocktail, and you’ve probably got most of the ingredients in the kitchen right now. It’s much lighter than the store-bought nog, so a few Yukons won’t fill you up before the turkey hits the table.
Pour about 3 ounces of 2% milk into your cocktail shaker together with the white of one egg. (I realize egg white in drinks is a touchy subject for some…as long as the egg is fresh you’re fine, any potential contaminants live on the outside of the egg shell; I just make sure I wash my eggs before I use them for a drink. If you’re still nervous about it you can buy pasteurized egg white at the grocery store.) Grate in a healthy dose of fresh cinnamon and nutmeg to taste, then chuck in two ounces of whatever whiskey you happen to have on hand. I use Alberta Springs Rye, which, unlike other local spirits like Canadian Club and Crown Royal (which are, contrary to conventional wisdom, not really true rye, but actually ‘Canadian Whiskey’ and have hardly any rye in them), has a well-matched spiciness to it from the rye that I like with the other ingredients. However, any whiskey will do just fine.
You may to want to sweeten it up a little here. In my Yukon I use Giffard’s Chestnut syrup, but this is a good component to add your own little taste twist. Heat equal parts sugar and water on the stove with something fun for flavour – a split vanilla bean would work nicely, for example, or roasted figs – and allow to cool, then add half an ounce per drink. Add some ice to your shaker and shake the living daylights out of it – to chill the cocktail and to aerate the ingredients, and to meringue the egg white. Strain into your favourite glass and garnish with a little grating of nutmeg or cinnamon, just for show, and maybe toss in your cinnamon stick for a swizzle. Nice and easy, and delish. Christmas morning never tasted so good.
Anyone else have any fun and unique Holiday cocktail concoctions they’re willing to share?
To your health…
Simon Ogden | Urban Diner
