Winter Cocktail Tips & Tricks
Cold winter months are ideal for festive cocktails incorporating spices with delicious spirits. While there are tons of go-to cocktails like hot toddy’s and mulled wine, there are a few tips and tricks to changing up your pattern. We recently got some insight on winter cocktail tips from TJ Fink, a mixologist known as The Artisanal Alchemist. From the best spices to use to his own shrub recipe, these tips and tricks will have you ready to craft a cocktail at your home bar tonight.
The best ingredients for winter cocktails
When it comes to TJ’s favorite winter cocktails, he often reaches for brown liquors. The flavor profiles found in dark rums, single-malt scotches, and various whiskies pair well with seasonal spices. Some great go-to spices for winter cocktails include cinnamon, cloves, brown sugar, and nutmeg. Other ingredients that work well with winter cocktails are fruits like apples and pears and warm drinks like mulled wine, and coffee. Ginger is another hit, particularly around the holidays. Ginger ale, ginger beer, and even freshly grated ginger add a hint of spice that pairs extremely well with complex spirits.
One of his secret tricks to achieving delicious spicy drinks is through adding a quick dash of bitters on top. Known as a bitters float, adding a dash or two of specialty bitters on top of your cocktail at the end gives you a kick of extra flavor. While you can add this to virtually any drink, it works particularly well with botanical gins.
Make your own mixers
Adding a mix of unique ingredients can give a depth of flavors to your favorite winter cocktail. While you can find a variety of these at your local liquor store, have you tried making your own mixers at home? One of the best go-to mixers to make by yourself is a shrub. Cocktail shrubs are specialty shrubs infused with all kinds of flavors, usually with an apple cider vinegar base. Once you've prepared your shrub ahead of time, it'll last for weeks in the refrigerator, and just an ounce at a time (or less) is all you need to spruce up your favorite drinks.
TJ’s specialty cocktail shrub recipe is a hit. Try mixing it with Mahón gin, Amrut’s Old Port rum, or a scotch whisky from Firkin to instantly create a tasty drink. If you’re laying off the booze, it’s also a great mixer in club soda. It takes a few days to finish this shrub, but once you do, you’ll understand why making it at home is such a treat. If you don’t have time to make your own shrub, having some extra herbs on hand can also add some depth and pizzazz to your cocktail. Fresh mint, rosemary, thyme, and basil are all great to add to your drink. What’s great about herbs is if you don’t use them for your cocktail, you can always repurpose them while cooking.
TJ's Lemon-Berry-Ginger Shrub
32 oz apple cider vinegar
1 cup ginger root (peeled and diced)
1 cup raspberries
1/2 cup strawberries
1 large lemon (sliced into wedges)
2 cups pure cane sugar
Simmer the vinegar on the stove in a medium saucepan (over low heat). Add the fresh berries, diced ginger, and sliced lemon to a large clean Mason Jar (or several smaller jars); crush all ingredients with muddler until everything is mashed together. Remove vinegar from heat just before it begins to simmer; dump it into the Mason Jar/s with the other ingredients; stir briskly with bar spoon a few times. Allow mixture to cool on the countertop for 30 minutes or so; seal the mason jar, and place in the refrigerator for roughly 72 hours.
On the third day, take the mason jar out of the refrigerator, and empty its contents back into the saucepan, using a cheesecloth or cocktail strainer to remove all fruit pulp in the process. (Rinse out the mason jar with hot water; set it aside.) Add cane sugar to saucepan and simmer the mixture again on low heat; stir occasionally to dissolve the sugar and thicken the syrup. Remove mixture from heat just as it begins to simmer; in 20 minutes, strain it back into the mason jar. Allow your new cocktail shrub to cool; it’s ready to use immediately. (Store extra shrub in the refrigerator for up to six weeks)
Glass Revolution spirits to try
At Glass Revolution Imports, we import some of the finest spirits from across the globe to the United States. Well-known distilleries like Waterford, Amrut, Hammerhead, and Mahon all make great bases for winter cocktails. One way to snag a great spirit to use as a base for one of these festive holiday cocktails is through our brand-new online store. Once you have your spirit in hand, check out our holiday cocktails blog for some great inspiration.
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