Shake Loose Winter
In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb
BY: JOSHUA GANDEE
Beverage Director, Watershed Kitchen & Bar
Let me spell out a scenario for you, that I’m sure 110% of you will relate to. You’re standing in your kitchen looking out the window as snow begins to melt off your roof reminding you where your gutter has a leak. You’re wearing a robe with a hole in it because, “who buys a new robe, and where do they come from?” and you’re clutching an Old Fashioned muttering, “I’m going to have to drink stirred, brooding, and gloomy cocktails for the rest of my life because there is no sun, only winter.” Too close to home, huh?
Well, luckily the earth is in constant rotation, and so should your cocktail game. We’re here to help. There are flavor elements that you can find in the warming, stirred cocktails that you come to love in winter, that are mirrored in these shaken, refreshing cocktails that ease you into springtime bliss as you replace your holy robe with that yellow rain jacket that makes you look like Georgie from “IT.”
Old Fashioneds and Manhattans are great, and you can drink them all the time if you fear change and like missing out on what else the world has to offer, but there is a way to drink a barrel-aged spirit while still feeling as crisp as the new springtime air. Baking spice flavors such as nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, and clove hold a certain time and place experience with us for holiday and winter flavors, until you are made to think about them in a new environment. If you take those same flavors and redirect them to say, the Caribbean, you’re now thinking about island spices. Those late autumnal and winter profiles you’re used to in the bitters that make your favorite stirred cocktails are now present in some borderline tiki variations.
Take the Lion’s Tail for example. (So apropos, I know…) It basically has every flavor you would find in an Old Fashioned such as allspice, clove, cinnamon, vanilla, caramel, and toasted oak, but it also incorporates lime juice, which all but whisks you away to your covered side patio. This cocktail is the perfect example of redefining those baking spices into inviting island warmth. Memorize this recipe as a cure-all for winter blues. The spices will lull you into familiar territory, while allowing the balanced citrus and sugar to wake up your senses and have you looking forward to sunshine in no time at all.
Recipes
LIONS TAIL
1.5oz Watershed Bourbon
.75oz Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
.5oz Allspice Dram
.25oz Simple Syrup
4 dashes Angostura Bitters
Combine all ingredients into a shaker tin with ice and shake until well chilled. Strain into a coupe glass and garnish with a lime wheel.
There comes a point in absolute wintertime cocktail desperation that you start doing things like making gin and gingers in a coffee cup because both ingredients have made their way into the fridge, and that’s okay because there’s a way out of that funk too. Consider the Gin-Gin Mule. You already have most of the ingredients and adding more green things to your life (like mint) will not only make your body, but also your mom, proud. The spice from the ginger ale is ramped up when you swap it out with ginger beer, and all the light in the world is going to feel like it’s singing from the tip of your tongue. Oh, and the recipe is easy too, just swap out your coffee mug for a collins glass.
WATERSHED GIN-GIN MULE
1.5oz Watershed Bourbon Barrel Gin
.75oz Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
.5oz Simple Syrup
8-10 Sprigs of Mint
Add all ingredients to a collins glass with ice and stir until combined. Top with ginger beer to fill the glass, and garnish with more mint to apply a floral bouquet that your nose can’t wait to get trapped in.
As the days get longer, inevitably, you’re going to believe in your ability to produce brighter more exciting drinks. And right as your confidence begins to rise, we’ll probably have another blog telling you it’s time to change. But, until then, drink want you want (as long as it’s Watershed) and know we’ll always be here to give you options.