‘Tis the season for winter cocktails when the frosty allure of the season meets carefully crafted libations. Members of Elite Catering and Event Professionals (ECEP) offer four winter cocktails in which mixologists at these top catering firms fuse seasonal ingredients, aromatic spices, and spirited creativity, designed to lift spirits and bring a touch of merriment to cold, dark nights and seasonal events.
Winter’s Eve Mocktail
This mocktail is a collaboration with Courtyard Tea Room, an enchanting space hidden in the Boston Public Library where The Catered Affair serves afternoon tea and a series of creative mocktails. This one, the Winter’s Eve, features Seedlip 94, Mulled Berry Mors, Sultan Pomegranate Molasses. As a mocktail it is both festive and inclusive, the perfect combination for this season.
Another mocktail offered by The Catered Affair at the Courtyard Tea room is this tall drink of elegance. The Spiced Pear is described as fiery, juicy, and zesty! It features Tito’s vodka, house-made spiced pear sugar water, fresh lime juice, egg white.
Winter Cocktails: Blood Orange Gin and Tonic
Behind the Scenes Catering and Events in San Diego embraces both it’s Souther California location and a seasonal beauty, the blood orange with its bright, citrusy take on a Gin and Tonic.
Here is their recipe.
1 ounce Gin
¼ ounce Lime Juice
2 ounces Freshly Squeezed Blood Orange Juice
½ ounce Rosemary Simple Syrup
Tonic Water
Sprig of Rosemary and Sliced Blood Orange for Garnish
To make it …
1. Fill glass with desired amount of Ice.
2. Pour in the Gin, Lime Juice, Blood Orange Juice and Rosemary Simple Syrup. Give it a stir.
3. Top with Tonic Water and garnish with a sprig of Rosemary and a Slice of Blood Orange.
Pear and Ginger Sage Cocktail
Ridgewells Catering in Bethesda/DC hits all the high notes of seasonal aromas and spice of winter all within this gorgeous sip!
Cherry Wood Smoked Spiced Pomegranate Manhattan
From Butler’s Pantry in St. Louis, Missouri, a cocktail that brings you the memory of a winter walk in the woods, snow dusting the red berries along the trail and the smoky comfort of the fire burning in your cabin’s fireplace as you walk up the steps to the deck. What better way to warm your heart than to be on that deck … with this drink … great friends … and a delicious catered meal spread before you?
Ingredients
2 ounces Rittenhouse Rye Whiskey
.5 ounce Carpano Antica Formula Vermouth
.75 ounce Pama Pomegranate Liqueur
3 dashes Old Forester Smoked Cinnamon Bitters
2 dashes Angostura Aromatic Bitters
Pinch of salt
Garnish: 2 each picked amarena cherries
To make it …
1. Combine all ingredients into a mixing glass or shaker full of ice and stir for 20-25 seconds. Strain the cocktail into your glass and top it with your amarena cherries.
2. With a pinch of shredded cherry wood chips, smoke the cocktail for 5-10 seconds.
3. It is recommended to have the cherries in the cocktail when this is done as it gives the smoke an organic substance to grasp onto.
4. When you’re done smoking, remember to slide the smoke top off instead of lifting it off so as not to create a vacuum and pull out all the delicious smoke you just infused into the cocktail.
5. Now it’s time to enjoy this fantastic cocktail’s beautiful aromatics and flavors. Cheers.