A Bitter Spirit

Day 3: Yule Log

Yule or Yuletide is, of course, a festival observed by the historical Germanic peoples, later undergoing Christianised reformulation resulting in the now better-known Christmastide (of course!). Now, there are about a b'zillion Yule traditions (Yule boar, Yule goat, Yule hunts, Yule singing .. all kinds of Yule). But one of Kate's favourites is the Yule log. And perhaps, not surprisingly, not the Yule log that you burn on Christmas eve and if it goes out and you have to light it again, you're in for a year of bad luck.

Rather, the Yule log that is made of cake (obvi).

A Yule Log cake is a delightful confection made of sponge cake and chocolate buttercream. It is shaped and decorated like an actual log, often including small marzipan mushrooms.

We thought it would be tasty to recreate this flavour in a cocktail. But we also wanted to reference the actual burning Yule log. So how's about a smoky black tea infusion in creme de cacao with a hint of amaretto for the marzipan? 

The Yule Log Cocktail

• 1 part - Toasted Black Tea infused Creme de Cacao
• 1 part - Rum (we used Flor de Caña)
• 1 part - Amaretto (we used Disaronno)
• frothy or whipped cream

For the tea infusion: toast a tablespoon of black tea in cast iron pan until a nice aroma comes up. Maybe 10 minutes periodically tossing. Combine toasted tea with 1 cup of Creme de Cacao. Infuse for 1.5 to 2 hours.

For the cocktail: put ingredients into shaker over ice. Shake. Pour into a sipping glass. Top with frothy or whipped cream. Dust that with cocoa.

Cocktail Notes

• We also did an infusion with toasted black tea and cocoa nibs in the creme de cacao .. there's an extra bit of bitterness to it. Not bad, just a little more bitter - if that's your jam.
• We also considered Kahula (as a reference to the espresso flavour that is often in the icing on a yule log) or Frangelico in place of the Amaretto. We just liked the Amaretto best. 

Day 1: Partridge in a Pear Tree Cocktail

Well, it's that time of year again (finally!). As we mentioned in the previous post, instead of an advent calendar (24 days prior to Christmas), we're doing a 12 Days of Christmas cocktail series - the days between Christmas and Epiphany. We're using the 12 Days of Christmas carol lyrics as a jumping off point (we also considered Bob and Doug's alternative 12 Days lyrics as well), but aren't sticking TOO closely to them (except for Day 1, funnily enough) - there won't be any foie gras cocktails on Day 6 (or will there ...). Anyhoo .. welcome to Day 1!

Day 1 is also Christmas Day. So we wanted something light to sip while opening presents, snacking on Chex Mix and looking up the Nick Offerman version of the Yule Log on YouTube. Kate also has a pleasant memory of friends making a fruit-based cocktail on Christmas morning. Kate's idea was too much fruit for Drew .. so we decided to go with something a little lighter, but still fruit-oriented. And since the gift on Day 1 is a partridge in a pear tree - we went with .. PEAR! Using prosecco made this kind of like a pear mimosa!

Partridge in a Pear Tree Cocktail

• 2 parts pear juice concentrate (You probably could muddle your own pear here and add some simple syrup, but you can also just use some pear concentrate - to save time, so you can spend more of it drinking with your family). We used Ceres (but forgot to include it in the picture).
• 1 part rum
• 1/2 part pear brandy (we used one from a local (British Columbia) distillery, but you could put any crisp pear liqueur in here)
• 1 tsp fresh lime (even though we used pear concentrate, we will never skimp on fresh lemon or lime juice - nothing beats fresh citrus)
• 1 tsp cherry heering
• 1 tsp simple syrup
• few dashes chocolate bitters
• prosecco (or other sparkling wine)

Combine all ingredients except for sparkling wine and stir gently. Pour into champagne flute. Just before serving, top with sparkling wine.

Cocktail Notes

• If your pear brandy is too sharp or alcohol-y, the chocolate bitters will round it out nicely.
• We also tried Apothecary's Mystic Caravan bitters (smokey pear) which were quite nice as well.
• We used Myers's Rum Planters Punch version. This was nice and dark, but may not be to your liking. Feel free to sub in your favourite rum :)

Day 22: Tennessee Christmas

The song inspiration for today's cocktail is Tennessee Christmas, written by Amy Grant and Gary Chapman. Originally recorded for Amy's 1983 A Christmas Album, it has since been recorded by several different artists.

Tennessee Christmas reminds us of homeyness and homeyness recalls holiday traditions like fruit cake. Fruit cake? Yes, fruit cake. Because we thoroughly enjoy fruit cake. Well, fruit cake done properly with lots of booze like rum and brandy. Of course, rum and brandy together harkens to the classic Between the Sheets cocktail. Similar to a Sidecar, a Between the Sheets combines brandy, rum, cointreau and lemon. For this incarnation, we decided to try and create a fruitcake-like infusion in the brandy.

Tennesse Christmas Cocktail
1 part infused brandy
1/2 part cointreau
1 part rum
1/2 part lemon juice
1/2 part spiced syrup

Place all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

First, a Pro Tip: even though you've finished the bottle, you shouldn't put it in the recycling bin until you've taken the picture; otherwise, you end up with a sticky note on a bottle of Baileys. Second, there is technically no actual fruitcake in this cocktail. The fruitcake represents the myriad of fruits and spices we infused the booze and syrup with.

Cocktail Notes
While you could just slice up a couple of pieces of fruit cake and stick it into some brandy, we decided to build an infusion from scratch. In making it, it was a dash of this and a bit of that kind of concoction but here's the best guess as to the components:
1/4 cup pecan pieces
2 Tbsp raisins
1 Tbsp dried cherries
2 prunes
peel of half an orange, whole piece (not grated)
peel of half a lemon, whole piece (not grated)

Place all the ingredients into a large container and allow to sit for at least 6 days. Strain and use.
Note: originally we had added about 6 prunes, but the infusion was way too sweet after just 3 days so we removed them. One or two will add the depth of flavour without making it too sweet.

We decided to make a spiced syrup so we could control the level of spice better than was possible in an alcohol infusion. For the syrup we used:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cinammon stick
2 cloves
2 cardamom pods
1 tsp nutmeg

The syrup can easily be made in the microwave by placing all the ingredients into a heat proof container (a 2 cup Pyrex measure would be perfect) and slowly heating it until the sugar dissolves. Allow to cool and then strain.

Listen Along

 

Want to know how to feel old at Christmas? Look for a video of one of the favourite holiday songs of your youth and then realise that some guy has cut 30 years of the same artist performing that song together into one video. THIRTY YEARS! ZOMG.

Day 20: Mele Kalikimaka

Today's cocktail is based on the Hawaiian themed song, Mele Kalikimaka. The phrase "Mele Kalikimaka" is a direct translation of "Merry Christmas" but since Hawaiian has a much different phonological system than English, certain constraints (only 8 consonants, no words ending in consonants, etc.) had to be made in the translation. The song itself was written in 1949 and while it has been recorded by numerous artists perhaps the most famous was the version recorded by Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters in 1950.

With a Hawaiian cocktail, our minds naturally ventured to daiquiris. But not a blue one because that would be weird. But we do like pineapple so why not a pineapple daiquiri? We grilled the pineapples to sweeten them up a little. And while the grill was on, we threw the limes on for good measure.

Mele Kalikimaka Cocktail
1 1/2 oz dark rum
1 oz grilled lime juice
1 oz grilled pineapple puree
1 oz simple syrup

Grill the fruit until there is some light charring and the fruit are soft. Purée the pineapple in a blender, adding a few tablespoons of water if needed to create the purée. Add all of the ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until chilled and pour into a cocktail glass.

Cocktail Notes
The cocktail is very straight forward. It should be noted that grilling the limes concentrates their flavour and makes them rather tart. This may not be everyone's preference so regular lime juice could be substituted.

A spiced simple syrup would be great in this. We accidentally added some cardamom syrup at one point and it was great. The peppercorn we used earlier in the calendar or a cinnamon syrup would be great too.

Listen Along

 

Bing and the Andrews Sisters made it famous and then Clark Griswold took it to a whole new level ...

Day 5: Mary's Boy Child

The carol for today's cocktail is Mary's Boy Child written by the great composer and somtime actor, Jester Hairston. He originally wrote the melody of this calypso-tinged carol for a party that was attended by people mostly from the West Indies. Years later, when asked to compose a Christmas carol for the Hollywood Choir, Hairston returned to this melody and changed the lyrics to what we now know as Mary's Boy Child. The song became even more popular when the likes of Harry Belafonte and Mahalia Jackson recorded it.

The melody's original title was He Pone and Chocolate Tea.  He pone is a type of cornbread (mmmm ... corn pone!) After some research, we learned that there is a drink from the West Indies called St. Lucia Tea that is made from steeping grated pure cocoa. We used the tea as a base and added some booze to make it a little more festive.

Mary's Boy Child Cocktail
2 cups water
1 cup almond milk (or regular milk)
1 cup cocoa nibs
1 stick of cinnamon
5 cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cardamon
1/2 cup brown sugar (or to taste)
1 tsp vanila
1/2 cup rum
5 oz Galliano
5 Tbsp coconut cream
mug or heat-resistant glass

This recipe is a little more involved than most of the ones we do, so we're breaking down the steps:

• Tie the cloves and cinnamon into a piece of cheesecloth.
• Add it, the rest of the spices, the water, almond milk and cocoa nibs to a heavy pot. Simmer the mixture over a medium-low heat for 40 minutes. Allow to cool slightly.
• Add the brown sugar and stir to dissolve.
• Remove the cheesecloth containing the cloves and cinnamon from the pot.
• Pour the mixture into a high-quality blender. Pulse on high until the cocoa nibs are broken down.
• Strain the liquid through a fine sieve and return it to blender.
• Add the vanilla, rum, Galliano and coconut cream.
• Pulse until well blended and frothy.
• Adjust sweetness as desired.
• Serve hot, room temperature or chilled.

Cocktail Notes
As we were making this, we kept wondering if this was going to turn out to be any good. Surprisingly, it's delcious. It is definitely NOT hot chocolate but very much a tea-like drink.  And the great thing is that everything can be adjusted to personal taste.  The ratio of liquid to cocoa nibs (3:1) seems to work, but the quantities or types of spices, sugar or booze could easily be changed.

For a creamier drink, switch out more milk for the water. We added the coconut cream to give it a creamier texture and help emulsify the drink but isn't vital to the drink if you don't like coconut. The drink also gets better as it sits and the flavours mingle togther.

Listen Along

Day 1: The Coventry Carol

Welcome to Advent and to Day 1 of our 2014 Cocktail Advent Calendar. The themes of the carols in the first week of the calendar all revolve around the Christ Child.  The first carol on our list is The Coventry Carol, sometimes known as Lully, Lullay Thou Little Tiny Child.  It dates from around the 14th century and has regularly been performed in nativity plays in Coventry, England since at least the 1500's. In the plays, the carol is sung by three Bethlehem women who enter on stage immediately after Joseph has been warned by an angel to take his family to Egypt to avoid Herod's Slaughter of the Innocents.

Kate loves this carol largely for the melody which incorporates a Picardy third (a crazy awesome mysterious chord) considered both the most musically and emotionally consonant chord (take that, flattened sixth chord!).

We wanted a drink that would match the mysterious and resonant sound of this carol as well as play to its heritage in Coventry. One of the biggest discussions we had was whether we could make a drink that was good both cold (like Kate wanted it) and hot (like Drew preferred). So we decided to start with a rum base and build from there.

The Coventry Carol Cocktail

3 parts rum (we used Havana Club)
1.5 parts Suze
1/2 part fresh lemon juice
1/4 part lavender syrup
1/4 part lemongrass syrup

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake over ice. Strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a few lavender buds and a piece of candied ginger.

To make the hot version, pour the mixture into a mug or other heat-tolerant glass. Add 2 ounces of boiling water.

Cocktail Notes
We were originally going to make this with Galliano instead of Suze, but the Galliano was sweeter than we wanted and without a bitter note. The Suze was perfect.

The first version didn't have lemon juice, but it proved too sweet, so we added the lemon juice to freshen it up a bit. If you are not using fresh lemon juice in your cocktails (fresh lime juice, etc), you really need to start. Seriously. Why aren't you?

We also did a version with only lavender syrup (in an effort to cut the sweet), but there is something magical about the lemongrass, so we ended up cutting the ratios down on each syrup by half but kept them both. It may seem a bit fussy to make two syrups, but seriously worth it.

We tried a few different types of bitters, but none of them hit the right note as the Suze. They all substantially changed the nature of the drink and didn't really add the extra dimension we were looking for.

Listen Along

Day 7: The Griswold

National Lampoon’s Vacation movies introduced the world to the Griswolds, a typical American family lead by their bumbling father, Clark. Nearly everyone knows a guy like Clark (if they aren't a Clark themselves). He tries...so hard...to be the best father he can.  But whether it's planning a family vacation at an amusement park when the park is closed or putting the downpayment on a pool before getting his Christmas bonus, his best laid plans usually end up backfiring.