A Bitter Spirit

Day 5: Night of the Radishes

Ah regional festivals.  It's in these settings that you truly begin to uncover the traditions and history of a culture. There's mud throwing in Korea, baby jumping in Spain, or even hair freezing in the Yukon.  All a little quirky, all a little fun to be a spectator at.  One such Christmas related festival is the Night of the Radishes in Oaxaca, Mexico.  The radish was introduced to the area by the Spanish missionaries and progressively grew in popularity.  During the colonial period, vendors in the local Christmas markets decided to begin carving radishes into intricate sculptures and scenes in hopes of attracting more and more visitors.  Finally in 1897, the mayor of Oaxaca declared the first radish carving competition and the Night of the Radishes had begun.

For this cocktail, we went in what seems a logical direction: radish infused tequila.  That met with mixed results.  First, the radish actually smooths the tequila and lends a nice peppery finish.  However, there is a distinct, ahem, farty smell that is given off as the radishes infuse.  Mmmmm, tasty.  After kicking around several ideas (see the Cocktail Notes below), we decided to go with a Cadillac style margarita.  The Grand Marnier and St. Germaine fill in the gaps and add a nice grapefruit quality to the pepper radish.

The Night of the Radishes Cocktail

• 2 parts - radish-infused tequila (we used el Jimador)
• 1 part - Grand Marnier
• 1 part - St. Germain
• 1/2 part - Fresh Lime Juice

For the infusion: coarsely chop a small bunch of radishes (6-8) and place in 2 cups of tequila. Wait 2 days. Un-cap the jar. Release the Farts of Doom and Hellfire into the room (be careful not the drop the jar). Wait another day. Farts are less potent. Infusion starts to taste like radishes.

For the drink: combine ingredients into shaker. Shake over ice. Pour into cocktail glass. Garnish with thin wheel of lime.

Cocktail Notes

• In a weird "first crack" at this cocktail, we tried our tequila radish infusion and Bols Melon. It brings out the absolute worst in each of the two.
• We then tried it with Aperol, thinking that the bitter in the Aperol might be a nice boost to the radish with a hint of orange. In reality, no orange ..just lots of bitter. In a rando thought, Kate says "Let's add chocolate .. like a mole". Kate may have done too much tasting at this point. We tried Aztec Chocolate Bitters and Gifards Chocolate Syrup. This was not a good idea.
• Finally .. we brought out the big guns .. Grand Marnier. If anything will smooth this bad boy out and tame those radishes, it's Grand Marnier. Like in a Cadillac margarita.

Day 9: Nine Ladies Dancing Cocktail

Some days, the process is easy. And some days, the process is hard. Once in every calendar, we run into our "white whale" - that cocktail that will just not coalesce into a tasty libation. Sometimes, it's because we don't have a clear idea of what we want (some might say it lacks a strong narrative thread) or sometimes it's because things just don't taste the way we thought they would. So a 20 minute fun exercise turns into a 3-hour, thousand glass-washing, tipsy tirade.

Fortunately, today's cocktail wasn't our white whale this year. This was probably one of the easiest to come together. For our dancing ladies, a pretty pink pomegranate margarita.

 

Nine Ladies Dancing Cocktail

• 2 parts pomegranate tequila
• 1 part amaretto (we used Sons of Vancouver limited edition, barrel-aged amaretto - I have bottle #17!)
• 1/2 part lime
• bar spoon of Campari

Combine ingredients in cocktail shaker over ice. Shake well. Strain into cocktail glass. Serve with a cute lime twist.

Cocktail Notes

• We originally tried Tuaca, along with the tequila and amaretto - but it didn't add anything new.
• The Campari is surprisingly delightful.

Day 19: Feliz Navidad

Today's cocktail is inspired by the modern classic, Feliz Navidad. Written by José Feliciano in 1970, the simplicity of the Spanish and English verses resonated internationally and soon it became one of the most played and recorded Christmas songs in the world.

When imagining the cocktail we'd be holding in our hands while belting out Feliz Navidad, we simultaneously shouted "Margarita!". Sure, José Feliciano is technically Puerto Rican, but we had already done a drink from there last year. We debated the type of fruit that we wanted to use but finally landed on the golden berry which gives a nice sunny orange-yellow colour to the cocktail.

Feliz Navidad Cocktail
2 oz reposado tequila
1 1/2 oz Tuaca
1 oz golden berry puree
1/2 oz lime
1 oz simple syrup
2 droppers of Apothecary Bitters Tlalocan
Cocktail glass

Bung everything into a cocktail tin with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a chilled glass.

Cocktail Notes
We made the golden berry puree by whizzing a half a pint of berries with a couple of tablespoons of water in a blender. You may have to strain the puree depending on the strength of your blender.

Originally, we tried persimmon puree for the drink, but the persimmons had absolutely no flavour. Like none. Zip. We happened to have some golden berries in the house and thought, why not? They are slightly sweet and add a nice tartness to the drink.

This is one of those times where bitters helped to really make the cocktail. The component parts of the cocktail were fine but they needed something to join them together and the Tlalocan bitters did the trick. They sweetened the drink, brought out the citrus and vanilla flavours and made an ok cocktail pretty dang tasty.

Listen Along

 

Oh, Bublé ...

Day 1: The Heat Miser

The Christmas season in the sixties and seventies (at least in the United States) was dominated by stop-motion TV specials such as Frosty the Snowman and the quintessential Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. One of our favorite movies, A Year without Christmas, features the ultimate in sibling rivalry, pitting the Heat Miser against the Cold Miser. Whether it was his stocky build, his love of ragtime-esque songs or his unruly hair, you couldn't help but love the guy and we chose him for our first character-themed cocktail. Because of his intense rivalry with his brother and his unwillingness to compromise, he definitely fits in the NAUGHTY category.