Holiday Spirits

Pearl Street Warmer

TASTES LIKE:
A cozy cappuccino with a sweet herbal twist

Coffee:
2 ounces freshly made Victrola Coffee Roasters Papua New Guinea Organic coffee
11/2 ounces High West Distillery Double Rye
1/2 ounce Yellow Chartreuse
1/2 ounce honey
Three Pins whipped cream (recipe follows)
Freshly grated nutmeg

Warm a mug by filling it with hot water. Discard the water. Place first four ingredients into mug and stir together. Spoon the whipped cream on top, forming a peak, and garnish with grated nutmeg.

Three Pins Whipped Cream:
2 ounces Leopold Bros. Three Pins Alpine Herbal Liqueur
1/4 ounce honey
8 ounces heavy whipping cream

Place all ingredients in a bowl and whip until firm peaks form.

BELLY UP TO BRYAN'S BAR: Oak at Fourteenth, Boulder, Colorado, oakatfourteenth.com

Also try these festive cocktails:

Aspen Highlands

TASTES LIKE: Home at the holidays (think baking spices and the scent of a fresh Christmas tree)

2 ounces Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey
½ ounce Leopold Bros. Three Pins Alpine Herbal Liqueur
½ ounce honey
2 dashes mole bitters
1 small bunch of fresh pine needles, lightly pressed to release oils

Place first four ingredients in a mixing glass. Add ice and stir until well chilled. Strain into a chilled old-fashioned glass over fresh ice. Garnish with a few pine needles.

LOCAL SPIN:
*Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey: Made in Denver by the pioneers of Colorado micro-distilling, this great whiskey is aged in oak, which lends the warm, cozy scents of coconut, baking spices and vanilla. stranahans.com
* Leopold Bros. Three Pins Alpine Herbal Liqueur: The name “Three Pins” (slang for local telemark skiers) and the ingredients—more than a dozen herbs and flowers that grow along Colorado’s alpine trails—are all high country-inspired, and the taste—anise, caramel, molasses, pine, cinnamon and clove—just says holidays. leopoldbros.com

KEY INGREDIENTS:
Pine needles add a beautiful aromatic that plays off the herbal notes in the cocktail. If you can’t find a pine tree nearby, try juniper berries. Never heard of mole bitters? Look for The Bitter Truth’s Chocolate Bitters (the-bitter-truth.com). The bitter chocolate and cinnamon notes add a rich holiday flavor to this cocktail.

Ginger’s Manhattan

1.5 oz Stranahans Whiskey
1 oz Domaine De Canton
.25 oz Campari
2 Dashes Angostura Bitters

Place all ingredients into mixing glass. Add ice. Stir until properly chilled. Pour into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with a piece of candied ginger.

Alpine Sunset

3 Raspberries
.75 oz lemon juice
.50 oz Leopold’s Three-Pin Liquor
1 oz Leopold Gin
.33 oz Uncle Pete’s Honey
1 oz sparkling wine

Muddle 2 raspberries in mixing tin. Add all ingredients except for sparkling wine. Add ice Shake. Strain into flute. Top with sparkling wine. Garnish with remaining raspberry. 

Monks Holiday

1 oz Leopold’s Maryland Style rye
1 oz  yellow chartreuse
1 oz Domaine De Canton
2 dash angostura bitters
lemon Peel

Place all ingredients into mixing glass. Add ice. Stir until properly chilled. Pour into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with lemon peel. 

The Holly Berry

.75 oz Leopold’s Gin
.5 oz lemon
.25 oz Leopold Blackberry liquor
.25 oz Uncle Pete’s Honey
3 raspberries
.5 oz Muscato

Muddle 2 raspberries in mixing tin. Add all ingredients except for sparkling wine. Add ice Shake . Strain into flute. Top with Muscato. Garnish with remaining raspberry. 

Carrington Returns

3 oz Carrington black tea (Atlas Boulder)
1 oz Leopold’s Three-Pin Liquor
.50 Benedictine
.50 Amaro Montengro
.50 Uncle Pete’s Honey

Use a Warm mug for this. Warm up the mug with hot H2O. Throw out the water. Add all ingredients. Stir. Garnish with a honey stick and fresh cinnamon

Plan ahead for your next holiday bash:

1. As a general rule, estimate two cocktails per person, and have ingredients at the ready in case you need to make more. Always have wine and beer available too, even if you limit it to bubbles, Burgundy and a seasonal beer.

2. Nutmeg is Dayton's go-to garnish for holiday drinks. It goes with everything from eggnog to rum punch to hot toddies. Clove and orange peel lend a great holiday scent, too.

3. Whiskey, rum drinks, herbal liqueurs and honey are great for getting in the holiday spirit. If you’re looking for something adventurous, try calvados. It’s an amazing spirit that’s often overlooked, but perfect for sipping or mixing in cocktails.

4. Take cues from Dayton and stock your bar cart with these six spirits: Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye Whiskey, Campari, Busnel Calvados, Broker’s Gin, Ron Zacapa Centenario Rum, Yellow Chartreuse.