Christmas Bonus

Here is a little bonus on top of the 12 Drinks of Christmas.  These two festive cocktails are a perfect way to tempt your taste buds and bridge the food and beverage binge between Christmas and New Year’s.  These two drinks provide something for everyone, a refreshing vodka treat in the Poire Victoire and a bourbon based beauty in the Jeff One.

Both drinks are recent creations from a couple of Paris' better Bar Anglais.  The Poire Victoire from the Hemingway Bar in 2008 and the Jeff One from the Cambon Bar in 2002.  As with the other delightful creations from Colin Field, these both posses the depth of character and flavor of drinks from centuries past.

First the Poire Victoire, this is an elegantly simple drink with such amazing flavor, it quickly became the favorite at a recent Christmas Eve party.  Start with two and a half ounces Grey Goose Poire in a cocktail shaker, add two ounces of apple juice and half an ounce of fresh squeezed lime juice.  Fill with ice, shake and serve in a cocktail glass.  When your guest asks what it is, summon your inner Frenchman and let Poire Victoire roll off you tongue like it’s your first language.

Second the Jeff One.  Construct this one in an old fashioned glass, start by cutting the ends off of a mandarin orange, slice down one side of the peel and carefully remove the peel in one piece, place it in the glass, place the orange inside it and muddle.  Fill the glass with ice, add one teaspoon of superfine sugar, two ounces of bourbon (Maker’s Mark is always a good choice), and fill the glass with ginger ale (about three ounces).  Stir well to dissolve the sugar and serve to your Old-Fashioned appreciating friends.  This is a nice refreshing alternative to mix into your repertoire, that will help you survive even the preachiest of christian Santas.

Poire Victoire

2 ½ oz grey goose poire

2 oz apple juice

½ oz lime juice.

Add all ingredients to ice filled shaker, shake and serve in a cocktail glass.

Jeff One

2 oz bourbon

3 oz ginger ale

1 tsp superfine sugar

1 mandarin orange

Cut ends off the orange and discard.  Remove peel from orange and place in an old fashioned glass, place orange in the center of the peel and muddle.  Fill glass with ice, add sugar, bourbon, ginger ale, and stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Mulled Wine

We’ve made it, our journey through holiday drinks and the days leading to Christmas has sadly come to a conclusion.  The bright side is I have just over twenty-four hours left to do my Christmas shopping, prepare a Christmas Eve feast and enjoy the season!  To end our collection of concoctions we have a very nice Mulled Wine, a drink that can easily be served anytime of day throughout the colder months.  I like to make sure that none of my Christmas day guests leaves the house without one of these in hand!

Mulled Wine has dozens of names and slight variations depending on where you are in Germany and Alsace it is known as Glühwein.  In France, vin chaud.  In Italy, mulled wine is typical in the northern part of the country and is called vin brulé.  In Russia, Glintwein.  Glögg is the term for mulled wine in the Nordic countries.   All are typically made with red wine, sugar and a combination of spices.  The oldest known record of one of these variants is attributed to the German nobleman and first Riesling grower of the world, Count John IV of Katzenelnbogen around 1420.

In a saucepan warm 1500 ml of Burgundy over medium heat until steaming; add six ounces of fresh squeezed orange juice and a cup of brown sugar.  Stir in two teaspoons of ground cinnamon.  In a tea ball place one teaspoon whole allspice, one teaspoon whole cloves, and one teaspoon cardamom seeds.  Place spice ball into pan and simmer over the lowest possible heat for twenty to thirty minutes.  Remove the spice ball and serve garnished with a cinnamon stick.  To keep the wine warm for an extended period, pour it into a covered crockpot on low heat.  The wine can also be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator for twenty-four hours (this also lets the flavors blend nicely), either reheat on the stove for ten minutes before serving or in the crockpot.

Mulled Wine

1500 ml burgundy wine

6 oz fresh orange juice

1 cup brown sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp whole allspice

1 tsp whole cloves

1 tsp cardamom seeds

Heat wine over medium heat, add orange juice, sugar, cinnamon and remaining spices in a tea ball.  Simmer over low heat for 20-30 minutes.  Serve with a cinnamon stick.

Robertino

Today’s delight comes, once again, from the Bar Hemingway.  It is sure to please all members of the fairer sex that you may be entertaining, as well as any gentlemen who stop by.  The Robertino has just the right amount of sweetness to it, the balance impeccably perfected at the esteemed establishment of its birth.

Once again there is not a depth of history involved , it was created in 2005 by one of the bartenders at the Ritz for a regular who frequently brings models, actresses and rock stars into the bar. It is obviously influenced by the Cosmopolitan, but the flavor seems more balanced and enjoyable.

To me this is a drink meant to share with someone, so this will make enough for two.  Start by placing a sprig of fresh mint in a shaker, add two ounces of Grey Goose vodka, and muddle slightly.  Add one ounce of fresh squeezed mandarin orange juice and an ounce of Cointreau.  Lastly add six ounces of cranberry juice.  Fill the shaker with ice and mix.  Pour the contents into two ice filled old fashioned glasses, garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.  Serve while Labelle's Lady Marmalade plays suggestively in the background.

Robertino

2 oz vodka

1 oz mandarin orange juice

1 oz cointreau

6 oz cranberry juice

2 springs of mint

Add vodka and a sprig of mint to a shaker, muddle.  Add orange juice, Cointreau  and cranberry juice.  Fill with ice and shake.  Serve in an ice filled old fashioned glass with a sprig of mint.  Serves two.

Hot Buttered Rum

To stick with our theme of winter drinks, here is one that will make your cardiologist cringe.  But as we all know, anytime you are using butter in a cocktail, good things are going to happen!  The Hot Buttered Rum is one of those gluttonous pleasures that would not cross your mind eleven months out of the year, but when candy canes and cookie trays constitute a balanced breakfast a Hot Buttered Rum is the perfect drink to end a long day.

While I have found no evidence to support his creation of the drink, Victor Jules Bergeron, Jr., also known as Trader Vic, definitely made it popular.  It appeared in “Trader Vic's Book of Food & Drink,” published originally in 1946.

To make this delightfully decedent treat you need to make a batch of butter batter first.  Place one stick of butter at room temperature into a mixing bowl with a pinch of salt, add a quarter teaspoon each of ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.  Beat until the butter is creamed and the spices are well mixed.  Slowly, add one pound of brown sugar and continue to mix.  Store the batter in the refrigerator.  When ready to make the cocktail place one to two heaping teaspoons into a mug, add two ounces of dark rum (I’m currently using Myer’s), and fill with boiling water.  Serve with a cinnamon stick and an angioplasty tenth one’s free punch card.

Hot Buttered Rum

1 lb brown sugar

¼ lb butter softened

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground nutmeg

a pinch of sugar

dark rum

Cream the butter, salt and spices in a mixing bowl, add sugar and mix.  Store in the refrigerator until ready for use.  For each drink place 1 to 2 teaspoons of the butter batter into a mug, add 2 ounces of dark rum and fill with boiling water.  Garnish with a cinnamon stick.