WINTERISE YOUR COCKTAILS
Because it’s a bit chilly, and because, cocktails. Here’s how to get more out of the cocktail hour this winter, in 5 easy steps.
The purpose of a cocktail or pre-dinner drink is one of animation. It should brighten you, like a Renaissance painting restored to life. Your chin should raise, your shoulders settle, your eyes sparkle. Suddenly you are smiling.
If your cocktail doesn’t do this for you at the end of the day, you’ve either had quite the day, or you’re still drinking what you used to drink in summer.
So here’s how to winterise the Cocktail Hour.
1/ Make ’em short, not tall.
Forget the tinkle of ice in a long, cool drink, brrr. In winter, you need something short, strong and life-affirming.
An example: If you drink Campari and soda or a spritz in summer, then turn it into an Americano in winter. Equal parts Campari and Rosso (sweet) Vermouth over ice, and a dash of soda water (don’t drown it) will do the trick.
Another example: If you drink Negroni throughout the year ( an entirely respectable thing to do), consider moving to a Boulevardier on colder nights. Just swap out the gin for Bourbon in the classic Negroni recipe. So that’s 45 ml Bourbon, 30 ml Rosso (sweet) Vermouth and 30 ml Campari, stirred over ice.
A final example: if gin and tonic is your thing, switch to a gimlet. Just a beautiful gin and a touch of lime cordial, stirred over ice and strained into a small coupe glass. You can use fresh lime juice balanced with a little sugar syrup, but I love the oiliness of lime cordial, which is already sweet and saves some palaver.
2/ Add warmth with something rich and sweet
We’re talking aromatised wines here, and the wonderful world of Vermouth and the new variations on that theme that are coming our way from Australian producers. There’s a rounded, herbal, bitterness, complexity and mild fortification going on, with increasing use of Australia’s unique fruits and herbs as botanicals.
Look for anything from Maidenii, Regal Rogue (especially the Bold Red Semi-Dry) and Adelaide Hills Distillery – also seek out the Bizzarro Bitter Aperitivo from Delinquente Wine Co, Okar Bitter Amaro and so many more. (There’s a great wrap-up of Australia’s Vermouths on Young Gun of Wine.)
3/ Get yourself some new gear
Like these antique brass cocktail pins from Williams Sonoma online.
Or the best small coupe glasses ever - the Nick and Nora, which come with a matching mixing jug from Reidel WHICH I JUST NOTICED IS CURRENTLY $60 FOR THE SET, DOWN FROM $100. RUN!
Cult specialists Cocktail Kingdom even have a plush cocktail shaker rattle for Baby, sweet. But it says a lot about the parents.
4/ Swap to a winter gin, because normal gin isn’t going to cut it
Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz Gin, come on in. Brookie’s Sloe Gin made with the mighty Davidson plum by Cape Byron Distillery, take a seat by the fire. Bass and Flinders on the Mornington Peninsula even do a small-batch Winter Gin with distinctive notes of orange, cassia bark and pepperberry. Never Never Distilling Co do a Triple Juniper, West Winds do a wild plum, and the Indigenous-owned Seven Spirits Gin is out now in Green Ant and Bush Apple from Something Wild.
5/ Add an egg white (not a whole egg, that would be gross)
The case for egg white in a cocktail: it adds viscosity, silkiness and foam. It’s not about the taste, it’s about the texture, the mouthfeel. Egg whites have been shaken into cocktails since the 1800s, reappearing in the early twentieth century, then disappearing again until recently. Classic cocktails shaken with egg white: Peru’s Pisco Sour, the ultra-delightful and nicely winter-citrussy Ramos Gin Fizz, and the Whisky Sour. (I’m currently working up a Gimlettish one with gin, lime cordial, Campari and egg white, will let you know how I go).
The Ramos Gin Fizz
For two chilled Nick and Nora or other swellegant small coupe glasses.
75 ml gin
15 ml lime juice
15 ml lemon juice
1 egg white
3 drops orange blossom water
15 ml sugar syrup (see below)
Combine all ingredients in shaker and shake well. (This is a ‘dry-shake’, without ice).
Add ice and shake for up to 60 seconds until it’s cold and frothy, and your arms ache.
Strain into chilled glasses, and add a dash of sparkling water.
TO MAKE SUGAR SYRUP: Bring 1 cup water to the boil and add 1 cup caster sugar, stirring well with a wooden spoon until dissolved. Simmer for 3 minutes, then cool. Store in the fridge.
MEASUREMENTS When a cocktail recipe calls for a shot, it’s 30 ml. When it calls for a jigger, that’s 1.5 shots, or 45 ml.
GOING ALCOHOL-FREE? You can still make the cocktail hour a mindful, celebratory ritual with beautiful glasses, a tray, snacks, detail and attention paid – just with alcohol-free wines and spirits.
From Nora Charles, in The Thin Man:
“Waiter, will you serve the nuts? I mean, will you serve the guests the nuts?”
Thanks for reading (and liking, commenting, subscribing, knock yourself out).
I would like to acknowledge that I live, work and play on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and wish to pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging. I fully support the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to be enshrined in Australia’s Constitution.