With the onset of winter comes a slew of seasonal cocktail recipes. Popular ingredients this season include cider, maple flavors, and winter fruits such as pears and kumquats. Here's a look at 12 fresh drink ideas for upcoming events.
Chicago's Paramount Events makes a cocktail using winter produce. The brightly colored cocktail combines vodka with kumquat, fennel, Meyer lemon juice, fresh orange juice, and house-made tonic. As for the nail in the garnish? The firm's mixologist simply decided to use something different than a normal cocktail pick.Â
Evoke recently hosted a showcase in Washington that displayed cocktail ideas for each of the four seasons. The winter cocktail, created by Stir Bartending Company and Evoke, was champagne served with St. Germain liqueur, Angostura bitters, a lemon peel, and a sugar cube. The drink was also served with gold-dusted marshmallows from Fluffy Thoughts.
According to Leanne Strickler, mixologist for Blue Plate Catering in Chicago, sherry is trending. One of her newer creations is the Sherry Cobbler, which contains sherry, orange slices, cranberries, and rosemary simple syrup. The drink is garnished with a rosemary sprig.
In Los Angeles, Wolfgang Puck Catering & Events is serving its Pear Sour this season. The cocktail combines pear brandy with lemon juice, pear juice, egg whites, and simple syrup.
Fig & Olive, a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant, has locations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington. The eatery is offering a pear cocktail this winter called the Pear Blanche. The drink includes gin, elderflower liqueur, pear syrup, fresh citrus, egg whites, mint, and a dash of black peppercorn.
Toronto's Barchef has a winter cocktail known as the Night Blossom. The bourbon-and-Scotch drink has innovative ingredients that include almond and maple snow, spherified patchouli and amaro, balsam fir and honey julienne, rosemary syrup, and more. The cocktail is poured table-side.
At Chicago's Drumbar, a new cocktail called Hog Wild has a flavor that's both savory and sweet. The cocktails has a bourbon base, and ingredients include ancho reyes, artichoke amaro, and maple and soy flavors.
At the Library Bar in Chicago, the One Flew cocktail is served in a birdcage. The large-batch rum punch, spiced with tiki bitters, serves 15 guests. Its ingredients include the Italian liqueur Galliano, which a bar rep says is "making a comeback."
The hot toddy is a classic wintertime drink, but Chicago's Japanese restaurant Ani adds unique ingredients to its take on the cocktail. The Japanese Toddy adds honey simple syrup, lemon, and star anise to a cider-whiskey base.
Apple cider is also a main ingredient in the Tennessee Cider, served at Chicago's Bar Toma. The drink—close to an icy take on a hot toddy— also contains whiskey, maple syrup, Angostura bitters, and a cinnamon stick.
Cider appears again in the Stone Wall cocktail from Wolfgang Puck Catering. The drink is made with rum, apple cider, ginger beer, simple syrup, and fresh ginger.
Chicago eatery I|O created a wintry spin on a daiquiri. The rum-based beverage is made with house-infused vanilla vodka, maple syrup, cognac, tangerine juice, and cinnamon bitters. The maple-flavored foam on top is called "maple air."
