5 merry cocktails
The cocktail scene is abuzz with a definite holiday spirit this winter. As temperatures dip and party season gets underway, you may be inspired to don that Santa hat when mixing the latest nogs, punches and cocktails.
The holiday cheer started with two San Francisco holiday cocktail pop-ups — one from the East Coast and the other homegrown. Now a deluge of creative, seasonal cocktails are making this a December to remember. Blood oranges. Christmas ale. Nutmeg syrup. It’s all going in the glass. “I love the trend,” says Nick Mautone, managing director of New York City’s Rainbow Room and author of the new book, “The Artisanal Kitchen: Holiday Cocktails” (Workman, $13), which features celebratory sippers like a Blood Orange Sparkler and savory takes on warmers, including Pumpkin Cider. “For me, it’s the continuation of something I have always felt was happening, the integration of beverage and food programs. A great seasonal cocktail now makes a meal, and what better time to experience that than during the festive holidays.”
At Miracle, the Christmas pop-up at Pacific Cocktail Haven in San Francisco’s Union Square, you can stop in after ice skating or last-minute shopping to sip wintry cocktails with clever names like Muletide, a mezcal-based sipper featuring Amontillado sherry, allspice dram, ginger and lemon, or the Fa La La La La, La La La La, made with gin, aquavit, hazelnut liqueur, cardamom, vanilla, lemon, egg white and club soda.
At Deck the Halls in North Beach, mixologists Shaher Misif (formerly of Cantina) and Ken Luciano (formerly of PlumpJack) will serve nogs in edible mini gingerbread houses, as well as several other seasonal Christmas and Hanukkah cocktails, including the Pecan Flip, made with cachaça, pecan orgeat and sherry, until the new year. Deck the Halls is a veritable winter wonderland, where an Instagram-happy penguin and light installation just may put you in the mood for impromptu caroling.
“A lot of bars dress up to look holiday-centric, but nobody really gets into the spirit like this in San Francisco,” Luciano says. “It’s just Union Square and shopping. We wanted to create an experience.”
You can create similar experiences at home by whipping up a punch bowl of The Alembic’s Tequila Eggnog. Bartender Zakai Arnowitz has been perfecting his nog over the years, and this one, which features sherry and Curaçao in addition to freshly grated nutmeg, might be his best yet.
“The sherry has this really nutty quality and I think tequila works well with that,” he says, adding that the orange flavor in the Curaçao is also a great match for tequila. “I’ve had tons of people tell me it’s the best eggnog they’ve ever had.”
Now Arnowitz and the other cocktail wizards are sharing their recipes.
Pumpkin Cider
Serves 12
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon sugar
Twelve 1-inch cubes pumpkin or butternut squash
64 ounces fresh apple cider
12 whole cloves
6 whole star anise pods
3 cinnamon sticks
12 ounces dark rum
12 ounces Calvados or applejack Freshly grated nutmeg, for garnish Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter, sugar and pumpkin. Saute the pumpkin, turning it regularly, until the sides have become slightly caramelized, about 8 minutes. If you feel the pumpkin becoming soft, remove the pan from the heat to avoid overcooking.
Stir in the cider and spices. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring regularly, until hot. Remove the cinnamon sticks. Stir in the rum and Calvados. Ladle into coffee cups or Irish coffee mugs, sprinkle nutmeg on top and serve.