Sweater Weather

I wish I came up with the idea for this tasty Winter Mai Tai creation, but it was created by mixologist Chris who is the bartender at Anima in Las Vegas. Check out this Tik Tok video of him making his creation!

This cocktail is fantastic and again features the winter fruit, grapefruit. I made this one with Angel’s Envy Rye only because I didn’t have another Rye in the house. This cocktail does not need a high end Rye Whiskey because of the blending of all the unique ingredients.

Ingredients:

1 oz grapefruit juice I I used pink grapefruit juice)

1/2 oz lime juice

1/4 oz cinnamon simple syrup (recipe below)

1/4 oz maple syrup

1/4 oz white creme de cacao

1 oz rum

1 oz rye whiskey

Garnishes- Cinnamon or grapefruit twist

Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into a coup or martini glass and garnish with cinnamon or a grapefruit twist if you used freshly squeezed grapefruit juice.

Cinnamon Simple syrup:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup water

1 cinnamon stick

1/3 cup sugar

In a small saucepan add water and cinnamon and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Strain out the cinnamon stick and bring the water back to a boil. Add the stir and stir until dissolved. Cool. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Dirty Spiked Hot Chocolate

I was struggling to come up with a simple but fun cocktail for the week and a conversation with a good friend reminded me that I can use the crockpot to make some simple warm winter cocktails! If you are making this for yourself you can do a single or double version just as simply in a saucepan on the stove.

One of my favorite cafe drinks is a Dirty Chai. It is a Chai tea with a shot of espresso. This cocktail is a version of that made with hot chocolate and a shot of Espresso Liquor! What a perfect Aprés Ski Drink!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 to 2 tablespoons sugar or maple syrup (depending on how sweet you like it)

Pinch of salt

1 cup milk or any non-dairy milk

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 oz Espresso Liquor

Whipped Cream or Marshmallows

Cinnamon

Whisk together the cocoa, sugar, salt, and about 2 tablespoons milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until cocoa and sugar are dissolved. Whisk in the rest of the milk and heat it over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until it is hot. Stir in the vanilla and the espresso liquor. Top with whipped cream and cinnamon!

This recipe makes one cup but you can multiply these ingredients to make as many cups as desired. Or, as mentioned above you can make it in the crock pot to serve for a large get together! To do this you would add the desired cups of milk, sugar and salt to the crockpot. Heat on high for approx one hour until the milk is hot and whisk in the cocoa powder and vanilla. Heat for an additional 30 minutes. Add the espresso liquor and the garnishes to each cup as you serve. If you prefer marshmallows to whipped cream they will be just as good! And, if you don’t like Espresso Liquor you can substitute with Liquor 43 or Jameson Whiskey.

Eggnog Martini

This is definitely dessert in a glass! If you are an eggnog lover this may be your new favorite holiday cocktail.

Ingredients:

2 oz of eggnog

2 oz vanilla vodka

1 oz Vanilla Kahlúa

Vanilla frosting

Colorful sprinkles for a garnish

Spread the icing in a thin layer on a small plate. Layer the sprinkles on another plate. Dip the edge of the martini glass in the icing and then the sprinkles to rim the glass. Add the eggnog, vodka and Kahlúa to a shaker filled with ice. Strain into your rimmed martini glass.

For a twist on this festive holiday drink use bourbon in place of the vanilla vodka and Amaretto in place of the Kahlúa.