Spice up the seasonal festivities by adding some crafty oil to the entertainment engine. Let these pro cocktail bartenders be your guides to spirited DIY.
Pimento Dram
Robin Goodfellow, GM and bartender at Ursa (924 Queen West, 416-536-8963, ursarestaurant.com), is a DIY champion who makes his own vermouth, liqueurs, syrups and infusions, adding a signature stamp to Ursa’s cocktail list. Goodfellow makes a pimento dram to add depth and spice to his Lion’s Tail cocktail.
How to make it:
To one bottle of Rhum Barbancourt 4 Year Old (750ml/$29.10, LCBO 256321), add:
1 tsp allspice
½ tsp dried lemon peel
pinch cloves, pinch coriander seeds
Let the ingredients sit for one week, agitating daily. Strain through cheesecloth, add 1 cup of rich simple syrup (2:1 sugar and water), let sit overnight and enjoy!
How to use it:
Drop by Ursa for a Lion’s Tail or roll up your sleeves and mix one at home:
2 oz bourbon
¾ oz pimento dram
½ oz fresh lime juice
¼ oz rich simple syrup
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Shake, fine-strain and serve up.
Apple Oolong Tea Syrup
Josh Lindley (joshlindley.com), bartender at Bar Isabel (797 College, 416-532-2222, barisabel.com) whips up a seasonal syrup from pressed Ontario apples and oolong tea for the Centre Of The Universe, his locally inspired Forty Creek cocktail.
How to make it:
1 cup apple juice
1 cup sugar (white refined is fine.)
2 oolong tea bags (available wherever herbal teas are sold)
3 oz vodka (for preservation’s sake)
Bring the apple juice to a boil, kill the heat, add sugar and dissolve. Then add tea bags and vodka and let steep for an hour or until cool.
How to use it:
Though you can sometimes catch The Centre Of The Universe on special at Bar Isabel, here’s how to mix one at home:
1½ oz Forty Creek Copper Pot (750ml/$26.95, LCBO 285254)
½ oz Becherovka (750ml/$27.95, LCBO 603456)
1 oz apple oolong syrup
3 dashes Berg & Hauck’s Jerry Thomas Bitters ($24.95 at BYOB, 927 Queen West, 416-858-2932, byobto.com)
Spicy Whisky
Aja Sax, manager and mixer at the Huntsman Tavern (890 College, 416-901-9919), spices up smooth, round Canadian whisky with chili de arbol.
How to make it:
Toast 4 to 5 dried chilies in a cast iron pan to revive them, then soak in water for a few minutes, remove and let dry before adding them to a bottle of Wiser’s Special Blend (750m/ $24.45, LCBO 1222). Let sit four to six hours, agitating occasionally before straining.
How to use it:
Stop into the Huntsman for a New Flame ($13) or try Aja’s chili whisky at home. Spicy rye and ginger, anyone?
1½ oz chili-de-arbol-infused Wiser’s
¾ oz Cointreau
¾ oz Christmas spice elixir (1 tsp each ground nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and star anise) steeped in 1 cup hot water)
1 whole egg
4 drops Coster’s Prescription Coffee & A Smoke Bitters ($13, available at thecraftybartender.com)
Shake twice, first without ice then with. Strain into a cocktail glass and top with fresh ground nutmeg.
