A few weeks back we asked you to tell us what seasonally and locally inspired cocktails you’re drinking now, with the idea that the reader with the best answer would score two tickets to our winter Good Spirits, the next in a series of seasonal cocktail parties we host in tandem with Edible Manhattan. As usual your answers put our own drinking habits to shame.
There were rye juleps made with maple syrup, gimlets with Breukelen gin, Hudson Valley cider spiked with Hudson Valley vodka, lots of Tuthilltown rye and Baby Bourbon.
Whitney and Kelly offered up the The Original Appalachian Hot Toddy. That’s “Boiled Cider Syrup, Johnny Mash Hard Cider (Hill Top Orchards, Richmond, MA), and Cornelius AppleJack (Valatie NY). Heated, and served in a hollowed out apple with a cinnamon stick.”
Meanwhile Khicks9 told us about their Maple Fig Bourbon cocktail. That would be “1 mission fig – cut into quarters and muddled with maple syrup. Add orange juice, bourbon and a tsp of balsamic vinegar on ice and you have a TREAT.”
But our favorite is from a reader named Sam who wrote in with this beauty: “A dram I’ve crafted myself and which I coined the Si Se Puede Ponche, in honor of the seasonal farmworkers who pick apples in NY (and elsewhere). It consists of reposado tequila, a touch of mezcal, homemade apple cider (a pain, but totally worth it), hibiscus tea, lemon juice, vanilla syrup, and Bittermen’s mole bitters (made in BK!). I’m quite proud of this punch. Not only does it tell a story that is very near and dear to me, that of the migration of many hard working and honorable folk from Mexico into the US, but it’s delicious and warming. Salud!”
Salud indeed! That’s Spanish for “cheers,” people. So Sam handily wins those two free tickets we promised to the event: Back then we didn’t even have a date for the shindig, which’ll feature the handiwork of local distillers and bartenders, plus the best of nearby farmers and city chefs. But now we do: We’ll hopefully see Sam (plus one!) on February 28th from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Soho studio space at 82 Mercer Street in Manhattan.
We’re still booking attendees, but we know already that from Brooklyn, Williamsburg’s Huckleberry Bar and Red Hook’s Fort Defiance will be serving, and from Manhattan, Dutch Kills, Whitehall, Salumeria Rosi Parmacotto and Perry St. Better still, discounted Early Bird tickets are on sale now. So even if you didn’t score free tickets like Sam, you can get your own on the cheap right here if you act fast.
