Philly Homegrown Holiday Drink Round-Up

With the holiday shopping season upon us, we thought it might be helpful to give a few suggestions on where you could stop, take a break and actually enjoy some holiday spirit(s). Below is a list of some of our favorite haunts and festive drinks, with a slight locavore bent, of course!

Philly Homegrown’s Holiday Drink Round-Up

Amuse at the Le Meridian Hotel has an incredible bar and serves up well crafted drinks, we suggest the With Love, a champagne cocktail with passion fruit and ginger liqueur. Amuse also has a divine, seasonal menu that’s not to be missed.

C19 is a locavore’s dream. Chef Andrea Luca Rossi is known for working directly with local farmers and artisanal producers to create his focused Venetian menu, which, luckily for us, also includes cocktails. We love their Strawberry Lemon Verbena cocktail made with Hendrick’s gin. The strawberry puree, made from berry’s grown near Philadelphia this past summer and frozen at the peak of freshness, is a ray of sunshine in the dark winter.

One of Queen Village’s newest spots, Kennett Restaurant, has developed a quick following. Enjoy one of their many small plates, like the Parsnips with Parmesan, alongside the one of their beer-based cocktails. We enjoy For the Locals made with Yards Philadelphia Pale Ale, Bluecoat Gin, marjoram syrup and a hit of fresh lemon.

Dressed in your holiday best and feel like going a bit upscale? Head directly to the Rittenhouse Hotel, ogle their beautiful holiday decorations, seat yourself at La Croix and gaze upon festive Rittenhouse Square. Enjoy a Philadelphia French Martini made with Bluecoat Gin, Lillet Blanc and orange.

University City’s MidAtlantic Restaurant is Chef Daniel Stern’s homage to the traditional dishes of the Philadelphia region. We love sitting by their outdoor fireplace and sipping some Schuylkill Fish House Punch, made of brandy, Jamaican rum, peaches and lemon. Rumor has it that this drink dates back to Philadelphia’s early days and was sipped during the Schuylkill Fish House’s Christmas party.

Berwyn’s Nectar is the perfect place to unwind and enjoy a expertly crafted cocktail. Our favorite seasonal choice is the Apple Cider Martini, a bourbon based drink with sparkling apple cider, caramel and a hint of cinnamon.

Aside from being filled with small independent businesses, Old City is also a great place to grab a drink. We head straight to Farmicia and place our trust in the hands of bartender, Edward Jones. We love his Rhuby Marmalade, crafted with locally produced Rhuby liquor, Lillet and orange marmalade.

After Farmacia, we suggest you pop over to Positano Coast to enjoy one of their many organic cocktails. Try the Italian With An Accent which includes a fennel infused dry gin, aloe syrup, egg white and fresh lime.

At Center City’s Franklin Mortgage Investment Company it’s hard to go wrong. Their artisnal cocktails are varied and change often. We enjoy the Fairmount Park Swizzle a gin-based cocktail with Cardamoro, John D Taylor’s Velvet Falernum, fresh lemon and lime juice and a house-made ginger syrup. Be careful with cocktails here, they are not for beginners!

Washington Square’s Talula’s Garden is a bastion of locally sourced dishes and cocktails. We love their wine-based drinks like The Winemaker a spiced autumn sangria with brandy, apples and berries. If wine isn’t your thing, opt for The Forager, a wild sage martini with gin, egg white, orange and sage.

Audrey Claire Taichman’s Twenty Manning Grill, is a neighborhood favorite that boasts one of Philadelphia’s best bars (according to Philadelphia Magazine). Coffee lovers will enjoy the Cafe Canela, a warming drink with hot coffee, locally produced Snap liquor, Siembra Azul Blanco and Licor 43.

Newcomer Vedge is a modern “vegetable” restaurant by Philadelphia Chefs Richard Landau & Kate Jacoby, formerly of Horizons. The bar is an absolute delight and includes innovative cocktails like the Apple Cide Car with Lairds Bonded Apple Brandy, cointreau, apple, maple and smoked cinnamon. The entire cocktail menu is worth a try, but we suggest at least a few trips to work your way through them all!

Aside from offering one of the largest Israeli wine lists outside of Israel, Zahav pours creative and interesting cocktails to accompany it’s modern Israeli fare. We can’t help but order the Jerusalem Cocktail, a sparkling wine, lychee and pomegranate drink that is all at once sweet, tart and refreshing.

Cheers, Philadelphia and Happy Holidays!

http://food.visitphilly.com/philly-homegrown-holiday-drink-round-up/, 12.22.11

The Best New Spirits of 2011

I don’t think wine makes a great gift. Its perceived value is tarnished by the way bottles are casually dealt out at the door by dinner party guests upon arrival. However, I do think fine spirits make splendid gifts. Elegant bottles can be found in whatever price range suits your fancy—from $30 on up—and, even better, a spirit makes a lasting impression, since it’s unlikely to be consumed right away. Here are my picks of the year’s best new spirits.

Rhuby Liqueur ($36): Art in the Age, a Philadelphia artist collective that also produces organic spirits, previously remade root beer to its original alcoholic specifications with Root. Now they bring us Rhuby, a spirit based on a 1770s recipe for a spiced-up rhubarb tea invented by John Bartram, the Pennsylvania botanist. Rhuby is something entirely unique, blending herbal and sweet characteristics into a surprisingly refreshing liqueur. Its pale pink color suggests springtime, but grapefruit, remember, is a winter fruit. So get your citrus rolling, as Rhuby is a wonderful mixer along with things like soda, tonic, and gin.

http://www.chow.com/food-news/101351/the-best-new-spirits-of-2011/, 12.21.11

ROW 14: Where Booze Meets Beauty

People who are passionate about their work are usually very knowledgeable and very good at their jobs. This is a life lesson I’ve learned over the years working in the nonprofit and education fields. It was reinforced tonight as I sat with master mixologist and official “Bar Dude,” Travis Plakke, at Row 14. I signed up for a drink menu preview and lucked out in getting history and chemistry lessons as well. Much like dining, it completely changes the cocktail experience to understand where the ingredients come from and how different flavors work together.

Travis has been working hard to develop six new cocktail recipes that will debut this week on the Row 14 menu. I was fortunate to get a sneak peek of four of the new drinks…

Travis has been working hard to develop six new cocktail recipes that will debut this week on the Row 14 menu. I was fortunate to get a sneak peek of four of the new drinks…

Oh, snap! – A festive, bourbon-based cocktail that highlights Art in the Age’s Snap, with a little cranberry juice and Oronoco Rum. The secret, however, is in muddling two fresh cranberries and some fresh rosemary at the start. It’s not Christmas-cookie-sweet, like it may sound, rather, there’s a balance in the bourbon that makes it delicious and (almost too) easy to drink.

From Jalisco with Love – Inspired by James Bond’s signature martini, this very simple combo of Lillet, silver tequila, and Leopold Brothers’ orange liqueur is just that – simple. In its simplicity, though, lies the beauty. Not too floral, not too tequila-y, and with just the right amount of zest, this is your new martini.

(yet-to-be-named) – The most unlikely combination of ingredients can produce the most interesting flavors. Gin, lime, sugar, Carpano Antica (the vermouth for those who don’t like vermouth, according to Travis), and an IPA (Tommyknocker in this case). If he hadn’t introduced this as a beer cocktail, I wouldn’t have known otherwise. This one is for those looking for something fresh, slightly citrusy, and also slightly floral (a result of the hops in the beer). It’s also for those, like me, who never thought they would like a beer cocktail – or vermouth.

Fernet About It – Simplicity seemed to be the theme of the evening. This was Travis’ favorite of the four and was deliciously simple. Highlighting Fernet Branca, the addition of Aperol and scotch make it look like something my grandfather would drink, but taste far more approachable. Served over an ice sphere, this one only gets better as the ice melts.

The twelve days of design: 2011 holiday gift guide

It’s that time of the year again, and we’re back with twelve must-have design gifts for the holidays.

8 Crafted Cocktails

Oh snap! This hand-crafted organic gingersnap liqueur from Art in the Age is our drink of choice this season. With ingredients like molasses, cloves, brown sugar, cinannamon, ginger, and nutmeg, it’s like drinking liquid Christmas.

$30 from Hi-Time

Contest: Win this stuff!

In the spirit of the season, we are giving away a selection of our favorite holiday picks to one lucky reader!

To enter, use the comments below to share one item on your wish list this year. We’ll randomly pick one winner and announce it here on December 16th.

Cheers and happy holidays from idsgn!

http://idsgn.org/posts/the-twelve-days-of-design-2011-holiday-gift-guide/, 12.11.11

DIY vs. Buy: Should I Make My Own Ginger Liqueur?

Ginger liqueur offers an exciting blend of sweet and spicy flavors. It can turn a basic drink into an intricately layered cocktail experience. Sure, you can use ginger liqueur all year (it’s great with sparkling wine, especially when muddled with peaches in the summer) but this potion especially calls to us in winter, when it’s just the thing to spice up our drinks.

What’s Available to Buy?

Domaine de Canton is the most common ginger liqueur on the market. The ginger kick in Canton is balanced with vanilla, honey, and Cognac—it’s elegant, but a bit sweet. Snap is a bolder ginger liqueur featuring nutmeg, cinnamon, and Rooibos tea in its mix of spices. It reminds me of a hearty gingerbread. Both cost about $30 a bottle—though I think Domaine de Canton is a more flexible cocktail ingredient. The King’s Ginger is a slightly more expensive high-proof ginger liqueur with an intense bite—smooth but barely sweet.

Stirrings also offers a less complex ginger liqueur for half the price. Though it has lovely flavor, I find that it doesn’t add any more dimension to mixed drinks than a well-made ginger simple syrup would.

Why DIY?

As easy as it is to buy a bottle of Canton, my recipe for DIY ginger liqueur takes only 20 minutes of work, and tastes just as delicious and refined. The steeping time is very short, so this is a perfect homemade holiday gift. (Hear that, procrastinators?)

It’s also fun to play with different flavor combinations in small batches. Add some cinnamon, star anise, and cardamom for an earthier liqueur that’s a good match for ciders and warm holiday drinks. A little lemon zest and lemongrass will give you a bright, Asian-inspired flavor. The beauty of homemade liqueur is unleashing your creativity to make something you won’t see on the shelf at some liquor store.

Use It!

Your homemade liqueur is perfect for jazzing up all sorts of cocktails. The simple Tom Collins suddenly tastes exotic with a bit of ginger, but you can also get more complicated than that. Add a little to a hot toddy on a cold night. And yes, it’s good in eggnog, or shaken up with rosemary and pears.

Ginger pairs well with so many flavors—think about food recipes that you like that include ginger, and then use those flavors in a cocktail. Carrots, oranges, lemons, apples, pumpkin, green tea—these things are natural partners for ginger and could be the basis for a great new drink. If you give your liqueur as a gift, you can include some hand-written recipe cards featuring your favorite ginger liqueur cocktails. That is, if you can bear to part with some of it.

http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2011/12/diy-vs-buy-how-to-make-ginger-liqueur-domaine-de-canton.html, 12.9.11