As the long and winding road continues to stretch towards the horizon, drinking at home remains an oasis in an otherwise hostile environment. Below are five more cocktails cheerfully designed to enliven any sanctuary. Go here for week one, week two, week three, week four, week five, week six, week seven and week eight here.
As service industry workers struggle to get a foothold in these uncertain times, various services have popped up to assist those who are struggling. This website allows people to tip a randomized staff member when they have a drink. We will also be including Venmo handles of the involved bartenders below if anyone wants to tip them personally.
Samuel Magone – Bar Consultant
Location: Boulder
Recipe: Classic Rum Sour
Reason: As winter begins to take its leave, it’s about that time to look for a bit more sunshine in the glass. The Rum Sour is the light, bright libation that hits that mark every time. With a good kick of spirit, the velvet texture of egg white, zippy acidity balanced with a bit of sweet and topped with lifting aromatics, this classic is a timeless hit. I like a tinge of spice in mine, so I use Habanero Shrub Bitters, but Angostura or Orange Bitters are also great substitutes. It’s a perfect refreshment pairing for sunny porch siestas and backyard quarancations. Salud.
Venmo Handle: Magone asked that anyone hoping to tip donate to the Colorado Restaurant Association’s Angel Relief Fund.
Kraig Weaver – Head Distiller at The Block Distilling Co.
Location: The Block Distilling Co. is located at 2990 Larimer St., Denver. It is currently open for pickup Monday-Saturday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Recipe: Golden Girl
Reason: This was one of my favorite drinks on our winter and spring menus. It’s a boozy take on golden milk, a traditional ayurvedic drink. The subtle sweetness along with the aromatics of ginger and turmeric in the simple pair well with the citrus notes that are found in our summer gin. Although we use coconut milk, feel free to use an alternative like almond milk, oat milk or whatever you have at home. If you are not a fan of gin, feel free to substitute vodka.
Venmo Handle: Weaver asked that if anyone would like to support The Block, the best way is by ordering spirits and cocktails-to-go or by purchasing a gift card.
Adam Reed – Director of Operations at Jax Fish House and Oyster Bar
Location: Jax has multiple locations, all of which are currently closed. It is currently hosting pop-ups, with up to date info available on Instagram, @JaxFishHouse.
Recipe: Jax Cucumber Lemon Press
Reason: A press is a drink that typically has a base spirit mixed with lemon-lime soda and soda water. In this case, we substitute a housemade lemonade for the lemon-lime soda and use vodka that has been infused with fresh cucumber. This has been a guest favorite at Jax for many, many years.
Venmo Handle: @BigRedF-Fund. Any proceeds that go to this will go to the Big Red F family fund 4013c. The money in this fund is distributed to employees in need via grants, at the sole discretion of a Fund Board made up of BRF peers.
Matthew Sampson – Principal Bartender at B&GC
Location: B&GC is located at 249 Columbine St., Denver. It is currently closed.
Recipe: Safety Net
Reason: For this cocktail, I kind of combined a couple of my favorite ingredients into a sour that reflects springtime from my balcony. Pisco and Montenegro are great additions to any bar, and here they are providing a nice floral note throughout the cocktail. The maple gives the drink both body and complexity, and the gin provides a good familiar dry flavor to get everyone aquatinted.
Venmo Handle: @Matthew-Samson-1
Anna Rogowski – Bartender at Run for the Roses
Location: Run for the Roses is located at 1801 Blake St. #10, Denver. It is currently open for take-out orders Thursday – Saturday 4 – 9 p.m.
Recipe: Nacional con Café
Reason: I’d like to share with you Nacional con Café. This is my riff on a classic called a Hotel Nacional, from the 1935 Waldorf-Astoria bar book. Will P. Taylor, manager of the Hotel Nacional in Havana, came up with his own version of a Daiquiri using — of course — Bacardi, pineapple juice, a squeeze of lemon and a touch of apricot brandy. I have added another ingredient for a bit of a caffeine kick, Borghetti – an Italian espresso liqueur. One ounce has as much caffeine as a shot of espresso. While moving apartments during quarantine, I really craved a tried and true cocktail but also needed the pep to get me through the work ahead. I hope you will enjoy this go-gettin’-big-boi as much as I do.
Venmo Handle: @Anna-Rogo, Instagram: @AnnaBRogo
I enjoy trying out the recipes in your series. Is there a link somewhere to all of your home cocktail articles? It would be nice to see them all in one place.
We’ll have that next week! But at the top you can see links to all the past ones.Thanks for reading!