What I’m Drinking: Hot Spiced Scotch

Yes, I agree with you! This warming winner does deserve a much more imaginative and inventive and intriguing and just better name. But I suppose that on occasion being straightforward isn’t a bad thing – it is cold outside, so something hot is needed. And this drink does have spices and Scotch. So that name isn’t wrong by any means, but, c’mon, the spice layers here, allspices, cloves, nutmeg, and the toddy-ness, and the butter, and a little smooch of sweet, and Scotch (did I mention that?), altogether raising this drink into the high heights of hot drinkness, the tempting tops of cold-curing drink mountain, the level of a drink that needs a name to match. It should have been called Hercules! However, it was first called Hot Spiced Scotch I think in Applegreen’s Bar Book, or at least that’s where I saw it (my edition is copyright 1909, published by the Hotel Monthly Press, though an earlier edition came out in 1899), and since it’s been called that for now over 100 years, let’s keep it that way, shall we? We shall.

Hot Spiced Scotch

1/2 ounce Simple Syrup

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

3 to 4 whole cloves

2 ounces Scotch

3-1/2 ounces water

1/2 teaspoon butter

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg for garnish

Lemon twist for garnish

1. Heat a sturdy goblet by running it under warm water, then drying it quickly.

2. Add the simple syrup, allspice, and cloves to a cocktail shaker. Using a muddler or wooden spoon, muddle well.

3. Add the Scotch to the shaker. Swirl the contents together, and then strain into the warm goblet.

4. Heat the water in a small saucepan or in the microwave. Pour the hot water into the goblet. Add the butter and stir a couple of times (not once for every year between now and 1909, though).

5. Top the drink with the nutmeg and the lemon twist.

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What I’m Drinking: Melt the Snow

I’m sorry, I can’t help myself, baby, it’s cold outside. There, I did it, I sung the song that once was neat, and now has sadly been covered into oblivion. A shame, really. What’s not a shame on a cold-outside-day is this winter Washington warmer. It’s a curious choco-mix in one manner, in that it mixes hot chocolate and whiskey, which isn’t seen often. Silly, that. Here, the whiskey side is Scratch’s straight whiskey. Scratch (you should know this!) is a delicious distillery out in WA, specifically Edmonds, WA. They make all kinds of bottled things, starting with gins, and moving along. Their whiskey can be hard to get, but is worth tracking down, due to its singular (and single-barrel), mash bill, which utilizes a line-up of “old world” grains I hadn’t seen together before: spelt, millet, white winter wheat, and malted barley. Scrumptious stuff. Also scrumptious, the other WA-made ingredient used here, Salish Sea distillery’s organic allspice liqueur. Salish Sea is from Lacey, WA, and makes an incredible array of all-organic liqueurs, a line-up covering classic flavors and more esoteric numbers. And if that wasn’t enough scrumptiousness, a little Seattle-made Scrappy’s orange bitters adds the final touch here, in a mighty-fine way: you put a few drops on top of the whipped cream topping, and the bitter scents waft up as you drink. So, what are you waiting for? Warm up.

Melt the Snow

1-1/2 ounces Scratch Straight Whiskey
1/2 ounce Salish Sea allspice liqueur
2 ounces hot chocolate
Whipped cream
Dash or two Scrappy’s orange bitters

1. Add the Scratch whiskey and Salish Sea allspice liqueur to a mixing glass. Stir briefly.

2. Warm a coffee mug or sturdy glass goblet by running it under hot water, and then drying it quickly.

3. Add the hot chocolate to the mug. Slowly and smoothly, add the whiskey-liqueur mix, stirring while you add.

4. Top with whipped cream, and then sprinkle a little bitters onto the whipped cream.

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What I’m Drinking: Morning Call

Earlier on the blog, we made a lovely drink with Seattle distillery 3 Howls’ Navy Strength rum, the Midshipman Burns. But one drink with this sturdy, but tasty, rum is not enough! And as the temperature is dropping – or dropped – and drinks that warm you cause of their heat and cause of their warming fortitude are desired, this second rum drink is a hot one. It’s great on a cold morning, when you need to warm up and get going all at once. But it’s not just hot – it’s scrumptious, as the rum here’s cozied up with the great Pierre Ferrand orange curaçao, and one of the best coffee liqueurs in the world, which is also made up in the Northwest, by the sweet Seattle Distilling Company. It might seem an odd quartet when mixed with water, but it’s a wondrous combo. Trust me!

The Morning Call

1-1/2 ounces 3 Howls Navy Strength rum
3/4 ounces Pierre Ferrand orange curaçao
1/2 ounce Seattle Distilling Company coffee liqueur
4 ounces hot water
Wide orange twist, for garnish

1. Add the 3 Howls rum, Pierre Ferrand orange curaçao, and the Seattle Distilling Company coffee liqueur to a mug that’s been warmed slightly with hot water. Stir briefly.

2. Add the hot water and stir again. Garnish with the orange twist.

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