Tag: Salish Sea Maple liqueur

November 15, 2019

What I’m Drinking: The Fall Frolic

It’s still fall (though mean ol’ winter is coming on quickly), and fall means to most good people a glorious time to sip ciders, and to most even good-er people, cider cocktails. Cider, cider cocktails, and fall go together like candles in pumpkins, hands in gloves, and kisses in hayracks (well, maybe that should be “on” hayracks but I didn’t want to mess up the line). And WA – where I am lucky enough to reside – has amazing cider, thanks to us having amazing fruit! And amazing cider makers! Who are always making new tantalizing ciders, like Locust Cider’s current seasonal, Dark Maple, which adds maple syrup and brown sugar to an all-WA apple mix, turning into a fall delight. Which then, I added to a few more local heroes, including Woodinville Whiskey Co.’s award-winning bourbon and it’s caramel, spice, swellness, Salish Sea’s memorable and singular maple-icious Maple liqueur, and Scrappy’s Chocolate bitters, full of bakery chocolate and spice. Voila! I’ve made make the end of your fall fantastic. Thank me later. And if you can’t get all the ingredients where you are, then let me assure you, WA is a wonderful place to visit this time of year, so come on out.

The Fall Frolic

1-1/2 ounces Woodinville Whiskey bourbon

3/4 ounces Salish Sea Maple liqueur

2 dashes Scrappy’s Chocolate bitters

Ice cubes

7 ounces Locust Cider’s Dark Maple cider

1. Add the bourbon, liqueur, and bitters to a mixing glass. Stir well.

2. Fill a pint glass halfway full with ice cubes. Strain the above into the glass.

3. Fill the glass nearly to the top with the cider. Stir well – but carefully. You don’t want to spill a drop!

Tags: bitters, bourbon, cider, cider cocktail, cider cocktails, cocktail recipe, cocktails, Friday Night Cocktail, Locust Cider, Locust Cider Dark Maple, Salish Sea Maple liqueur, Scrappy’s Chocolate bitters, The Fall Frolic, What I’m Drinking, Woodinville Whiskey bourbon

Posted in: bitters, cider, Cocktail Recipes, Liqueurs, Recipes, What I'm Drinking, Whiskey

October 11, 2019

What I’m Drinking: The Mapleander

I recently wrote about a drink called The Mighty M, which featured a trio of Washington-made treats, one of which was Salish Sea’s Maple liqueur. Which is delicious, and perhaps the only maple liqueur? The only one I’ve had at least! It’s just very lush, rich, maple-y, nutty-ish, and delish. I was trying to think of more things to do with it, and had one of those booze-y light bulb moments – why not try subbing it in for the crème de cacao in a classic Alexander? Boom! Light bulb boom! So, I brought in another Washington pal (Seattle Distilling Company’s gin, which is an ideal gin, made with eleven botanicals, and a swell and welcoming juniper, spice, nut, thing happening), and the cream, and it all turned into a dessert-y dream. A dream I tell you!

The Mapleander

Ice cubes

1-1/2 ounces Seattle Distilling Company gin

1-1/2 ounces Salish Sea Maple liqueur

1-1/2 ounces heavy cream

Sprinkle of chocolate powder

1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add the gin, liqueur, and cream. Shake well.

2. Strain into a cocktail glass. Sprinkle with a light dust of chocolate.

Tags: cocktail recipe, cocktails, Friday Night Cocktail, Gin, heavy cream, Salish Sea Maple liqueur, Seattle Distilling Company gin, The Mapleander, Washington distilleries, What I’m Drinking

Posted in: Cocktail Recipes, Gin, Liqueurs, What I'm Drinking

August 16, 2019

What I’m Drinking: The Mighty M

While I like many distilleries from around the world, I like Washington State distilleries best-est. I’m a local-leaner at heart, which maybe isn’t a bad thing. It does mean that sometimes I have recipes on here that are all WA distillers, which could be frustrating if you don’t live here. But then think of this – WA is a great place to visit, and when you visit, you can then visit our wonderful distilleries, pick up the ingredients used here, and, well, enjoy a wonderful life and drink. Boom! I solved all the problems.

The Mighty M is vaguely – very – Manhattan-y, uses two ingredients that have “M” in their names, and is a drink my old pal Joel Meister might like, and that’s where the name comes from. But the drink is based on a spirit without an M, funny enough, Woodinville Whiskey Co. Straight bourbon. An award-winner, if you haven’t had this becoming-legendary bourbon yet, well, you need to make the above referenced trip more quickly! Cause it’s great, aged five years, made with only WA grain from one farm, with a spice, caramel, chocolate taste. And it goes amazing with our other two pals in play. First, a WA-amaro (Wamaro?) that I only became hip to recently, Highside Distillery Amaro Mele. Made on Bainbridge Island on a base of their gin, which itself has an apple-spirit base, using five bitter herbs and aromatics and aged up to six weeks in a used Bourbon barrel, it leans on the bitter side of the amaro world, with a smoky, herby, beautifully bracing taste. You might be starting to think this is one of those drinks that’s good, but solely strong, without a sweeter side. Enter, our third ingredient: Salish Sea Maple liqueur. The first maple liqueur I’ve ever had, this all organic number is velvety and like a better maple syrup (it would make for amazing pancakes). It adds those distinctive maple notes, pairs perfectly with the above two players, and brings just the right light kiss of sweet. Altogether, a mighty drink indeed.