The 12 Cocktails of Christmas, Day 11: ‘The True North’
Recipes inspired by global craft cocktail culture, shared this holiday season by Melissa Rayworth and Ted Anthony.
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This year, in lieu of the holiday card we didn’t have time to create, we welcome you to The 12 Cocktails of Christmas — a dozen recipes and thoughts on what makes them work. We’ll continue updating the top drink each day until we’ve reached a dozen (yes, we’ll get done right after Christmas, but our schedules have been pretty crazed with new job adventures, current job obligations, two teenagers, two cats — the list, just like yours, goes on).
Hope this brings you all some holiday cheer. Please do share these recipes with your friends and family, and please take a moment this year to raise a glass — no matter what it may hold — to one another and to all the adventures and good things ahead in 2020.
Happy holidays,
THE 11th COCKTAIL OF CHRISTMAS: ‘The True North’
By now, perhaps you’re sick of all the infusions and intricate combinations and eggwhitery we’ve thrown at you over the past 10 days. Or maybe you’re hankering for something pure, something simple on Christmas Day as the meal cooks. We’ve got just the drink for you — four ingredients and a garnish, combining to create something special.
The calculus behind this drink is that it’s designed to be replicated and riffed upon. If you’re interested in some base materials for cocktails, you should consider having both American-style gin and Luxardo bitter bianco in your cabinet. This drink pairs those two with one of our favorite liqueurs, Italicus, an aperitivo that captures the flavor of bergamot, the operative taste in Earl Grey tea. But the joy of this drink is that if you’ve got the gin and the Luxardo, you can try it with any lighter liqueur and see how the flavors combine.
We named The True North after the frosty clarity its taste provided. The American gin — with less juniper than its British counterpart — provided a nice botanical feel that was balanced by the bitterness of the Luxardo. The bergamot taste of the Italicus gave it a bright, almost Arctic flavor, and the taste of the three spirits together seemed more than the sum of the parts, which is something we’re always trying to achieve when we’re coming up with these crazy blends.
Plus, we just love the Italicus bottle — a deco masterpiece that somehow adds to the experience if it’s nearby.
‘THE TRUE NORTH’
3 oz. American-style gin
3/4 oz. Italicus bergamot liqueur
1/3 oz. Luxardo bitter bianco
2 dashes grapefruit (or other citrus) bitters
2 mandarin orange wedges (as garnish)Combine ingredients. Shake with ice. Pour into stemmed or martini glass. Garnish with orange wedges. Makes two.
WHY WE LIKED THIS ONE: It felt pure. It was simple to make yet, as we mentioned, more than the sum of its parts. Without any need for simple syrup or juice, it conveyed a smoothness and almost a gentleness. There were no sharp edges that needed to be sanded off. It felt like winter, like someplace north of Scandinavia where the sun either shines all day or not at all. And while the tastes of its individual ingredients were discernible, they came together to form something completely distinctive.
Previous libations in this series:
- The First Cocktail of Christmas: “Opening Day”
- The Second Cocktail of Christmas: “Afternoon Delight”
- The Third Cocktail of Christmas: “Subourbon Oasis”
- The Fourth Cocktail of Christmas: “The Phipps Conservatory”
- The Fifth Cocktail of Christmas: “The Sour Spice”
- The Sixth Cocktail of Christmas: “The Dark Horse”
- The Seventh Cocktail of Christmas: “Pop Culture Books Night”
- The Eighth Cocktail of Christmas: “The Everything Bagel”
- The Ninth Cocktail of Christmas: “The Loopy Fruit”
- The 10th Cocktail of Christmas: “It’s Alive!”
- The entire story and collected cocktails.
The same motivation that led us to these drinks led Melissa to do these stories while we were living in Thailand. Check them out:
Welcome to Breadcrumbs, our publication and private storytelling service. We’re here to celebrate the stories of your life and ensure that they echo for generations to come. We work with you to elevate milestone moments, teasing out meaningful details. Using our decades of journalism experience and our creative talent, we battle the inevitable disappearance of memories that once seemed indelible. Our mission is to create permanent keepsakes in any form that suits you, from hard-cover books and personal magazines to pieces of home decor and art to one-of-a-kind projects we make or guide you through creating.
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And as life races by, we will help you to preserve and celebrate it — wherever that journey may lead.
©2019, Melissa Rayworth and Ted Anthony. All rights reserved.
