The 12 Cocktails of Christmas, Day Three: The ‘Subourbon Oasis’
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 THIRD COCKTAIL OF CHRISTMAS: `Subourbon Oasis’
Our third drink in this series — connected to yesterday’s by pomegranate liqueur — is a warming bourbon-based concoction with no homemade ingredients. It’s a great choice at the holidays, and a wonderful excuse to enjoy a taste of the artfully named Dr. Adam Elmegirab’s Dandelion & Burdock Bitters (made in Scotland, but available in the U.S.).
The name is partly a celebration of the peaceful acre of woods where Ted’s parents built this midcentury modern family home that we love. But like this slightly bitter/slightly sweet drink, it’s also a nod to the bittersweet reality that while this house and this city very much are our home and always will be, we also crave the energy of city streets and the surprises that far-flung villages can hold.
We hope this comforting yet surprising cocktail captures the spirit of both.
‘SUBOURBON OASIS’
3 oz. Kentucky bourbon
¾ oz. Pama pomegranate liqueur
¾ oz. ruby red grapefruit vodka
4 dashes Dr. Adam Elmegirab’s Dandelion & Burdock Bitters (substitute the more easily found Peychaud’s Bitters, if you prefer)
½ oz. simple syrup (can be vanilla simple syrup, if you wish)
12 blackberries, muddled
dash of Angostura bittersStir the first five ingredients with ice in a glass beaker, then add 12 muddled blackberries and stir once more. Strain into rocks glass over one large ice cube and top with one solid dash of Angostura bitters. Makes two.
WHY WE LIKED THIS ONE: Sometimes we happily nerd out and dream up complex, eight-ingredient concoctions that require precise measurements. But this just-sweet-enough cocktail is built from sturdy but simple parts: One tasty base liquor, a touch of two other spirits that bring tartness and personality, a bit of syrup and fresh fruit, and a few dashes of enlivening bitters.
(We opted to go egg white-free tonight, after using that ingredient in the last two recipes. If you’re in the mood for something frothy, you could prepare this recipe using one-half an egg white and the dry shake/wet shake method we mentioned in the previous two recipes. But it has a lovely simplicity when stirred, not shaken.)
Previous libations in this series:
- The First Cocktail of Christmas: “Opening Day.”
- The Second Cocktail of Christmas: “Afternoon Delight.”
- 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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©2019, Melissa Rayworth and Ted Anthony. All rights reserved.
