This cocktail was the featured Watershed Gin cocktail at Vermilion for their Catoctin Creek Autumn Cocktail Tasting event.  Head mixologist Jeff Faile created the cocktails to pair with small tapas bites for a wonderful evening of food and cocktails.

1 oz Watershed Gin
½ oz salted honey syrup
½ oz Yellow Chartreuse
½ oz fresh lemon juice
Lemon peel garnish

Combine the Watershed Gin, honey syrup, Chartreuse, and lemon in a shaker of ice.  Stir and strain into a coupe glass and garnish with lemon peel.

Cocktail courtesy Jeff Faile of Vermilion in Alexandria, Virginia.

This cocktail was the featured Mosby's Spirit cocktail at Vermilion for their Catoctin Creek Autumn Cocktail Tasting event.  Head mixologist Jeff Faile created the cocktails to pair with small tapas bites for a wonderful evening of food and cocktails.

1 oz Mosby's Spirit
½ oz Belle de Brillet pear brandy liqueur
½ oz fresh lime juice
Top with Cava, Prosecco or Champagne
Lime peel garnish

Combine the Mosby's Spirit, Belle de Brillet and lime in a shaker of ice.  Stir and strain into a Champagne flute and top with bubbly.

Cocktail courtesy Jeff Faile of Vermilion in Alexandria, Virginia.

One sip of this cocktail and you'll be thinking, "Thank God, Fall is here!"  This recipe is a version of the cocktail created by Paul Taylor at Southern Efficiency, for the Smithsonian "Mind of a Critic" event held in October.  We love the use of the Nocino from Don Ciccio, a DC-based distillery producing liqueurs from old family recipes from the Amalfi coast in Italy.

2 oz Roundstone Rye whisky
½ oz honey syrup*
½ oz Don Ciccio Nocino (walnut liqueur)
Dash of Angostura aromatic bitters

Combine the ingredients in a rocks glass with a big ice cube, stirring gently.

*Honey Syrup
Combine equal parts local honey and hot water. Stir to combine and store for up to three months in the refrigerator.

Recipe courtesy Paul Taylor of Southern Efficiency.

With the spirits of Halloween in the air... here are some spooky cocktails for all you ghouls and gargoyles.

Southern Milk Punch
1½ oz Catoctin Creek 1757 Virginia Brandy
1½ oz light cream
1 tsp superfine sugar
1 drop of vanilla extract
Nutmeg for garnish

Combine all ingredients in a shaker of ice, and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with nutmeg.

To scale up to a punchbowl, multiply the above ingredients by 20 or 30, and pour into a punchbowl with copious amounts of nutmeg garnish on top.

Spiced Apple Toddy
1.5 oz. Roundstone Rye Whisky
0.5 oz. Spiced Apple Cider [apple cider, orange halves studded with cloves, cinnamon]
orange slice garnish

To scale up the recipe, multiply the above ingredients by 20 or 30, and cook the cider with spices on low in a crock pot all day.  Combine the cider and whisky just before serving and garnish.  Serve warm!

Skeleton Key
1.25 oz. Roundstone Rye Whisky
0.75 oz. maraschino juice
0.5 oz. fresh lemon juice
topped with ginger beer and aromatic bitters
garnish with cherry

Combine ingredients and top with ginger beer, bitters, and a cherry.

Practical Magic
1.5 oz. Mosby's Spirit
0.5 oz. Green Apple KoolAid
05. oz. pineapple juice
top with ginger ale
garnish with gummy worm

Combine ingredients and top with ginger ale and a gummy worm!

Black Devil Martini
2 oz. Watershed Gin
1/2 oz. dry vermouth
dash of orange bitters
garnish with black olive

Combine the ingredients in a cocktail shaker, stir, and strain into a cocktail glass.  Garnish with a black olive.

Welcome to the first day of autumn!  The equinox is that special time in the calendar when the length of day and night are exactly equal across all the globe. This only happens at the beginning of spring and now, at autumn. From here on out in the northern hemisphere, our nights will be longer than our days as we slide into autumn and winter.

With that in mind, here is a cocktail from Chad Robinson made just for the season.

1½ oz Catoctin Creek Watershed Gin
1 oz Cocci Americano vermouth
½ oz Fall shrub*
Sage and sliced apple garnish

Combine all ingredients in a shaker of ice, and strain into a rocks glass with one or two large cubes. Garnish with an apple slice and a leaf of sage.

*Fall Shrub
Fuji apples, Bartlett pears, canned pumpkin, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, allspice, turbinado sugar, apple cider vinegar.

Courtesy Chad Robinson.

Punch has been experiencing a bit of a revival lately. People are remembering how convenient it is to serve up a large batch of cocktails for large gatherings and parties. The Southern Milk Punch comes to us from a long tradition of milk punches around New Orleans in the 1800-1900's.

1½ oz Catoctin Creek 1757 Virginia Brandy
1½ oz light cream
1 tsp superfine sugar
1 drop of vanilla extract
Nutmeg for garnish

Combine all ingredients in a shaker of ice, and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with nutmeg.

To scale up to a punchbowl, multiply the above ingredients by 20 or 30, and pour into a punchbowl with copious amounts of nutmeg garnish on top.

Another great recipe channeling the last days of summer, courtesy Alex Smallwood via Instagram.

2 oz Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye
½ oz lemon juice
½ oz Demerara syrup
1 tsp blackberry rhubarb jam
2 dashes Fee Brothers orange bitters
1 sprig of Rosemary

Stir all ingredients in a mixing glass and strain into a Nick & Nora glass. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary.

Photo and recipe courtesy Alex Smallwood, and used with permission.

Here is another great cocktail from the world of Instagram.  IG user Kevin W. Collins posts a frequent original cocktail posting using the hashtag #cocktailhour.  This one makes use of Watershed Gin and a local shrub made in DC.

½ oz Element blueberry rosemary shrub
½ oz Aperol
½ rhubarb syrup
1½ oz Catoctin Creek Watershed Gin

Add all ingredients and shake with fresh rosemary. Serve in a tall glass over ice with 3 oz seltzer and a fresh rosemary garnish.

Photo and recipe courtesy Kevin W. Collins, and used with permission.

DrinkTonight is an absolutely amazing Instagram account based in DC, and featuring fantastic cocktail recipes with various local spirits.  They really enjoy our Watershed Gin, and have featured it four times int he recent past.  I am grateful too that they have graciously allowed me to cross post their beautiful photos and cocktail recipes here for you so share.  Find them on Instagram at www.instagram.com/drinktonight.

Trying to get through all of these amazing summer recipes while I still have time! As the name suggests, a Strawberry Garden tastes like all the flavors of summer fruits and herbs in one refreshing cocktail. Unfortunately, strawberries are already past their prime, so I think this would have been better in June or July.

1 strawberry
basil leaves
2 tsp. sugar
1½ oz Watershed Gin
½ oz lemon juice
Club soda

Muddle the strawberry with basil and sugar in a cocktail shaker. Add the gin, lemon juice and ice.  Shake well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Top with club soda and garnish with sliced strawberries and basil.

Recipe and photo by DrinkTonight, and used with permission.

DrinkTonight is an absolutely amazing Instagram account based in DC, and featuring fantastic cocktail recipes with various local spirits.  They really enjoy our Watershed Gin, and have featured it four times int he recent past.  I am grateful too that they have graciously allowed me to cross post their beautiful photos and cocktail recipes here for you so share.  Find them on Instagram at www.instagram.com/drinktonight.

Continuing with the gin theme while it's still summer, this is the best choice to take outside on the patio for a pre-dinner, mid-week drink.

1½ oz Watershed Gin
Dash of orange bitters
½ oz egg whites
Club soda

Combine gin, bitters, egg whites in a cocktail shaker and shake over ice. Strain into a glass of ice, and top with club soda. Garnish with slices of orange and basil.

Recipe and photo by DrinkTonight, and used with permission.

DrinkTonight is an absolutely amazing Instagram account based in DC, and featuring fantastic cocktail recipes with various local spirits.  They really enjoy our Watershed Gin, and have featured it four times int he recent past.  I am grateful too that they have graciously allowed me to cross post their beautiful photos and cocktail recipes here for you so share.  Find them on Instagram at www.instagram.com/drinktonight.

A simple juice + spirit drink is necessary after a long, hot draining DC weekend. This is not a strong cocktail at all, and just a touch of gin is needed to cut some of the sweetness of the apple juice.

1 oz Watershed Gin
Juice of one entire granny smith apple
Juice of half a cucumber
Juice of half a lime

Combine the juices and gin, and serve over ice.  Garnish with slices of lime and cuke.

Recipe and photo by DrinkTonight, and used with permission.

DrinkTonight is an absolutely amazing Instagram account based in DC, and featuring fantastic cocktail recipes with various local spirits.  They really enjoy our Watershed Gin, and have featured it four times int he recent past.  I am grateful too that they have graciously allowed me to cross post their beautiful photos and cocktail recipes here for you so share.  Find them on Instagram at www.instagram.com/drinktonight.

The "Strawberry Jive" is a combination of fruits and herbs that is refreshing, not too sweet, and alight enough for these really hot DC summer days.  Strawberry and basil are a classic combo, too.

2 strawberries
Handful of fresh basil
½ oz agave syrup
1 oz orange juice
Splash of lemon juice
1½ Watershed Gin

Muddle two strawberries, the handful of fresh basil and agave syrup in the bottom of a cocktail shaker.  Add the orange juice and lemon juice, along with the gin and a handful of ice.  Shake well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with sliced strawberries and basil.

Recipe and photo by DrinkTonight, and used with permission.