Wind and the Whiffle
1½ oz Catoctin white unaged spirit
½ oz Cocchi Americano
½ oz Benadictine
¼ oz Pavan
2 dash orange bitters
Stir all ingredients. Strain into a martini glass with a Luxardo cherry.
Courtesy Lauren Barrett.
Huzzah! for the return of the cocktail!
Catoctin Creek spirits are excellent as mixers. Many old American cocktails called for rye, and Roundstone Rye is a sweet and very nice rye which pairs nicely with freshly made cocktails. Or try Mosby's Spirit for a new angle on whisky, or in many recipes calling for vodka and rum. And with Watershed Gin, you have a modern gin that places nicely in all the classic gin cocktails.
And did you know that spirits are great in recipes too? Here are a few recipes to whet your appetite.
Take Me to the Mill
Prosecco
1.5 oz Roundstone Rye 80 Proof
Splash of TRUE grenadine syrup
2 dash black walnut bitters
Pour rye, grenadine and bitters into a flute and top with prosecco. Garnish with pomegranate seeds.
Courtesy Lauren Barrett.
Virt & Earth
2 oz Beet infused Watershed Gin
1 oz Campari
1 oz Carpano Antica Vermouth
splash of pomegranate juice
Stir and pour over a large ice ball in a rocks glass. Garnish with an orange peel.
Courtesy Lauren Barrett.
A Long Way to the Pasture
1½ oz Roundstone Rye
1 oz pineapple juice (fresh pressed)
½ oz lemon juice (fresh pressed)
½ oz lime juice (fresh pressed)
½ oz simple syrup infused with dried guajillo peppers
Shake all ingredients and pour into a Nick and Nora glass over ice. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Courtesy Lauren Barrett.
I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas Negroni
This cocktail is a fun "bianco" take on the Negroni, using white bitter liqueur and clear vermouth. We add some sweetness from the stevia to counterbalance the dry vermouth in the recipe, without adding any calories. The stevia also adds a nice herbal element and a touch more bitterness, which in this cocktail is desired.
Scott recommends this cocktail with an accompaniment of Burt Bacharach on vinyl. Sublime!
1½ oz thyme-infused Watershed Gin
1 oz Salers Aperitif
1 oz Noily Prat dry vermouth
1-2 dashes orange bitters
½ oz housemade stevia tea (for sweetness, use simple syrup as an alternative)
Combine all in shaker, pour over a large rock in a rocks glass.
A Scott Harris original cocktail.
Charlie #4
This cocktail is one submitted by Charlie Berkinshaw from Element Shrub. We were very happy to see the DMV area prominently featured in the 2018 Good Food Awards, with Element Shrub, Embitterment Bitters, and Catoctin Creek all named as finalists. This cocktail celebrates those wins, with a delicious take on local ingredients.
2 oz fig-infused Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye
¾ oz Element Chai Pear shrub
1-2 dashes Embitterment chocolate bitters
Combine all ingredients in shaker with ice, stir and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a brandied cherry and/or a fig slice.
Courtesy Element Shrub and used with permission.
The Chesapeake Bay Cocktail
This cocktail comes to us from The Cocktail Artist, Christopher & Beth Cowie. You can check out Christopher and Beth's work at their site thecocktailartist.blogspot.com or on Instagram @thecocktailartist.
Having received a lovely painting and card from them over the weekend, I wanted to share this delightful cocktail from their site:
The Chesapeake Bay is well known for its seafood - particularly crabs. It's a summer ritual in Maryland to enjoy a bucket of steamed Chesapeake Bay crabs caked with Old Bay Seasoning. Old Bay has been produced in Maryland since 1939. It is a spice blend with a very distinct flavor - which includes paprika, pepper and celery salt. Old Bay no longer seems limited to crabs, and it has been showing up in some new and interesting places, in mayonnaise, beer, and in chocolate, among others. We decided to get on board this Old Bay renaissance and give it a try in a cocktail, and we were pretty pleased with the results.
Our Chesapeake Bay cocktail uses r hisky and aquavit. We have tried it with several ryes, and particularly like how Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye works with the other ingredients. This rye is produced in Virgnia, not far from the Chesapeake, so in addition to giving the cocktail the right flavor, it seems like a pretty good fit geographically.
2 oz Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye
¾ oz Linie Aquavit
½ oz Old Bay simple syrup*
2 dashes orange bitters
In a cocktail shaker with ice, combine all the ingredients. Shake for 15 seconds, and strain into an old fashioned glass with a large ice cube. Garnish with an orange twist.
*Old Bay simple syrup
Add ½ cup of water, ½ cup of honey, and 3 tsp of Old Bay seasoning to saucepan. Stir until syrup begins to boil, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heatj and cool to room temperature. Transfer syrup to a jar and keep refrigerated for up to 2 months. Shake well before using.
Courtesy The Cocktail Artist, Christopher and Beth Cowie, links above.
White Manhattan
This one comes to us from @spiderwitchfam on Instagram. A lovely study in clear beverages.
2 oz Catoctin Creek white unaged rye spirit
½ oz Carpano Bianco vermouth
½ tsp Laphroaig Quarter Cask
1-2 dashes Jack Rudy Aromatic Bitters
Stir, serve up or over a rock.
Photo and recipe courtesy D.E. Wittkower and used with permission.
Loudoun Rye
One of the feature cocktails for Virginia Spirits Month 2017. This one comes to us from Rebecca Dudley, proprietor at Market Table Bistro in Lovettsville, Virginia.
1½ oz Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye
½ oz elderflower liqueur
1 lemon wedge
1 tsp rhubarb jam
1 oz Cava (or other sparkling wine)
Squeeze & drop lemon wedge in shaker with ice. Add rye, elderflower and jam shake well. Strain into coupe glass and top with sparkling wine.
Courtesy Rebecca Dudley.
Trick Question
One of the feature cocktails for Virginia Spirits Month 2017. This is an easy-drinking crushed ice drink that is presented in tiki style.
1 oz Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye
1 oz Sunset Hills Gin
¼ oz Luxardo
Maraschino liqueur
¼ oz Mt. Defiance Cassis Liqueuer
¾ oz Cointreau
¾ oz Lemon Juice
½ oz Simple Syrup
Build all ingredients in a 14+oz Tumbler or pint glass. Add crushed ice halfway, and “swizzle” with a bois lele (natural swizzle stick) or agitate agressively with a bar spoon. Add crushed ice to fill. Garnish with a mint sprig.
Courtesy Derek Salerno of Shagbark, Richmond, VA.
Almond Breeze
One of the feature cocktails for Virginia Spirits Month 2017. This drink came about because I knew I wanted to create a cocktail that kept some of the traditional flavors of tiki drinks, but used rye as the base spirit. I wanted to find a way to encourage people who wouldn’t normally have a whiskey drink to try something new.
1½ oz Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye
½ oz Allspice Dram
¾ oz lemon juice
½ oz pineapple shrub
⅓ oz orgeat syrup
Shake all ingredients and serve over ice in a rocks glass. Garnish with a lemon wheel.
Courtesy of Melissa Smith of the Rappahannock Oyster Bar, Washington DC.
Stablemate
One of the feature cocktails for Virginia Spirits Month 2017. A balanced, spiced whiskey cocktail that’s perfect for late summer or early fall.
1½ oz Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye
½ oz St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram
¾ oz Burnt Local Honey*
¾ oz lemon juice
1 dash Angostura Bitters
Add all ingredients to shaker, add ice, shake. Double-strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a lemon peel, expressing the oils into the glass first.
*Burnt Local Honey
3 cups local honey
1 cup water
Pour honey into a small saucepan and heat it up at the medium heat setting, whisking continuously. Once it’s simmering, turn down to low heat. Continue whisking until the honey darkens to a deep, golden brown. Add the water to the pan, whisk it all together to homogenize, then remove from heat. Allow to cool completely. Store in a clean container and keep refrigerated. Yield: About 1 qt.
Courtesy Alec Spidalieri of Junction, Charlottesville, VA.
