The following is an extended version of the article that appears in our November 2022 issue.
The Dark Horse from The Stables (Photo by Jay Paul)
Well-being. Coziness. Connection. The Danes have a good perspective on life, fostering hygge — the culmination of all of things cozy and connected — in as many moments as possible. Sitting in a low-lit bar catching up with someone wonderful while sipping a heady, warming cocktail is an experience straight out of the hygge playbook, so we’ve collected a few extra-comforting, soul-satisfying drinks to heighten the experience. Grab a loved one and go drink your heart out with one of these beauties.
Apple-a-day
If apple cider is a mandatory part of your fall experience, this drink should be, too. It’s a perfect boozy version, with apple and caramel flavors super-boosted by brandy, bourbon and front-of-house manager Taylre Lamendola’s scratch-made spice syrup. Careful, that first one goes down fast.
1 ounce bourbon (we use Three Crosses)
1/2 ounce apple brandy
1/2 ounce lemon juice
1 ounce apple cider
1/2 ounce fall-spiced syrup (recipe below)
Fill a shaker with ice and shake all ingredients. Strain into coupe glass and garnish with two apple slices and a splintered cinnamon stick.
Fall-spiced Syrup
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
6 cinnamon sticks
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 tablespoon allspice
1/4 tablespoon cloves
Bring all ingredients to a low simmer to dissolve the sugar, then turn off the heat. The longer you let the cinnamon sticks sit in the syrup before straining, the more cinnamon flavor you’ll get.
Dark Horse
Deep holiday flavors abound in this one: mellow citrus, nutty earthiness and a beautifully bittersweet edge to round it all out. Bar Manager Galen Canham selected buttery, blended scotch as a grounding base, with the Dark Horse getting an assist from cynar, dry Curaçao, and black walnut and herbed-honey bitters.
1/4 ounce Cynar
1/4 ounce dry Curaçao
1 1/2 ounces Johnnie Walker Red
Dash black walnut bitters
Dash herbed honey bitters
Pour ingredients into a cocktail glass over a king cube, stir, garnish with cherry and orange peel.
Feed Me to the Forest
Andon Whitehorn is doing intriguing work at Alewife, crafting dazzling drinks with alluring names from unexpected ingredients. There’s no hard liquor spine carrying the Feed Me to the Forest; instead, it’s a playful but balanced array of amari and fortified wines that hits imbibers right in that warm, woodsy sweet spot.
3/4 ounces Pasubio Sfumato
3/4 ounces Rainwater Madeira
3/4 ounces Rancio Sec
1/4 ounce Demerara syrup (2:1 turbinado/raw sugar to hot water, stir to dissolve and incorporate)
2 dashes Angostura bitters
8 drops saline solution (4:1 hot water to kosher salt, stir to dissolve and incorporate)
Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice, stir until properly chilled and diluted. Strain into a coupe. Garnish as desired.
Smoked Old Fashioned
Each week, Social 52 infuses Bulleit bourbon with a concoction of delights (peaches, vanilla bean, nutmeg and cloves made a popular combo) for their specialty Old Fashioned, which can additionally be smoked by request. What’s not to like? Smooth, maple-forward whiskey is always a smile maker, but the masterful infusions give it an extra dose of felicity.
