BABY IT’S COLD OUTSIDE! HOT CHEERS!

The weather outside has been frightful for so many people in these past few weeks, with the deep freeze and hazards of polar vortex, “bomb cyclone,” and assorted other mega storms. As we gaze out our windows at the pretty snow drifts that block our doors, as we listen to the 70 m.p.h. winds howl in an endless shivery soundtrack we look inward for warmth and comfort.

Time for a little self-care! Time to light a fire, stoke up some gratitude for being able to do so, and mix up some hot cocktails! We’ve got to get cozy!

There are many different kinds of storms in our universe. Good thing there are many different kinds of storm cocktails to sip as we wait them out. There are cocktails that go well with hurricanes and rainstorms. And there are those that will help our winter snowstorms be a more beautiful experience.

When it’s totally freezing outside, with sub-zero temperatures and wind chill, our first craving is for hot toddies as well as spiked hot coffees, teas, ciders, and chocolates. We’ve got a few below to warm you up. And once you’re sufficiently warmed and need to chill out a little, we have a few stormy cocktails on ice.

HOT BOURBON WITH DRIED MONTMORENCY CHERRIES, BLOOD ORANGE &  MEYER LEMON

My Russian grandmother used to make hot tea in a glass (vs a cup), with a spoonful of sour cherry preserves and a slice of fresh lemon to warm us up in winter, especially if we were battling a cold or flu. I used to love to drink this. It was a perfect balance or tart and sweet. It looked so beautiful in the glass. And the best part was savoring the couple of whole preserved cherries at the bottom of the glass once the warm liquid was fully sipped.

My grandmom’s Russian tea was not only delicious, but it was also pretty healthful as well, taking on winter’s nasty germs -- tea, lemons, and Montmorency cherries are packed with vitamins and antioxidant compounds.

As I kicked back to wait out the Bomb Cyclone, I decided to make grandmom’s elixir, but I kicked it up a notch. I replaced tea with bourbon and added more sophisticated citrus.

Traditional hot toddies call for adding hot water to whiskey. But I thought…. “Why dilute?” I heated some straight bourbon and poured it into a sturdy glass. I had soaked some dried Montmorency cherries in a separate cup of hot bourbon, then added the soft boozy fruit to the glass and added a slice of dried blood orange and a slice of fresh Meyer lemon to the rim.

Total yum! Grandmom would be proud.

HOT DARK & SNOWSTORMY

Dark & Stormy cocktails are typically made dark rum and ginger beer over ice. They are lovely antidotes to the warmer storms of summer and autumn. But winter’s storms call for a modification. So, I invented a Hot Dark & SnowStormy cocktail to warm us up.

Simply warm up some dark rum in your favorite mug, add some good quality fresh brewed black coffee, top with freshly whipped cream, sprinkle with ground cinnamon and/or cocoa, and gild the lily by adding a few chocolate covered espresso beans on the very top. Take THAT, winter!

EL CHILE HOT TODDY

El Chile Cafe y Cantina, a lovely Mexican restaurant in Austin, Texas, serves up 2 kinds of hot toddies, Apple and Tamarind. Both have margarita-type embellished rims.

The Apple Hot Toddy has a sugar and cinnamon rim. The Tamarind has a salt and sugar rim. Either way, the El Chile Hot Toddy is both unusual and delicious! Both will warm you to the core.

THE BLINDING NEMO

Michardman, of the Ace Weekly, paid homage as a killer storm named Nemo headed towards him in Lexington, Kentucky. He fired up a winter storm drinking game around a steaming cup of sweet jazz. Hell, if you’re snowed in anyway… You might call it Irish Coffee, but he calls it “The Blinding Nemo.”

The Blinding Nemo

Get out your thermos and add:

• 3 parts coffee
• 1 part Irish Whiskey (we also like it with Scotch or Bourbon)
• 1 part heavy whipping cream
• Brown sugar to taste

Machardman just stirs and serves. But we like to whip that cream, with hurricane force, and float it on top like a post-storm cumulus cloud.

THE STORM CLOUD

This cloudy tempest, called the Storm Cloud, by mixologist Tyler Wang, of Tony Maws' restaurant, The Kirkland Tap & Trotter, in Somerville, Massachusetts, is like a Category 5 Seabreeze. It reminds us of summer, which is feeling so right as we brace ourselves for this winter’s toughest snowstorms.

It takes the breezy pink grapefruit juice base and kicks it up a few notches with some exotic splashes of darkly bitter Fernet Branca, a liqueur made of aloe, rhubarb, gentian, galangal, chamomile, saffron, myrrh, and elderflower.  And then it counterbalances with a swirl Cocchi Americano, an herbaceous white aperitif wine, and a touch of simple syrup. And for a dash of seaspray, a sprinkle of sea salt tops it all off.

The Storm Cloud

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 ounce Cocchi Americano
• 1/2 ounce Fernet Branca
• 1 ounce fresh juice from 1 pink grapefruit
• 3 ounces chilled club soda
• Grapefruit twist and kosher salt for garnish

Instructions:

• Add Cocchi Americano, Fernet Branca, grapefruit juice, and simple syrup to cocktail shaker and fill with ice. Shake until chilled, about 10 seconds. Strain into an ice-filled Collins glass.
• Top with soda and stir gently to incorporate. Garnish with a long grapefruit swath and a pinch of kosher salt on the top of the ice cube.

PERFECT STORM COCKTAIL

Now, with winter’s colder, harder snows and winds, we like to get fortified with the warm homespun flavors of a Perfect Storm Cocktail. It’s like a classic Dark N’ Stormy, with an extra comforter.

Perfect Storm Cocktail

Ingredients:

• 2 oz Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum
• Splash of fresh lime juice
• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
• Ginger beer

Instructions:

Add all the ingredients, except ginger beer, to a highball or rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with a lime wedge. Top with ginger beer.

 

FROZEN BLACKBERRY SLURRICANE

If you’ve been freezing outside and  you’ve had one too many Hurricanes, it might be time for a Frozen Blackberry Slurricane. We found this wonderful recipe in Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen, by Anna Lappé and Bryant Terry. It’s all passion and light, in a beautiful murky kind of way.

Frozen Blackberry Slurricane

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup dark rum
• 1/4 cup light rum
• 1/2 cup passion fruit juice
• 1/4 cup orange-pineapple-banana juice
• 1/4 fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup frozen blackberries
• 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 8 to 10 ice cubes

Instructions:

In a blender, combine all the ingredients and blend until smooth.

Read more about Wonderful Weather in 8 Most Beautiful Winter Trips, Fabulous Fog Photos: Michael Shainblum, Superbad Super-Beautiful Storms: Chad Cowan, Weather Sculptures & Scores: Nathalie Miebach and Jupiter’s Storms Paint a Beautiful Picture.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Mind/Body, Soul/Impact, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Arts/Design, and Place/Time, Daily Fix posts.

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IMAGE LIST:

1. Image: by Knight725. “Mug Edit.”
2. Image: by Shira White. “Hot Bourbon with Dried Montmorency Cherries, Blood Orange & Meyer Lemon.”
3. Image: by Shira White. “Hot Dark & SnowStormy.”
4. Image: by The Austinot. El Chile Hot Toddy.
5. Photo: Courtesy of Monica. Monica’s Irish Coffee.
6. Photo: Courtesy of Kirkland, Tap, and Trotter. The Storm Cloud Cocktail.
7. Photo: Courtesy of Sailor Jerry Rum. The Perfect Storm.
8. Image: Courtesy of Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen. Frozen Blackberry Slurricane.
9. Image: by Neil Turner. “Irish coffee and a cherry-infused whisky cocktail.”
10. Image: by Shira White. “Hot Bourbon with Dried Montmorency Cherries, Blood Orange & Meyer Lemon.” Overhead view.
11. Image: by IrishFireside. “Irish Coffee.”
12. Image: by charlie Beldon. “Mulled wine.”