Seattleites often flee for warmer climates during the long winter months. It’s not that it gets extremely cold here, but, the constant grey has the tendency to nag on one’s soul.
Well, this year, we’re sticking around, but, our cocktails are headed for warmer climates. And this one is especially delicious. It will bring you to a beach almost real enough that you’ll be able to feel the warm sun toasting your skin.
We all have our preferences, but, every once in awhile I taste a cocktail that causes me to rethink a whole category of cocktails. Have you had that experience? For example, sparkling cocktails. I’m with most of you and like my cocktails dark and deep in flavors. But, our friend and bartender, Sean de Anda, changed my mind creating a sparkling cocktail is both light and deeply flavored. Wow, this cocktail is delicious and will be what both Sean and I will be drinking to ring in the New Year. Cheers and Happy New Year, friends!
This cocktail has the most enticing aroma. My entire office smelled of Christmas for hours after shooting this photo. And, in addition, this cocktail tastes as festive as you’d think - beautifully spiced, not too sweet and it has a lovely balance between fruit and alcohol. Cheers, friends, and Merry Christmas.
Some cocktails deserve an encore performance. I have made Orasella’s salted cava punch for more than one person who has told me it’s one of their favorites. They’re not alone, because, it’s one of mine too. Fair warning, this cocktail is strong, deceptively so. It tastes so good, you may not even notice it. Enjoy in moderation, but, one thing I know for sure, you will enjoy.
Around this time of year, it’s nice to break out your bartender skills and experiment with batched cocktails. If you haven’t heard of the term, it describes cocktail recipes that make more than a single serving.
Batched cocktails are typically great for serving crowds, but, during this time, I put batched cocktails into the same category as weekend meal prep. Do some work on Sunday and enjoy the fruits of your labor all week. After all, every day around the holidays is festive enough to merit a cocktail while listening to Nat King Cole sing carols.
So, try this slightly sweet and fruity cocktail if you need enough sustenance to last you through the work from home, school from home, whatever may come this week, week. Cheers!
Talk about an unfortunate, albeit delicious, branding catastrophe…barleywine is actually beer.
European barleywines tend to have richer and fruitier flavors than typical beer which make them perfect for pairing with their fruity spirit counterparts.
This cocktail, which combines barleywine with spirits, is perfect for a cold autumn night when you need something to warm you from the inside out.
In Seattle, we have many excuses to drink more coffee. After all, our city is known for it. Adding coffee to cocktails is not new - especially in Seattle - but, it’s outlasted any trend perhaps because of coffee’s versatility and, frankly, deliciousness.
This recipe, crafted by master bartender, Jessie Poole is no exception. It is at once heavy and light and brings in a variety of flavors - cardamom being one of my favorite coffee pairings - to add depth. Coffee lovers will not be disappointed. Cheers!
This cocktail recipe, developed by Jessie Poole, former owner of one of my favorite Seattle-based craft cocktail bars, will have you experimenting with some new cooking methods. I mean, have you ever made or even heard of grilled corn milk? But, you won’t be disappointed in the results. It’s closest thing I’ve ever tasted to a summer BBQ in a bottle and the perfect kiss goodbye to the season.
Our friends recently launched Seattle-based, Fast Penny Spirits, a distillery focused on the Italian bittersweet herbal liqueur, amaro. Since I started Orasella, there are few spirits I’ve grown to appreciate more than amaro. Amari are generally jam packed with botanicals - Fast Penny’s includes over 45 - so, a well-made amaro can take you on a flavor journey that will end in a completely different place than you began. And, they perform magic in cocktails, taking any drink from flat to interesting in a second’s notice.
Four years ago, our friend, Damon, whipped up an off-menu cocktail dubbed, “the spicy cherry juice thingy”. That cocktail remains one of my favorites, the kind you continue to crave on a Friday night years later. I mean, who knew that Orasella’s cherry syrup went so well with spicy spirits?
Well friends, since Damon sent this slightly spicy cocktail recipe, I’ve made (and drank) more of them than I’m willing to tell you about. This cocktail strikes the balance between incredibly delicious and super easy to put together making it the perfect thing to whip up as you’re waiting for dinner to cook.
Ready to continue our cocktail adventure? This time we’re featuring a bittersweet traditionally Italian herbal liqueur, called an amaro. To it, we pair one of my favorite smoky spirits, mezcal (cousin to Tequila), and summer blackberries to create something that will make all you heavier cocktail lovers swoon.
It’s been a cold week in Seattle, but, coming on the back of some really gorgeous days. I always want summer, my favorite season, to hurry up and get here. We bought a 10 foot inflatable above ground pool this year. It’s currently housed in my in-home office. Staring at it on those rainy Seattle days doesn’t help fend off my love of summer much.
What does help, however, is this drink. Sipping on it will foreshadow those 80 degree days, this icy cocktail in hand, and kids splashing around in an inflatable above ground pool (or, insert your more ambitious ambitions here). Either way, friends, cheers.
I often make extra when I whip up a batch of cocktails for Orasella’s photo shoots. Call it a perk of the job. Recently, I’ve been turning my extras into cocktail kits and leaving them at friends’ doorsteps. I mean, we all need something to look forward to, right?
Which made me think about you…and your Mom. If you can’t be with her this Mother’s Day, I promise, this cocktail makes the perfect kit: hibiscus infused gin, three limes, Orasella cherries and some hard cider. Add a grocery store bouquet and you’re set. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.
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