gin

The Alleluia Negroni | For Easter

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Recipe

  • 1 oz Barrel-Aged Gin
  • 1 oz Suze Amaro
  • 1 oz Dolin Blanc (or other white, sweet vermouth such as Lillet Blanc or Cocchi Americano)
  • Top with Seltzer or Tonic
  • Garnish with lemon twist

Stir the gin, Suze, and vermouth with ice until chilled. Strain into a glass with fresh ice. Top with your sparkling of choice. Express the oil of a lemon peel over it all and garnish with the peel.

* * * *

It’s Easter! He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

The Church’s highest feast is one of joy, celebration, and abundance. This season isn’t content with a muted sip; it needs something golden, bright, and effervescent. The Easter Negroni takes the classic trinity of spirit, amaro, and vermouth and transfigures it into something new—bubbling with life, radiant in hue, and rich with meaning.

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3 Trinity Cocktails for Trinity Sunday

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Recipes

For all three drinks: stir all ingredients with ice in a mixing glass. Strain into a chilled coupe. Add the garnish. Unless specified, the numbers are in ounces.

Trinity Cocktail (1930)
– 1 Gin
– 1 Dry Vermouth
– 1 Sweet Vermouth
– Garnish with Lemon twist

Trinity Cocktail (1948)
– 2.5 Blended Scotch
– 1 Dry Vermouth
– .25 Apricot Liqueur
– .25 Creme de Menthe
– 1 dash Orange Bitters
– Express orange peel, discard
– Garnish with cherry

Sainte Trinity (Holy Trinity)
– 2 Cognac
– .66 Elderflower liqueur
– .5 Green Chartreuse
– 2 dashes Oranges bitters
– Lemon peel to express and garnish

* * * *

The first Sunday after Pentecost is known as Trinity Sunday. It was created to foster devotion and counter anti-Trinitarian heresies, so some strong, punchy drinks are in order. As I thought of this, I had in mind Michael Foley’s words in the book that inspired my entire holy day cocktail endeavor:

“The ideal cocktail honoring the Trinity would reflect the procession of the Son from the Father and the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son, with three equal ingredients made from the same ingredient, the second ingredient being derived from the first and the third derived from the first and second. And, of course, the mere taste of it would induce the Beatific Vision. But since no such concoction exists, we give you what the bartenders’ guides call a Trinity Cocktail.”

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Pentecost Cocktail | A Holy Day Drink

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Recipe (this one’s a doozy)
NOTE: This recipe is in PARTS, not ounces. Please be wise.

  • .75 gin
  • .5 vodka
  • .5 brandy
  • .5 light rum
  • .5 blended scotch
  • .5 irish whiskey
  • .5 tequila
  • .25 rye
  • .5 apricot liqueur
  • .25 raspberry liqueur
  • 3 dashes cinnamon bitters (or 1 tsp Fireball — trust me on this)
  • .25 oz Absinthe and .125 oz Green Chartreuse for float
  • Lemon Peel, expressed and as garnish

Stir all ingredients (except the ingredients for the float) in a mixing glass until VERY chilled and diluted. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Express the lemon peel over the drink and garnish with the peel.

* * * *

Today is Pentecost, which is all about the Holy Spirit descending and indwelling Christians, creating unity out of a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual group of people. So, I wanted to create a cocktail that had as many “spirits” from as many regions as possible (get it?).

I ended up doing a riff on the strongest known cocktail in the world, the Aunt Roberta Cocktail (really neat history behind that drink, by the way). It has 12 ingredients (the symbolism gets a little nuts here), and what came out was an even stronger drink that is surprisingly balanced and soft for all that’s in it.

Seriously, give this a try. It will be worth your time and effort. It is one drink, with many parts. And it is beautiful.

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The Ascension Martini (His & Hers) | Holy Day Cocktails

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Paul’s Recipe

  • 2 oz Dry Gin
  • .5 oz St. Germain
  • .5 oz Lillet Blanc
  • 2 dashes Orange Bitters
  • Garnish with a Lemon Twist

Stir all ingredients with ice in a mixing glass. Strain into a martini glass. Garnish with lemon twist.

Amanda’s Recipe

  • 4 oz Champagne
  • .5 oz St. Germain
  • Splash of Lemon Juice
  • Garnish with a Raspberry

Add St Germain and Lemon Juice to a martini or coupe glass. Stir a little to combine. Then add champagne on top, plopping the raspberry in it.

* * * *

We are still in Easter, and yesterday was the Christian Holy Day celebrating the Ascension of Christ, a fascinating event whose theological implications continue to be explored (here’s a great book on it). It is complex, elusive, beautiful, and bright. So here are two cocktails in that same vein for you to enjoy!

I originally made my version, which has depth, character, and complexity. My wife wasn’t a huge fan so she made her own, which is bright, sweet, and fun. Hers is very delightful and playful while mine is a little more “serious”.

So pick your drink and let your glass rise as Christ himself did!

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Good Friday | a cocktail

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Recipe

  • 1.5 oz Lillet Blanc
  • .75 oz Dry Gin
  • .25 oz St. Germain
  • .25 oz White Vinegar
  • 2 dashes Celery Bitters
  • .25 oz Gentian Amaro or Aperol (float)
  • Garnish: cherry

Add all ingredients (except the Gentian spirit) to a mixing glass with ice. Stir until chilled. Strain into chilled coupe. Add the Gentian Amaro (or Aperol). Garnish with a cherry on a cocktail pick, letting its syrup drip into the glass.

View other Holy Day cocktails.

* * * *

Today is Good Friday, the day on which Jesus faced an unjust Roman trial, was crucified, and even experienced the forsaking of God. It is a violent, unjust, and sad day, only made “good” by subsequent events.

Good Friday is our salvation. It is the moment God himself entered into the greatest fear and consequence of sin and human frailty. It is God’s answer to the suffering of the world: not giving an answer for why it exists, but experiencing it himself and conquering it.

It is bittersweet. It is an unexpected coronation and enthroning over the world and its authorities by letting them do their worst and yet still be beaten.

My first instinct for a Good Friday cocktail would be a dark, smoky, and bitter whiskey drink. But as I reflected on it more, I went in another direction.

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Foundation Cocktail (for the Feast of Peter’s Confession)

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Recipe

  • 1.5oz Dry Gin
  • 1oz Sweet Vermouth
  • .75oz Green Chartreuse
  • .5oz Olive Brine
  • 2 dashes Orange Bitters
  • 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
  • 1 dash Walnut Bitters
  • Garnish with Olive

Thematically, you should build the cocktail in the glass with the ice, but this is a lot of liquid. So the other option is to stir all ingredients in a mixing glass and pour over a large ice cube and serve the rest in a sidecar glass on the side. Garnish with an olive speared by two picks.

* * * *

And on this rock, I will build my… cocktail.

January 18 is a multi-layered date in the Christian Church calendar. Primarily, it is a feast day to celebrate the moment when Peter confesses that Jesus is the Messiah. But a lot of other things happen in this same passage that are also included in this day.

Peter gets his name changed from Simon to Peter. Catholics would say that Jesus appoints Peter as the first pope here. Jesus also says the word “church” here for the first time, as he says he will build it on this “rock” of Peter, so this is also considered the honorary birthday of the church.

Lastly, the World Council of Churches chose this feast day as an appropriate kick-off for the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. So like I said, it’s a lot, and so is this cocktail.

The drink is strong and maybe the most subtly complex drink I’ve ever made. It has a lovely progression from light saltiness in the front into a deep, quiet sweetness in the back. It’s an acquired taste, but one I’d proudly feature on a cocktail menu. So enjoy the drink while meditating on the church’s foundational moment and praying a prayer for Christian unity

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Baptism Birthday (a Holy Day cocktail)

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Recipe

  • 1.5oz Gin
  • 1.5oz Light Rum
  • .25 Anisette Liquer
  • .5 barspoon Absinthe
  • 3 dashes Rhubarb Bitters
  • Express a lime peel over the top

Stir all ingredients in mixing glass and strain into a martini glass or coupe. Express the oils of a lime peel over the top. No garnish.

* * * *

For a several years now, I have celebrated my annual “baptism birthday” to reflect on my baptism, my membership in the family of God, and the seal of assurance God has on me.

It’s beautiful and meaningful, and it deserved a cocktail. And, seeing as yesterday was the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord, this seems like a good time to share it with you.

My goal was to make a drink like baptism–it looks like it’s just water but there’s a lot more going on.

Boy, did I succeed.

The drink is a lovely balance of floral and nutty with some herbal spice to it. These flavors really meld well together to create a complex bouquet of flavors that’s really striking (why don’t more drinks mix gin and rum!?).

This drink is a favorite of mine for its meaning, aesthetic, and taste, and I hope it can become that way to you. As you drink it, remember your own baptism and the promise of God to mark you and keep you as his child.

Ingredients

I used a juicy, citrus-forward, and very flavorful gin rather than a dry gin. For the rum, I used Maggie’s Farm White Rum, which is fantastic and has more character than most light rums, but whatever you have should work fine. Absinthe is an acquired taste, but it’s used in such small quantities and there are enough competing strong flavors that Absinthe-haters should not fear. It’s a lovely accent on the drink.

The only somewhat obscure ingredients are the bitters and liqueur. I supposed you could use orange bitters in place of rhubarb, but only if they are a very strong sweet orange flavor. The Fee Brothers Rhubarb Bitters taste almost like sweet tarts, with a unique strong burst of flavor (it’s especially delicious added to plain seltzer). So if you can get your hands on those, they’re worth your time.

Lastly, when most people think of Anise in cocktails, they think absinthe, but the liqueur is a very different beast. Absinthe begins with anise, but adds a lot of bittering agents. Anisette adds sugar, coriander, and other ingredients that make a very sweet, nutty flavor. So much so that you might be able to substitute Amaretto into this drink.

“Twelfth Night” (a cocktail for the last day of Christmas)

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Recipe

  • 1.5oz Gin
  • 1oz Dry Madeira
  • .75oz Cointreau
  • .25oz Cinnamon Syrup
  • .25oz Cranberry Juice
  • .25oz Orange Juice
  • Pinch of ground clove
  • Orange Wheel garnish

Shake all ingredients, including the clove. Strain into a chilled coupe. Express an orange peel over the top. Garnish with an orange wheel and two toothpicks.

* * * *

The final night of the 12-day Christmas season is called “Twelfth Night”. It’s the last day of gift-giving, decorations, many food and drink traditions (including wassail!), and a Shakespeare play—and now I have a cocktail for it! And don’t forget the “drumstick” garnishes in honor of the song’s 12 drummers drumming.

This is an amazing Christmas cocktail. It has dark fruit notes, with a touch of brightness, and a lot of complexity and depth without being a “sweet” drink. It definitely straddles the line between a sipper and easy drinking. It is a slight variation of this drink in honor of the play.

The ingredients are mostly self-explanatory, except for the madeira. I don’t have a ton of experience with it, but I know there’s huge variation between the different types and brands. For this I used Broadbent Rainwater Medium Dry Madeira. Your mileage may vary depending on what you find. You may be able to substitute a port or even a dark sweet vermouth.

Enjoy this drink and have the merriest of final Christmas evenings before we head into the season of Epiphany!

“O Key of David” | Emancipation O’Fashioned

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For each of the ancient “O Antiphon” prayers in this week preceding Christmas, I will be offering prayers and a variation on an Old Fashioned.

Today’s O Antiphon: “O Key of David”

Calling Jesus the “Key of David” means he perfectly fits the locks our fallen humanity and frees us. He breaks the shackles of sin and death, giving us a liberation that cannot be undone. To honor it, I’ve made a “narrative cocktail” that tells a story in how it’s made.

Today’s Prayer & Scripture

O Key of David, O royal Power of Israel controlling at your will the gate of Heaven: Come, break down the prison walls of death for those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death; and lead your captive people into freedom.

Isaiah 22:22-23: “I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut, and no one shall open. I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his ancestral house.” Another text used today is Isaiah 42:1-9 which speaks of the Messiah’s divine and liberating power.

For further reflection, read Psalm 107, a song of thanksgiving for all the ways God saves and frees us from trouble and death. Additionally, you can search for and reflect on art that depicts “The Harrowing of Hell”, when Christ broke open the shackles of hell to free humanity from its grasp. Also, make the drink for today. It’s fantastic.

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