CLEVELAND, Ohio -- So, it hasn’t been the easiest year for just about everybody, right? But we’re not going to launch into a litany of why right here. You can air your grievances on your own dime and time somewhere else. Right now, the rest of us are going to face forward and go forth, summoning up some positive energy by officially proclaiming this week the beginning of the holiday-drinking season. And since we need all the comfort we can get this year, let’s make cocktail hour cozy with some steaming warm drinks that will succor us, body and soul.
Curl up in front of a fire with a soothing cup and a book or heat up your frosty fingers with a well-deserved hot cocktail after a crisp walk on a wintry sunny afternoon. Or crank up all the Christmas lights and enjoy a dazzling little fete with your pod. To aid and abet, we asked some local experts in the field of mixology for some guidance.
The results are inspiring, from rich and chocolaty to fruity and spicy. Enjoy the season safely with these cozy holiday drinks. Here’s to your health, happiness, and better times ahead. Until then, eat, drink and be wary. Cheers!
Fahrenheit Hot Chocolate. Photo: Courtesy of Fahrenheit
Fahrenheit HOT CHOCOLATE
One of Tremont’s preeminent—and most entertaining-- places to eat is now open for sit-down and take-out. Rocco Whalen and crew will be featuring a special New Year’s Eve To-Go menu, plus social-distance catering, food trucks, and new cook-at-home cheesesteak kits. Their HOT CHOCOLATE cocktail, rife with rich caramel and vanilla flavors, is suitable for any occasion, but would be a fine finishing flourish to any holiday meal.
4 cups milk (preferably whole or 2%)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup best quality chocolate chips or chopped chocolate bar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1.5 ounces caramel vodka
1/2 ounce Godiva Dark Chocolate Liqueur
1/2 ounce Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur
Garnish (optional):
Chocolate syrup
Heavy cream, whipped
Caramel sauce
Place milk, cocoa powder and sugar in a small saucepan. Heat over medium/medium-low heat, whisking frequently, until warm (but not boiling). Add chocolate chips and whisk constantly until the chocolate melts and distributes evenly into the milk. Whisk in vanilla extract, vodka, and liqueurs, serve immediately in glasses rimmed with chocolate syrup, finish with whipped cream and a caramel drizzle for extra dazzle!
Fahrenheit
2417 Professor Ave. Tremont
The Spotted Owl, Hot For Teacher drink. Photo: Courtesy of The Spotted Owl.
Spotted Owl’s Hot For Teacher
Spotted Owl’s Tremont and Akron locations are closed for indoor dining, but their impeccably crafted drinks are available, along with some creative sandwich selections, for take-out daily. Until they can reopen, confides Tremont manager, Kathleen Sullivan, “in true Owl fashion, we’re working to improve ourselves individually and as a company.” The cocktails, however, need no improvement, and to prove it, Hot for Teacher, created by Spotted Owl’s beverage director, Emily Dee, beautifully renders all the warmth and spiciness of the season, but with no unnecessary sweetness. “The raw ginger and honey play well with the citrus,” according to Dee, “and there’s a delicate finish that highlights the baked apple notes in the brandy.” Yep, impeccable.
5 teaspoons ginger syrup (see notes)
0.5 ounce honey syrup (see notes)
4 ounces hot orange spice/English breakfast tea blend
0.5 teaspoon St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram
0.25 ounce Watershed Apple Brandy
1.25 ounces Tom’s Foolery Eau De Vie
1 dash Angostura Bitters
Garnish:
Lemon oils
Dissolve ginger and honey syrup in very hot tea. Gently but thoroughly stir in liquors and bitters. Garnish with a spritz of lemon oils pinched from a freshly pared piece of lemon rind.
Notes: To make ginger syrup, dissolve 1 cup granulated sugar in 3/4 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add about 1 cup peeled and thinly sliced ginger root. Cover, reduce heat, and allow to simmer for 15 minutes. Let cool for about an hour. Strain out the ginger and store in well-sealed bottle in refrigerator for up to two weeks. It can also be frozen. To make honey syrup, dissolve 1/2 cup honey in 1/2 cup water in small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until honey is thoroughly dissolved. Take off heat and let cool about an hour. Store in well-sealed jar in refrigerator for up to one month.
The Spotted Owl
Tremont 710 Jefferson Ave. Cleveland
60 S. Maple St., Akron
Pumpkin to Talk About from Rood Food and Pie. Photo: Courtesy of Rood Food and Pie
Rood Food and Pie’s Pumpkin To Talk About
Though Rood is no longer doing the socially shared slider plates, their charmingly eclectic aesthetic stays strong as they segue into a “southern comfort food” theme with house-made buttermilk and Cajun smoked cheddar drop biscuits and even more pies. Open for brunch now plus dinner starting in December, there’ll be a special Pie Bar on Saturday nights, that will spotlight this pie-centric drink, created by Katelyn Krane, Rood’s bar manager, who explains: “This cocktail was inspired by our beloved Cognac Pumpkin Pie. Even for the “non-pumpkin-loving” consumer, this dessert speaks to the soul, I’ve turned the pie into a warm decadent cocktail that I hope warms your heart and your holidays.”
2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon of both cinnamon and nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon of both clove and ginger
2 ounces Baileys or any Irish cream
5 ounces Hennessy Cognac
Garnish(optional):
Caramel syrup
Crushed graham crackers
Bring all of the ingredients above (except Hennessy) to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and let simmer for 15 minutes. Add the cognac at the end so the alcohol does not cook out. Serve in glasses rimmed with caramel sauce and then dipped in crushed graham crackers.
Rood Food and Pie
17001 Madison Ave. Cleveland
Storehouse Tea’s Harvest Moon Tea Toddy and Hot Cinnamon Plum Spiced Red Wine
Tea cocktails are it right now for a variety of reasons. One of them is the plethora of tea varieties that offer so many different flavor profiles that can be mixed and matched with any alcohol for a spectacular variety of cocktails. They particularly lend themselves to hot drinks as the flavor of a tea infusion is at its most nuanced while warm.
Storehouse Tea custom-blends their tea varieties weekly in the Hildebrandt Building in the Clark Fulton neighborhood, employing local residents from the refugee and immigrant community to fulfill their mission of producing delicious teas ethically. Their tea-blender, Erin O’Donnell, has also come up with some fine hot cocktails in her spare time. These two showcase several of Storehouse Teas more complex blends and celebrate the season in style.
Harvest Moon Tea Toddy
6 cups of cider
5 tablespoons Harvest Moon Black Tea (place tea in natural fiber tea filter bag)
Juice of 1 lemon
8 ounces of bourbon
Garnish (optional):
Orange slices
Cinnamon sticks
Place all ingredients into a saucepan on the stove and let simmer for 10-30 minutes.
Pour into glass mugs, garnish with a cinnamon stick or orange slice.
Hot Cinnamon Plum Spiced Red Wine
1 bottle of red wine
5 tablespoons of Cinnamon Plum Berry Botanical Blend (place tea in natural fiber tea filter bag)
1/4 cup honey (local raw honey is best)
2 cinnamon sticks
3 orange slices
Garnish (optional):
Orange wedge
Place all ingredient in a saucepan on the stove and let simmer for 10-30 minutes. Let cool slightly, then strain into a heat-proof pitcher. Pour into glass mugs and garnish with an orange wedge.
Storehouse Tea
3619 Walton Ave., Suite 101, Cleveland
The Standard’s Adult Hot Chocolate
The Standard, one of the keystone restaurants that transformed the East 185th St community, changed ownership last year. Said Ouaddaadaa , a local restaurateur with bona fides around town, has tweaked it a bit, but it’s still the clubbiest place in the neighborhood, in a very good way. This season, there’s regular dining in and take-away, plus smaller rooms for private dining, and a newly covered patio space. Danielle Ruppert, The Standard’s general manager, put the Adult Hot Chocolate at the top of the hot cocktail list. “It’s a twist on a classic recipe, the espresso rounds it out so it is not overly sweet for the adult palette. It’s a warm lovely cocktail to cozy up with,” she says.
2 ounces hot espresso (or strong coffee)
2 ounces hot homemade cocoa (or store-bought, preferably Ghirardelli)
1 ounce vodka
1 ounce Kahlua
Garnish (optional):
Heavy cream, whipped
Mini-marshmallows
Shaved chocolate or cocoa powder
Combine all ingredients and stir to mix. Top generously with whipped cream and/or marshmallows, and a sprinkling of shaved chocolate. Cheers!
The Standard
779 E 185th St, Cleveland
Bonus Recipe: Warm Cranberry Cuddle
This one is not attached to a local enterprise, but right now we could all use a little cuddle, especially one that’s so cheery and colorfully appropriate for the season. It’s spicy-sweet warmth is perfect for right now, and perhaps even better for later as we soon settle into the depths of winter.
1/2 cup sugar
Peel from one lemon
2-inch piece of ginger peeled and sliced
3 cinnamon sticks, broken
10 whole cloves
1 (32-ounce) bottle cranberry juice cocktail
1 1/4 cups Calvados (apple brandy), more to taste
1/2 fresh lemo
Garnish (optional):
Whole cranberries
Apple slices
Add sugar, lemon peel, ginger, cinnamon sticks, and cloves to a large pot. Pour in cranberry juice. Stir to combine. Simmer for 30 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Pour into a large pitcher, straining out lemon peel and spices. Add Calvados to pitcher and let mixture chill for 24 hours. To serve, add to a slow cooker and warm on a LOW setting. Or gently warm on the stove over low heat. Add to a preheated airpot.
Ladle into mugs and serve with a few cranberries, a squeeze of lemon juice, and apple slices.
(Courtesy of Baked Bree
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