A Bubbly Bitter Aperitif
January's Cocktail of the Month
The Cocktail - Snowball
I used to make (and write about) highballs quite a bit, and for some reason I’ve gotten away from them recently. But, sitting here after weeks of overeating with family, a highball is about all that sounded good. There’s something about bubbles in drinks that makes them so light and refreshing for me, and so far this winter I’ve really had a hankering for light and refreshing. So, that’s what we’re making in January.
Now, to clarify, the Snowball is not actually a highball because it has more than 2 ingredients. But, it certainly drinks like one so I’m counting it. The name feels fitting for something fun associated with winter. The drink is light but complex with a trailing sweetness that helps cut through some initial bitterness; it reminds me of a deeper variation on one of my favorite highballs, the Port & Tonic.
What You Have - Benedictine, Spiced Syrup, and Aged Rum
As always, you’ll use both what you bought and made last month again! The Benedictine and Syrup together add some baking spice backbone and the important sweetness on the finish. The actual rum you use doesn’t matter much here since it’s in a very small quantity; the idea is to provide some traditional booziness and some of the vanilla notes familiar to most aged spirits.
What does matter is that you’re using aged rum, not spiced rum. I won’t get into it here, but overall I never recommend using spiced rum in a cocktail and I make sure that all (non-white) rum I use has an actual age statement on it. I used the Canasteros 15 in my drink, and overall I enjoy that rum for the price and would drink it straight without a problem.
What to Buy - Bonal
A bartender in Seattle told me about this fortified wine the last time I was in town, and once I knew about it I saw it everywhere. Bonal is not really different from a vermouth, but it’s distinguished by its heavy use of quinine as an additive. Like a lot of things that were made in a very specific place, I think this one tastes like where it’s from: the French Alps.
I’ll save the detailed description for a later edition of this newsletter, but now that Dolin bought the brand it seems to be getting solid distribution and you should be able to find it at your local liquor store. It’s intense bitter flavor, similar to tonic water because of the quinine, is balanced with some menthol stone fruit notes that make it much bolder than most vermouth. If you like vermouth, you’ll like Bonal and appreciate its distinctiveness.
What to Make - Soda
Am I cheating my own system here? Probably. But just because you can buy soda water instead of making it doesn’t really make it distinct from a saline solution or syrup; I’m sure you could buy those too!
When I add soda to cocktails, I almost always make it fresh with a basic SodaStream. I like that you get some of the pure CO2 smoke into the cocktail when you pour it, and I like not always having to keep extra bottles around. But, realistically, any plain soda you pick up from any store would work here if you prefer. My favorite is Topo Chico.
The Recipe
This one couldn’t be easier; even though it’s not a pure highball, you still build it in the glass!
0.5 oz Spiced Syrup
0.5 oz Benedictine
0.5 oz Aged Rum
1.5 oz Bonal
3 oz Soda
Get out your favorite double glass, add some ice cubes, and pour it all in. Give it a stir and serve.