Festivus Flip - A Holiday Cocktail
Sixth City Sailors Club, offers folks a laid-back, nautical themed hangout on Euclid Avenue near East Ninth Street in downtown Cleveland. In the warmer months, their fabulous outdoor patio is the perfect place to hang for a game of bocce ball around the fire pit. Now that winter appears to be here to stay, Sixth City has decked the halls and is whipping up holiday cheer. We brought Joseph Fredrickson some seasonal produce from our Perfectly Imperfect Produce box and he dreamed up something perfectly jolly. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or Festivus, this custom cocktail is sure to give you all the holiday cozy you are craving.
Festivus Flip
Ingredients:
fresh, whole vanilla beans
1 egg
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
fruitcake flip syrup (see recipe below)
spiced cranberry syrup (see recipe below)
2 ounces of vanilla rye whiskey
Fruitcake Flip Syrup:
Yield 216 oz.
90 oz. water
150 g currants
150 g golden raisins
100 g dried apricots
80 g dried cherries
20 g orange peel
25 g lemon peel
5 g ground cinnamon
3 g ground allspice
3 g ground nutmeg
2 g ground ginger
4 g kosher salt
2 oz. lemon juice
23 oz stout (2 bottles Guiness Extra Stout)
900 g dark brown sugar
2500 g white sugar
20 drops almond extract
10 drop cherry extract
Add the first 12 ingredients to a large pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling add the stout, lemon juice and sugars. Stir well and bring back to a rapid boil. Rapidly boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Once cooled add the extracts. Use an immersion blender to blend contents of the pot. Strain first through a nut milk bag to remove solids. Strain a second time using a boullion strainer. Bottle and refrigerate. Note. Do not overcook the syrup as it will become too thick.
Spiced Cranberry Sauce:
Yield 64 oz.
32 oz. cranberry juice (unsweetened)
1 can cranberry sauce (or 1 bag whole cranberries)
20 oz. water
600 g light brown sugar
300 g white sugar
4 oz. orange juice
20 g orange peel
8 cinnamon sticks
5 g ground allspice
5 g kosher salt
3 g ground nutmeg
2 g ground cloves
Crack and heat all dry spices till aromatic in a medium saucepan. Add all remaining ingredients and bring to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to maintain a rapid simmer and reduce liquid for 30 minutes. Remove from heat. Allow to cool. Strain with a fine mesh strainer. Bottle and refrigerate.
Before you plan to make this Christmasy cocktail, you'll want to first take your two vanilla beans and slice them open so that the inside of the vanilla bean can saturate the whiskey. Put the vanilla beans right into your favorite bottle of whiskey. Joey uses Midwest Spirits Pumpernickel Rye Whiskey. He likes it because its crisp, but not too sweet. Let the beans hang out in the whiskey for as long as you like, a few hours or a few days.
First add one whole egg to a tall glass. Juice the lemon and add it to the egg, along with a splash of the fruitcake syrup and a bit of the cranberry syrup, then add your vanilla infused whiskey. Shake it all up, then strain it out and then shake it again. Pour it into a tall glass, sprinkle it with a little cinnamon and garnish with a sprig of rosemary with cranberries.
We hope you'll whip up this yummy cocktail over the holidays. Why wait? Make it right now! Tell us how much you love it and then show us how you make your favorite holiday cocktail by tagging us on Instagram and Facebook @perfectlyimperfectproduce. That way we can cheers, virtually.
If the Festivus Flip feels like too much work for you to handle at home, just head over to Sixth City Sailors Club at 668 Euclid Avenue in Cleveland and Joey will merrily mix one up. Or try one of the many other "Miracle Cocktails" he's presently featuring such as the Christmaspolitan, the Bad Santa or Jingle Bells Nog. While you're there, you can snack on a Pierogi Flight, Shrimp Fitters or Chowder. Then stick around to chow down on a Lobster Roll, Crabby Patty or build your own Po' Boy. We are loving this fun, affordable and approachable new spot here in our hometown. Check out their menu at www.sixthcitysailors.com then go say hi. We'll likely be bar-side toasting the end of 2020 with a Festivus Flip in hand.
Recipe by Joseph Fredrickson.
Photos by Karin McKenna.
Article by Ashley Weingart.
