From buttered mulled wine to a ginger-laced toddy, some of Melbourne's hottest mixologists share their winter recipes.
1. The Kodiak Club: Blazing Toddy
With a mouth-watering array of bourbons, Fitzroy's Kodiak Club is geared toward the classics. The hot toddy is hundreds of years old and the bar has enlivened its version with warming spices and a flash of flame. It's not all for show, says Kodiak's Nathan Taylor, as firing up the drink caramelises the sugars. If you don't have a Hazmat suit at home, the cocktail will still taste great without the pyrotechnics show.
Recipe
50ml Elijah Craig 12-year-old bourbon
15ml honey water
10ml boiling water
1 dash Fee Brothers orange bitters
3 cloves
1 cardamon pod
1 small cinnamon stick
1 star anise
Garnish with a lemon twist
Method
Boil some water, half-filling a serving glass and two jugs (stainless steel is good). Place another glass inside one of the jugs, filling it with all of the ingredients. Once the liquid is warmed up, tip the water out of the jugs and pour the cocktail into one of the jugs. Set the liquid alight and pour the flaming drink between the jugs about six to eight times, creating an arc of flame. Try not to set anything else alight. Strain and serve in the emptied, warmed serving glass with a lemon twist.
2. 1806: Buttered Mulled Wine
The award-winner 1806 is another bar keen on perfecting the classics. The Buttered Mulled Wine is a merging of two oldies - hot buttered rum and spiced wine. Bartender, Matt Keron, says first-century Romans "were drinking spiced heated wine". This version is simple to make, just be sure to choose a deeper red wine to carry the heavier flavours.
Recipe
100ml Cape Mentelle Shiraz
10ml Appleton VX rum
10ml white chocolate syrup
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Teaspoon of butter
1 orange wedge
Cinnamon and nutmeg
Method
Put butter, cinnamon, nutmeg and orange wedge into a cocktail shaker and steam using a steam wand (or put on the stove in a pot on low heat). Warm until very hot. Strain into a wine glass or rocks glass and discard the orange wedge. Garnish with grated nutmeg and cinnamon.
3. The Everleigh: Ginger Toddy
"We're more champions of tradition than pioneers," says the Everleigh's Michael Madrusan. With an extensive collection of classic cocktail books, there's a regular rotation of history lessons in a glass. In a few months, the bar will also launch its own beer, a dark rye ale aged in whiskey and wine barrels. The fresh ginger in this toddy delivers a spicy, warming kick.
Recipe
22.5ml lemon juice
15ml ginger syrup (4:3 raw ginger juice to caster sugar)
15ml honey syrup (3:1 honey to hot water)
45ml Irish whiskey or other spirit
60ml warm water
Method
Add ingredients together and steam or boil on the stove. The Everleigh uses the coffee machine steamer. Serve in a short glass.
4. Noble Experiment: Scorched Amaretto and Fig Sour
This month, Collingwood newcomer the Noble Experiment launched a pop-up bar downstairs that's showcasing classic '80s and '90s cocktails, with a modern molecular twist. Order Sex on the Beach and it'll be served with edible (chocolate) sand and Chambord "caviar". It is also barrel ageing cocktails - Bambi's Espresso Martini is set aside in French oak for up to four weeks to let the flavours deepen. "We did a lot of research to justify that barrel ageing was making a better cocktail and not just a fad," says Linus Schaxmann, who helped develop the cocktail menu. Some batches like gin Martinis and Manhattans are also being bottled and set aside for months, possibly even years, to aerate and soften, with the hope that one day customers can order a vintage cocktail as they would a fine wine.
Recipe
60ml Amaretto
30ml lemon juice
20ml sugar syrup
1 teaspoon quality fig jam
30ml egg white
Angostura bitters
Method
Put the ingredients into a shaker and dry shake (that is, shaking with no ice, it will emulsify and aerate the cocktail). Then add ice and shake well to dilute the drink and break down the fig jam. Strain well and pour into a Martini glass. Add three drops of bitters and, using a skewer, swirl on the surface of the cocktail. Or, for extra flair, skip the bitters at this stage and scorch the top by half-filling a small spray bottle with equal parts bitters and an over-proof rum. Pump and spray it through a naked flame so it ignites and scorches the surface of the cocktail, for about 10 seconds.
5. The Beaufort: That Drink
The Beaufort is big on well-crafted beers so it's no surprise that one of the bar's favourite cocktails at the moment is made with a viscous reduction of a dark breakfast stout. The chocolatey undertones marry well with the nutty, malty dark rye whiskey. The surprisingly light drink doesn't have a name but it's worth requesting this tasty beer-based cocktail.
Recipe
20ml Founders Breakfast Stout and sugar (made by placing a half-half mix of stout and sugar on a low heat until the liquid reduces by half and becomes viscous)
20ml Campari
50ml High West Double Rye Whiskey
Method
Mix the ingredients together, fill a cold glass with ice, pour the cocktail in and stir down to chill and dilute. Garnish with an orange or grapefruit twist.
6. Kid Boston: Hot Bacon Butter Bourbon
Bacon is a beautiful thing and this Windsor bar is continuing the tradition of making the pork product the hero of a cocktail. It's not overpowering and, mixed with the butter, the drink is slightly creamy. If your arteries are flinching in horror, Kid Boston also makes a virtuous beetroot Caipirinha with a refreshing hit of lime juice.
Recipe
50ml Wild Turkey Bourbon
Dash of spice syrup (sugar syrup made with cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and vanilla)
Generous teaspoon of bacon butter (half bacon fat, half butter)
A dash of hot water
Method
Mix ingredients together and heat with a coffee machine steamer until the bacon butter is melted (or warm in a pot over a low heat). Garnish with star anise and a rasher of crispy bacon.
7. Eau De Vie: Que Syrah Syrah
Eau de Vie calls this a gentleman's champagne cocktail; heavier than a standard summer version. In winter "customers start looking for darker, richer flavours", says Greg Sanderson. "Even our white spirit cocktails, we try to make with richer flavours."
Recipe
45ml Bulleit bourbon
20ml Lemon juice
10ml Orgeat syrup (a sweet syrup usually made from almonds, sugar and rose water or orange flower water)
15ml Blood orange and shiraz jam (Eau de Vie's is house-made but a heavier flavoured jam should work as a substitute)
Method
Put all the ingredients in a shaker, shake well then double strain into a chilled champagne flute. Garnish with citrus (dehydrated, if you want to be fancy).