Our experiment of Friday bevvies with our clients and friends went so well the last time, that we thought we could make it a regular thing... every second week during "lockdown"... or maybe longer... we'll see...
To switch things up for the prize giveaway this week, we wanted to tie it to our announcement of our best selling bottles of 2020. All of the winning bottles are still in stock and listed on our website so it was fun to hear about people switching browser windows throughout the hour trying to guess the winning bottle.
Here are the best selling bottles for 2020...
We also shared a couple of easy cocktail recipes that feature the outstanding, locally distilled products from Crosscut Distillery.
The French 75 is a true classic cocktail in every sense. It was supposedly named after the French 75mm field gun around World War I because of its "kick".
½ oz Lemon Juice
½ oz Simple Syrup
3oz Champagne or dry sparkling wine
1 Twist Lemon for garnish
Shake the gin, lemon juice and simple syrup together with some ice until very cold. Strain into a flute and top with Champagne.
(Adjust the quantity of gin based on your preference and desired "kick".)
The second featured cocktail is new to us at Wander. Think of the Agua De Valencia as a combination of a mimosa and a classic screwdriver... but with a little herbaceous-ness from some gin.
Ideally, this cocktail is made with fresh-squeezed Valencia oranges, but if you must substitute, use sweet and ripe oranges for the best flavour without having to add sugar. (Some in Spain add a pinch or two of sugar to their "Valencia Water" but we prefer it au naturel.
Oh... and we highly recommend keeping this recipe on hand for your next brunch. It is VERY "pitcher-worthy".
3oz orange juice (freshly-squeezed and/or Valencia oranges if available)
1.5 oz Crosscut Local Harvest Gin
1.5 oz Crosscut Triple Grain Vodka
1.5 oz Cava (a Spanish dry sparkling wine is traditional, but you can sub in another dry bubbly)
Ice & Orange slice for garnish
No shaking required for this one. Add your gin and vodka in first, add ice, orange juice and top with Cava. Garnish with an orange wedge - we like to squeeze and tuck it right into the glass.
We suggest one of each should be on everyone's to-do list for a proper Sunday. :)
Next Happy Hour is scheduled on Friday, February 12th and we are chatting about wine and chocolate to get ready for Valentine's Day. To join us on Zoom, email us at dine@wanderfoodandwine.ca for the link or meet us on Facebook at 5pm EST.