Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Speaking Easily About Winter Cocktails at Atlanta Restaurants

Cocktails at No. 246

Ice has its place in the winter, preferably sparkling in a glass ready to host a mixologist’s potion at one of Atlanta’s warm and amiable restaurants. While we won’t divulge recipes, we will share some of the ingredients and tip you toward places to find the alluring elixirs.

At Fifth Group Restaurants, mixologists generate cocktails with vision. Picture where you’ll be as you sip The Shores of Paris made with Breckenridge Vodka, Lillet Rouge and Combier and Kümmel liqueurs; Fireside with smoky hints of Fidencio Mezcal Joven, The Irishman Irish Whiskey, Flor de Cana 7-year Rum, Grand Marnier and bitters; Brickwalker with baked apple and black walnut bitters muddled with Dolin Rouge Vermouth dressed with Bulleit Rye, a sugar cube and a brandied cherry; and the forceful Renegade of Redemption Rye, Cynar, amaretto and bitters.

For a cocktail as lovely to look at as to imbibe, try the elegant Haute Holiday at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar. Each champagne flute bubbles with Mionetto Prosecco, St. Germain and Quady Elysium. Spice girls and guys may crave the Merry Mint Spice where Gentleman Jack, Domaine De Canton Ginger Liqueur, POM juice, simple syrup and fresh mint leaves meet over ice in a bucket glass.

Atlanta’s Westside is home to JCT. Kitchen & Bar where guests are going gaga over winter mixers such as the Poinsettia with poached cranberries, Ruby Liqueur and prosecco; Stocking Full of Coal with Gosling’s Black Rum, Nux Alpina Walnut Liqueur, Black Strap Molasses and Smuttynose Porter; Figgy Pudding rich with brown sugar syrup, aromatic bitters and fig-infused Jim Beam; Reindeer Games  playfully blending Averell Damson Gin, Knickerbocker Gin, Leopold’s Cranberry Liqueur, lemon and cranberry bitters; Feliz Navidad’s heady blend of Lunazul-infused cinnamon, Domain de Canton Ginger Liqueur, chocolate and orange; a Little Rummer Boy that snares vanilla-infused 10 Cane Rum, falernum, Tuaca Liqueur, lemon juice and Whiskey Barrel Bitters; a heartwarming Mistle Toddy mug of spiced Redemption Rye, Cherry Heering, honey and chai tea; and Mull it Over served hot, cold, sparkling or still with mulled wine, wassail and spiced cider.

This winter, The Optimist promises smooth sailing with a cocktail glass or mug for every taste. Coconut eggnog twists a tropical classic of eggs, cream, Brinley Gold Shipwreck Spiced Rum, coconut milk and nutmeg while Shandy Claus wraps a woodsy blend of Tanqueray, Zirbenz Stone Pine Liqueur of the Alps, IPA, lemon, sugar and grapefruit bitters. Cold noses will thaw over Mexican hot chocolate spiked with Hangar One Chipotle Vodka, Kahlua, cinnamon and sea salt or a hot buttered rum with The Kraken Black Spiced Rum, cinnamon-clove butter and brown sugar. Ticklers include Christmas on Cape Cod, which tops citrus vodka and cranberry juice with a prosecco floater and spice-poached New England cranberries or the Sparkle Motion of cava, true-pomegranate grenadine and pomegranate seeds.

Come in from the cold to cheery No. 246 in downtown Decatur where gem-hewed glasses include Pimm’s Cup, Red Ryder, Poinsettia, Royal Tannenbaum and a fragrant spiked cider with a cinnamon bark swizzle stick.

Ten nostalgically named winter signature cocktails top the cocktail menu at The Pinewood in Decatur. Roots Radicals mixes Bulleit Bourbon, Angostura Bitters, sugar beet, Maraschino and lime; El Wormhole shakes up Laird’s Bonded Apple Brandy, Fidencio Mezcal, amaretto, caramelized apple gastrique and bitters; Golden Fiddle strums Bacardi Solera, Cardamaro, Georgia sweet potato, white balsamic, house ginger soda and Grains of Paradise spice. More options include Day that I Die with Riverboat Rye, buckwheat honey and Georgia pecan tincture; the PWTR Draft Old Fashioned of small batch bourbon, bitters and oleo saccharum; PWTR Draft Sazerac with rye, bitters, gomme syrup and absinthe rinse; Pinewood Porch Punch of spiced tea-infused vodka, fresh citrus, orange flower water, bitters and sugar or a star-struck list including B. Bardot, Violet Beauregarde and Jackie O

Roots Radicals at The Pinewood

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