Gingerbread Greenhouse

It's Happy Hour! In this episode Ben presents the sparkling Gin Botanica. It's clean, crisp and bracing like a frigid winter morning. Meanwhile Matthew warms things up with his Gingerbread Old Fashioned. It's warm and rich notes are perfect at then of a long cold day. They also discuss holiday music and give tips on how to care for bubbles in your cocktail. Recipes below.

Gin Botanica

• 1 1/2 oz Gin
• 1 oz DOM Bendectine
• 2 spritzes of Rosemary tincture
• Club soda
• 1 rosemary sprig

Spray empty highball glass with tincture. Fill to top with ice. Add Gin and Benedictine. Top with club soda. Carefully and slowly pull bar spoon gently up from the bottom of the glass 2-3 times. Garnish with rosemary sprig.

Gingerbread Old Fashioned

• 2 oz Bourbon
• 1/2 oz Gingerbread Syrup
• 1 dash Orange Bitters
• 1 dash Aztec Chocolate Bitters
• Orange Peel for garnish

Syrup: Combine 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, 2 Tbs of Molasses, 1 inch fresh ginger (thinly sliced), 2 cinnamon sticks, 1 tsp whole cloves, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ground allspice. Bring to a boil & stir to combine sugar and water. Remove from heat and let steep for 1 hour while it cools. Strain into a jar.

Cocktail: Combine all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice. Stir vigorously for 30 seconds. Strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice. Express orange peel oils over cocktail and place peel in the glass.