the cocktails currently inspiring us...
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Kyle
January 30, 2026
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The snow keeps falling on Rochester, NY. Let's eat lots of soup and drink lots of warm cocktails. I was taught about Mexican Hot Chocolate about 8 years ago from one of my favorite chefs in NYC -- a chef de cuisine named Juan Merino. I watched as he poured a few pounds of artisanal chocolate disks into a huge vat of milk, followed by a puzzling amount of cinnamon sticks and dried chipotle. From there he simmered it for a few hours, skimming off any skin that formed on the top. According to him, the real way to do this was with an egg. Maybe we try that next.
In any case, the key to our favorite hot chocolate is the mix of a perfectly fatty milk with a balanced ratio of cocoa to sweetened chocolate. The earthiness of the cinnamon and dried chipotle makes this a hot chocolate worthy of a lumberjack or caballero! Stay warm! CHEERS!
Recipe:
1 1/2 oz Cimarron Reposado Tequila
3 oz Mexican Hot Chocolate (milk simmered with cocoa powder, milk chocolate chips, cinnamon, dried chipotle)
Garnish: Dried chipotle
Add all ingredients in a hot mug and garnish.
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Kyle
January 25, 2026
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We are in the middle of the biggest snow storm of the season thus far. The snow is at knee-height and is still coming. This calls for a warm cup of something. Warm cocktails are not always at the front of people's minds, but when they are, the most common is Irish Coffee or a Hot Toddy. The Hot Toddy is made with whiskey (or rum), lemon, honey, and hot water -- this is basically winter-time medicine (in a good way!). We LOVE that cocktail so much, that we also love playing with the format: using different hot teas instead of water, constructing it with more complex sweeteners like cinnamon syrup or a liqueur, or adding bitters. But our FAVORITE variation is made with Applejack. Applejack is a brandy made from distilled apples, and our go-to, Laird's, makes a bonded expression (100 proof, aged for 4 years).
The slight fruitiness adds a little extra hug on top of an already perfect winter drink. We highly recommend serving it with a cinnamon stick for stirring, and make sure that water is PIPING hot. CHEERS!​​​
Recipe:
2 oz Laird's Bottled-in-Bond Applejack
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Honey Syrup (3:1)
3 oz Hot Water
Garnish: Cinnamon Stick
Add all ingredients in a hot mug, and stir with a cinnamon stick.
Kyle
January 13, 2026
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One of our favorite classics is a Dry Gin Martini with a twist. That sounded awfully good during a recent trip to Vern's. For those unaware, Vern's is one of Rochester's food+bev gems: a very cool, Italian-inspired bar and restaurant situated right on Park Ave. Before arriving, we had a grapefruit-flavored snack, the remnants of which lingered for a while. So when we took that first sip of the Martini, the bright complexity of the grapefruit had a wonderful effect on the overall experience of the drink. Why not let others in on the fun?
So, approaching the Dry Pompelmo, we needed a citrus-forward gin. We HIGHLY recommend Tanqueray No 10 for this -- minimal juniper allows room for the orange and grapefruit peel notes to cut through. Dolin Dry Vermouth is a must - but we kept it slightly dry at 1 part to the 3 of gin. For the Grapefruit Bitters, we used 4-5 dashes of Fee Bros, but I would also be interested in trying this with Bittermens Hopped Grapefruit Bitters. ​
Recipe:
3 oz Tanquery No 10 Gin
1 oz Dolin Vermouth Dry
4-5 dashes Grapefruit Bitters
Garnish: Grapefruit Twist
Stir and strain into a chilled coupe.