Tag: drinks

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Cottage Life

What the heck is fungus wine? It might be your new go-to cottage sip

Photo by evryka/Shutterstock

What’s the perfect accompaniment to wine? In a certain corner of Bordeaux, France, the answer might surprise you. It’s a fungus!

Fungus isn’t exactly welcome with most grapes, but when it comes to botrytis wines, it’s a very good thing. Botrytis (also known as the “noble rot”) is a fungus that works wonders on thin-skinned white grapes (like sémillon, sauvignon blanc, and muscadelle), concentrating their sugars and developing a rich flavour. Once you try them, they may just be your favourite cottage sip.

Where do botrytis wines come from?

Nearly all of the world’s botrytis wines come from Bordeaux thanks to one thing: geography. Conditions are perfect for a hazy damp mist to linger around the riverbanks, inviting the fungus to reproduce.

Botrytis wines are often called Sauternes, after the region where they are commonly produced in Bordeaux, but you can also find them in Cadillac, Cerons, Loupiac, and many others.

What makes them so special?

Few wines are so labour-intensive to produce. Vines are handpicked several times during the harvest season.

Ian Carswell, the chef and owner of Black Tartan Kitchen in Carleton Place, Ont., knows firsthand what this hard work means. He harvested these grapes while working in France. “It was such a meticulous and time-consuming process. Every single cluster of grapes had to be inspected for the proper type of grey mould and any individual grapes that didn’t fit the bill were discarded.”

What do botrytis wines taste like?

Common tasting notes include honey, acacia blossoms, dried fruits, candied fruits, citrus fruits, typical fruits, and toasted sugar.

Carswell offers the following advice for those drinking botrytis wines for the first time: “There are a lot of preconceptions out there that all ‘sweet wines’ are syrupy and simple…botrytis wines offer a lot more complexity than most sweet wines and are often fruitier and more floral on the nose.”

Why cottagers will love them

Botrytis wines are almost always sold in half-sized bottles, so anyone who’s trying them for the first time doesn’t have to worry about investing in a pricey full bottle. Cottagers will also love that botrytis wines will easily keep in your fridge for two weeks when open (and possibly longer)—you can open a bottle this weekend and sip on it again next week…and even the week after that.

How should you drink botrytis wines?

Botrytis wines pair beautifully with sharp, spicy, and buttery foods. Think of them as the sweet component you need to balance a complex plate.

Carswell has some specific recommendations for cottage chefs. “The balance of sweetness and acidity in a good botrytis wine makes it very versatile with any white poultry, fish, or shellfish dishes. Fresh caught bass, perch, or pickerel, simply seared with butter and lemon would make a lovely pairing beside the smoke of a campfire. Chicken with rich, cream-based sauces in pastas or casseroles also pairs quite well if you are feeding a larger crowd at the cottage. It may be a bit contentious and not too common in cottage country, but speaking as a chef, I would be remiss not to mention that foie gras and Sauternes are very good friends!”

Where can you find them?

The LCBO carries botrytis wines. Some bottles to look for include Castelnau de Suduiraut 2015 ($26.95), Lieutenant de Sigalas Rabaud Sauternes 2009 ($20.95), and Château Rieussec Sauternes 2016 ($49.00—gorgeous now, but worth saving for the next 15 or so years if you can stand the wait).

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Categories
Cottage Life

Serve up a Cherry Manhattan

Photo by Evgeny Karandaev/Shutterstock

This delightful Cherry Manhattan is a favourite at Amy Rosen’s cottage. Created by her sister-in-law, Deborah Cohen, it is a festive crowd-pleaser.

Cherry Manhattan

These stirred Cherry Manhattans are delightful. Best enjoyed by the lake at sunset.

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Course Drinks

Servings 1 serving

Ingredients

  

  • 2 oz bourbon
  • ¾ oz sweet vermouth
  • ¼ tsp cherry liqueur such as Luxardo
  • Homemade maraschino cherry see recipe, below or storebought

Instructions

 

  • To a chilled cocktail mixing glass, add a few ice cubes, bourbon, vermouth, and cherry liqueur.
  • Gently stir, strain into a lowball glass, and garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Notes

Homemade Maraschino Cherries

Boil 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup sugar in a pot for three to four minutes. Remove from heat. Add 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice, and 1/2 cup maraschino cherry liqueur. Put 1 cup cherries (washed and pitted) in a Mason jar, and add liquid. Once cool, cover and refrigerate for at least three days. They will keep for a month in the fridge.

Keyword Amy Rosen, bourbon, Cherry Manhattan, Deborah Cohen, Drinks, Manhattan, maraschino cherry, vermouth
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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4 non-alcoholic swaps for your favourite cocktails

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Categories
Cottage Life

35th anniversary celebration: CL founder Al Zikovitz’s infamous martini recipe

Photo by Al Zikovitz

No Cottage Life party is complete without a martini made by founder Al Zikovitz—it’ll get the party started, if you catch our drift. Make your own, and raise a glass to 35 years with us! (CL will not be held responsible for behaviour under the influence of Al’s martini.)

Pour
Tanqueray, straight up with a twist, very cold, very dry. No vermouth. Add to a shaker with lots of ice (then double what you added, because that’s how Al rolls).

Mix
Shake until your hands freeze. Pour into a martini glass, then squeeze the zest from a fresh lemon peel until you can see the oil floating on the gin. Rub the peel on the rim. (“When you bring the martini up to your mouth, you’ll want the enjoy the aroma too,” says Al.)

Drink
“I normally enjoy one down at the dock around sunset.”

Party
“For over 20 years, we’ve hosted an annual party. The first year, I made less than 10 martinis for our guests. In 2019, I served up close to four litres.”

Categories
Cottage Life

7 (other) Canadian cocktails to try

By Cabeca de Marmore/Shutterstock

Move over, Caesar! These seven cocktails have Canadian roots too.

Moose Milk

The Canadian navy, army, and air force all claim to have invented this one. The milkshake-like concoction includes rum, coffee liqueur, ice cream, and maple syrup, plus nutmeg and cinnamon. Huh. It’s possible that we’d rather drink actual milk from a moose, but sure.

Get the recipe.

The Caribou

Combine red wine, rye whiskey, and maple syrup for this sweet take on mulled wine. The drink allegedly originated from an old fur-trapper’s drink that mixed whiskey with caribou blood. Well, desperate times call for…something desperately disgusting, apparently.

Get the recipe.

The B-52

A bartender in Banff, Alta., named Peter Fich created this cocktail in the late ’70s. He named the drink—a layered cocktail containing coffee liqueur, orange liqueur, and Irish Cream—after a New Wave band from the state of Georgia. He concocted all kinds of drinks, all named after his favourite bands, but the B-52 was the only one that became popular.

Get the recipe.

The Raymond Massey

The who? Raymond Massey was a Canadian actor most well-known for playing Abraham Lincoln—he portrayed the man in multiple plays and movies, including Abe Lincoln in Illinois, for which he received an Oscar nomination. The drink is a mix of whiskey and ginger syrup topped with champagne and garnished with lemon peel.

Get the recipe.

The Angry Canadian

Another drink that includes maple syrup, the Angry Canadian is a twist on the Old Fashioned, invented in 2013. It’s a combination of whiskey, bitters, club soda, and, of course, the syrup, which replaces the sugar in a traditional Old Fashioned. Why is it angry? Unclear. Maybe if you drink too many you get riled up.

Get the recipe.

The Donald Sutherland

If you don’t know who Donald Sutherland is, you have no business calling yourself Canadian. Just kidding. But also: watch Six Degrees of Separation. Or Outbreak. Or The Italian Job. Or…tons of other movies. Sutherland is apparently a fan of rye whiskey—this twist on a Rusty Nail includes the spirit.

Get the recipe.

The Sourtoe Cocktail

Okay, so maybe “cocktail” is a misnomer, since this drink, invented in Dawson City, Yukon, is just a shot of whiskey. Oh, with the addition of a preserved human toe. Allegedly, in the ’70s, someone found a jar containing a human toe in a remote Yukon cabin—the toe was left there by a pair of brothers, one of whom had frostbite, so the toe had to come off. And be put in a jar. Obviously. And then the jar-finder decided to make a drink that involved the toe. Because…? Well, Robert Service did say that “there are strange things done in the midnight sun,” so we’ll just go with that.

There is no recipe. It’s whiskey. And a toe.

Categories
Cottage Life

Icewine 101: what goes into each glass of ‘liquid gold’

Photo by Chris Cramer Photography/Shutterstock

In wine-loving circles, Canadian icewine is known as “liquid gold.” The nickname isn’t just a reference to the golden hue that many icewines are known for. Rather, it’s a reflection of just how magnificent this specialty wine really is.

While stories about frost-filled harvests date back to ancient Roman times, Canadian icewine has only been around for 50 years, first appearing in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley and later in Ontario’s Niagara-on-the-Lake. Today, Niagara produces more icewine than anywhere in the world—and Ontario residents are the envy of oenophiles everywhere. Here’s what goes into each glass of liquid gold.

What is icewine and how is it made?

A lot of rough work goes into this sweet wine. Harvest can only take place when the temperature drops to -8°C. By pressing the grapes while they’re still frozen, the grape juice is released, but the icy water crystals stay with the fruit pulp. The result is an intensely concentrated juice unlike any other used in winemaking.

Red grapes for ice wine on the vine in winter conditions and snow
Photo by KarepaStock/Shutterstock

How much does it cost?

Even when Mother Nature cooperates, making icewine can test the fortitude of even the most experienced winemaker. It takes between three to three and a half kgs of grapes to make a single 375-ml bottle of icewine. Grapes are sometimes damaged, diseased, or pilfered by birds long before harvest time. As such, you can expect to pay between $8 to $12 (for 50 ml) and $50 to $100 (for 375 ml).

Which grapes are used to make icewine?

While Riesling and Vidal varietals are the leading choices for icewine, there’s no single go-to grape. Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot are all employed in the process. As you might imagine, the resulting “liquid gold” might range from pale yellow to a lively pink! 

What do you drink it with?

There’s no right or wrong way to enjoy icewine. Consider it a counterweight to rich, buttery foods like cheese and foie gras. Allow it to round out bitter mouthfuls, like a peppery arugula salad with toasted nuts. And consider enjoying it alongside sharp flavours like strong mustards, rich curries, and fiery chilli peppers.

Who makes the best icewine in Canada?

There are close to 100 icewine producers in Canada. In Ontario, some notable producers include Niagara’s Inniskillin, which uses Vidal, Riesling, Gewürztraminer, and Cabernet Franc grapes. They also make sparkling icewine. 

Another big name is Jackson-Triggs, one of the oldest and largest Niagara wineries. It’s a pioneer in promoting Canadian wines, and they make icewine with Vidal, Gewürztraminer, and Cabernet Franc grapes.

Trius Winery has Cabernet Franc, Riesling, and Vidal icewines available at their Niagara estate. They also sell a “late harvest” wine, which refers to wine made from the second pressing of icewine grapes. The result is a delicious but less sweet product.

Strewn Winery, located in a renovated 1940s fruit cannery, produces Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Vidal icewine. They offer three different tasting bars at their Niagara-on-the-Lake winery.

Categories
Cottage Life

Chicken Bones, the beloved Maritimes treat, is making its way into your cocktails

Photo by Moonshine Creek Distillery

When most people think about chicken bones, a simmering pot of broth probably comes to mind. But for anyone with a connection to Canada’s Maritime provinces, Chicken Bones are the ultimate wintertime treat. 

First introduced by New Brunswick’s Ganong confectioners in 1885, Chicken Bones are a spicy cinnamon hard candy with a thin chocolate centre. The small pink rectangular treats bear a passing resemblance to their namesake, provided you have a bit of imagination.

 

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No East Coast Christmas table is complete without a cut glass bowl of this candy for snacking and occasionally stirring into hot chocolate. The team at Ganong also suggests adding them to raspberry cheesecake bites and sticky popcorn balls. But another company has come up with a modern twist on this old-fashioned flavour: a liqueur.

Chicken Bones Liqueur is the brainchild of New Brunswick’s Moonshine Creek Distillery. They introduced the candy-inspired spirit (which isn’t affiliated with Ganong) in late 2019 and to say it made a splash would be an understatement—New Brunswickers queued for hours just to get their hands on it. This year, bottles of Chicken Bones Liqueur are making their way across Canada. In fact, you might be offered a dram the next time you visit your cottage neighbours.

Here’s how to enjoy it: it’s lovely in any drink where you’d add a nip or two of Baileys, such as your morning coffee or late-night cocoa. And while it’s a dairy-free product, the spirit is perfect in creamy drinks. “My absolute favourite way to enjoy the Chicken Bones Liqueur is in eggnog. It’s perfect in its simplicity for the holiday season,” says Jeremiah Clark, CEO of Moonshine Creek.

Chicken Bones Liqueur is also very much at home in any recipe that relies on creme de cacao.  According to Jeremiah, a Brandy Alexander is particularly nice when made with Chicken Bones. He suggests a ratio of two ounces of aged brandy, one ounce of Chicken Bones, and one ounce of half-and-half cream. For an extra frothy treat, shake the ingredients without ice and top off the drink with some freshly grated nutmeg. 

However, for those who prefer things a little less creamy, the distillery’s “Dressed To Impress” cocktail will hit a refreshing note. It combines Chicken Bones Liqueur with blood orange juice, egg white, simple syrup, and other spirits for a brunch-friendly libation that would easily convince your friends to help you repair the dock and stain the deck.