The Llar of the Warsaw cocktail bar, in Gijón.
If it's not one pandemic the one that leaves us well protected at home, is the snowfall of the century . We are having to live the unthinkable. Seems like it was yesterday when we sold out flour and toilet paper in the supermarket for today, once again tripping over the same stone.
It was almost a year ago when the sun began to pass through our windows to fill us with longing for the street, the one that we could not step on and that snatched us from jealousy when thinking of everything that could be on a terrace... and never was. Today, in full swing of the month of January, what you have to do is stay at home or, if the streets allow it, cautiously approach our favorite bar to chat about, surprise surprise, the weather.
The polar cold and the icy streets are what this time encourage us to investigate in the bar (metaphorically speaking, since we still cannot lie down on them) and at home, within the bowels of the universe of hot cocktails . A little explored section in our country beyond its mixes with coffee –that carajillo or queimada that is not lacking– and that is now emerging as a good option to see the beginning of the thaw. That is why we turn to the owners of the cocktail bars 1862 Dry Bar (Madrid), Warsaw (Gijón), Café Madrid and Santos y Desamparados (Madrid) , seeking answers about how these concoctions are made and where they come from.
In Europe the mulled wine, or mulled wine , has always been the norm when referring to alcoholic beverages served at high temperatures. A mixture – of wine, sugar or honey, spices, fruits and nuts; as well as liqueurs such as brandy – which in Spain does not fully penetrate but little by little is becoming strong. He did it last December in the Arzábal food truck in the Azca car park in the English Court, and in the middle Neighborhood of the letters , in the cocktail bar Saints and Forsaken . There, Anxo, one of the house mixologists, prepares it with a mixture of red wine, whisky, lapang tea syrup, cloves and orange (plus a secret ingredient that is kept up its sleeve), bringing it closer to the Spanish tradition by adding a Sherry wine such as amontillado. "The mulled wines or glühwein they originate in Europe (Austria and Germany), where they are eaten during the Christian Advent, which coincides with the cold months of November and December", explains Alberto Villaroel, owner of the bar.
borja curtain , owner of the Warsaw cocktail bar in Gijón, bets on hot preparations with cocktails such as the cry . "The llar is the hearth, the fire and the light of the traditional asturian cuisine , the hook under the fireplace where everything was cooked. Where it was stewed", he tells us about the name of a recipe that starts from a hot cider , something that is not used to seeing in Asturian lands.
The cocktail maker explains that when setting up a hot cocktail , you have to take into account the type of distilled that is going to be used, since "many are very aggressive and can be abrasive on the nose. Generally, the content of the distillate is usually low... or it is diluted with water," he explains.
"One of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak... this traditional rhyme helps to balance any drink (hot or cold)," he adds. Alberto Martinez , from Madrid-based cocktail bar 1862 Dry Bar. "Something sour and something sweet, something strong (the distillate) and something light (water or hot tea). With that in mind, you just have to play around until you get your taste right," he concludes .
The Llar of the Warsaw cocktail bar, in Gijón.
The grog that they drank sailors to get warm he prepared himself with water, lime and honey , for instance. "Pure hot alcohol knocks you down because it goes straight into your blood, that's why it's important to dilute it beforehand," continues the Asturian cocktail maker. with El Llar, Curtain uses Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Soul of Trabanco (cider vermouth) and a cider that he spices himself. "We make it with fruit, cloves, cinnamon, a little star anise and Jamaican pepper. citrus part we integrate it with orange and lemon peel. In this case we also add dehydrated fruits, such as dried apricots". Then, they vacuum pack the mixture and let the Roner machine do its magic (at home it can be done in a bain-marie without boiling the water, at about 60 °C and for almost two hours).
The origin of hot cocktails reveals that it all started with them in the cocktail bar. "Cold cocktails came later, let's remember that before there was no ice as a local product", explains Cortina. "The hot cocktails (or in general, the drinks) are so old like punches (mixture of water, citrus, tea or spices, distillate and sugar) ", adds Alberto Martínez. Among those strikeouts, there are preparations such as Pope –with brandy or rum, oranges and red wine (a good burgundy used to be the norm)–, The Cardinal –with spiced wine syrup and champagne– or The bishop –drunk at the end of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, and made with spiced, orange-infused Port.
"You have to think that in the old days (until mid 19th century ) there was no access to ice and the running water was not drinkable , so it was more common to lower the power of the spirit of the punches with hot tea , basically because by boiling the water you can drink it safely. We have to go back to the time when the great European powers colonized the indies and they brought the spices and the tea from there to find its origin".
the hot toddy
According to Cortina, the grog is probably one of the hot cocktails oldest in existence , born from the need of the english sailors (under the command of Admiral Edward Vernon) to warm up and have a supply of vitamin C through the lime that, without them knowing it, helped keep them strong against the scurvy . All this mixed with the ration of rum that they were given and a part of honey. "So they could drink the fresh water they had on the boat," he continues. This is how almost all hot cocktails are born as a medicinal drink designed to combat colds and low temperatures, an automatic dilator that helps to sweat and kill constipation. "My grandmother, for example, used to make us a 'burnt' , with** milk, sugar, lemon and brandy**... pure remedies of popular culture", concludes Cortina with a laugh.
The hot toddy is another of those universal recipes within the world of hot alcoholic beverages, published for the first time in the book 1862 Bartender's Guide by Jerry Thomas . Brandy, white sugar, and hot water were its ingredients back then, modified in modern times to compose a concoction made up of whiskey –or whiskey–, hot water, citrus, honey and spices.
"The toddies (whiskey, honey and lemon with hot water) are traditionally drunk in Scotland and Ireland . There are legends for all tastes to decipher where it comes from, such as the doctor Robert Bentley Todd –which prescribed it with brandy, white cinnamon, sugar syrup and water– or that of the Tod's Well spring in Edinburgh – the place where the pubs got their water. Most likely, the origin also comes from the mixture between the whisk(e)y from Ireland and Scotland with spices and teas from the Indies", continues Martínez, unraveling the history of the hot cocktail that is currently being served in his cocktail bar.
The Blue Blazer is another of the cocktails that fit into the category of toddies –made with whisky, water, sugar and lime as decoration–, although in a more elaborate way. So much that it involves a good flare of fire . "This cocktail is made with two metal jugs –one in each hand– that are mixed with a live flame," Julio de la Torre, from Café Madrid and the Santamaría cocktail bar, tells us about its preparation.
Dangerous? Much. Easy to do? No way. Although he and his team have found a way to transform it to include it in his letter under the name of Berry Blazer , with fruity notes and with an ideal alcohol base for cold drinks, such as brandy. "This cocktail came about in 2012 while he was working in a cocktail bar in London," he explains. It evokes the Blue Blazer because it is Burned although this time it does not have whiskey. The Hot water added that carries the original we use it in the Berry Blazer to put out the flame . It burns, yes, but while the Blue Blazer is made with those two metal jugs, we make it directly in the glass," he concludes.
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'EL LLAR' RECIPE / (Borja Cortina, Warsaw)
Ingredients:
- 15 cl of spiced cider
- 1 cl of Alma de Trabanco (cider vermouth)
- 3cl Buffalo Trace Bourbon
For the spiced cider:
- 700 ml of natural cider
- 5 cl of agave syrup
- 1 cinnamon stick (5cm)
- 6 cloves
- 6 Jamaican pepper berries
- 3 orange twist
- 3 lemon twist
- 2 dried apricots
Vacuum all ingredients and put in a bain-marie or Roner for two hours at a temperature of 50 °C . Filter and store in the fridge. Serve all the ingredients in a scotch jug and heat in the steamer of the coffee maker. Decorate with apple.
'BERRY BLAZER' RECIPE / (Julio de la Torre, Café Madrid)
- 1 lump of brown sugar
- 2 raspberries
- 2 strawberries
- 5 cl of brandy
- 2 cl of cherry liqueur
- 1 cl of orange liqueur
We introduce everything in a balloon glass (of brandy) and place it over a glass with hot water so that the heat of the fire inside the glass does not break it. We introduce the ingredients and with a match we ignite the content . Then stir with a long spoon until the sugar dissolves and pour it into a Martini or coupette glass that is not cold.