Café Snowday

Sometimes a cocktail is born out of necessity and availability. We were snowed in recently and took stock of our bar to find an excess of Honey Chai syrup, whiskey, and Caffè Amaro liqueur. This cocktail is oh-so-smooth and the perfect balance of bitter and sweet.

Yield: 1 cocktail

Ingredients

For the cocktail:

• 1 oz. bonded bourbon whiskey (such as Wild Turkey or Old Granddad Bonded)

• 1 oz. Caffè Amaro*

• 0.75 oz. Honey Chai syrup**

• 0.75 oz. heavy cream

• 1 cinnamon stick (for grating and garnish) or few dashes of ground cinnamon (for garnish)

• Stirrer & Pint Glass

• Strainer

For the Honey Chai Syrup:

• 1 cup water

• 4 bags chai tea

• 1 cup honey

Instructions

For the Honey Chai Syrup:

Bring the water to a boil and steep the tea bags for about 6 minutes. Remove the tea bags and stir in the honey. Transfer the mixture to an air-tight container and store in the fridge up to three weeks. Shake well before using.

For the Cocktail:

Combine the whiskey, Caffè Amaro, honey chai syrup, and heavy cream in a shaker or pint glass. Top with ice and stir for about 20 seconds. Strain into a cocktail glass to serve up, or strain into a cocktail glass prepared with fresh ice. Grate a bit of cinnamon over the top for garnish.

Notes

*If you can’t find the Caffè Amaro liqueur, you can substitute in Kahlua coffee liqueur. The Kahlua liqueur is much sweeter, however, so we would suggest adding a few dashes of Angostura bitters along with it before stirring.

**The Honey Chai syrup is the same that is used for the Chai Daiquiri and Jeff’s Cure-Me-Up-Toddy, so you can prep this ingredient once and enjoy thrice!