There are several things you should allow yourself to do during this cold and soggy holiday month. You should allow yourself a weight gain of three to five pounds. You should wear Bill Cosby-style sweaters [1] and nothing else. (Okay, put on some socks. And pants. Jeez.) And above all, no matter how resolute a gin, bourbon or beer drinker you may be, you should put the hardcore stuff aside and have one of the sweet (and, in many cases, hot) holiday cocktails that are currently being mixed at some of your favorite local bars and restaurants.
Hip downtown wine bar The Local Vine [1] is offering Visions of Sugarplums, a one-of-a-kind treat that's fatty-packed with great-tasting stuff: juniper berries, cloves and vanilla-bean champagne, mixed with gewürztraminer (an aromatic German wine) and plumped cranberries.
You can always depend on the W Hotel Bar [1] to throw a curveball, and this year they've cooked up a nice, healthy-sounding Hot Nuts: Courvoisier, Tawny port and Nocello walnut liqueur, served nice and toasty. (Grapes! Walnuts! That's almost two food groups.)
Tini Bigs [1] takes "toasty" up a couple degrees with its Spanish Tini, "basically a Spanish coffee in a martini glass," says Tini Bigs mixologist Patrick Haight. The bartender sets it aflame to caramelize the nutmeg and cinnamon on the rim of the glass.
Equally distinctive is the Raspberry Truffle at the Tap House Grill [1]. With its blend of Young's Chocolate Stout Beer and Lindeman's Framboise, the Truffle bridges the gulf between the rough-and-tumble beer drinker and those with an impressive collection of cocktail umbrellas.
Perhaps you crave something sweeter still. The Georgian [1]'s master bartender, Michael Vezzoni, doesn't call his holiday beverages "cocktails"; they're "drinkable desserts," and you are powerless to resist them. I'm keen to try the Banana Split (banana liqueur, Kahlúa, cream and pineapple juice) and the Oreo Cookie (layers of Kahlúa, crème de cacao, Bailey's and vodka). However, it's Vezzoni's Key Lime Pie -- vanilla vodka, Licor 43, lime juice and cream -- that's jumped off the menu, crawled into my head and commenced screaming: "Drink several of me!"
By now you're probably slipping into a sympathetic food coma, so I'll just run through a few more of the sweet libations you could be enjoying tonight.
Elliott's Oyster House [1] has a Crème Brulee Martini (Navan vanilla cognac, Captain Morgan spiced rum and an ice cream base) and a pretty darned appealing Hot Brandy Alexander (Hennessy and Godiva chocolate liqueur, mixed with steamed milk).
The Metropolitan Grill [1]'s White Chocolate Café, with its half-ounce of Starbucks Cream Liqueur, half-ounce of Godiva White Chocolate liqueur and layers of white chocolate syrup and fresh coffee, transcends dessert and becomes a meal.
Ditto Union Square Grill [1]'s Gingerbread Cookie (Captain Morgan, Bailey's, gingerbread syrup and half-and-half) -- which, by the by, is served in a glass with a graham-cracker-crust rim.
Finally, we come to the Fireside Room at the Sorrento Hotel [1], where you can enjoy a Drunk Monk (Frangelico, Baileys, coffee, and whipped cream) or a French Lace Martini (Stoli Vanilla, Frangelico, Chambord and cream) while relaxing in deep leather armchairs in front of a roaring fireplace.
For the more traditional tippler, many local lounges serve hot drinks during the cold months, and a few of them are worth crossing town for. The Irish Coffee at the Old Pequliar [1], concocted from Powers Irish whiskey, Saint Brendan's Irish Cream liqueur, heavy cream and hot java, is well worth a trek to Ballard. Capitol Hill's Bleu Bistro [1] assembles a delicious Big, Bad Blueberry Tea from the blueberry-free trio of Grand Marnier, Amaretto and Earl Grey.
West Seattle's snazzy West 5 [1] offers an entire menu of "warmers" that includes the Coffee Nudge, a winning blend of hot coffee (Caffé Vita!), E & J Brandy, Kahlúa, chocolate liqueur and fresh whipped cream; the bar's dynamite take on hot buttered rum, the two-rums-strong Northwest Passage; and a good old Spanish Coffee, which derives its potent kick from brandy and Tía María.
Libations like these make winter more bearable, and I promise you that you'll enjoy them even more if you're wearing a Cosby sweater.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
