Make no mistake: Old Man Winter still believes in corporal punishment. All cold-weather animals have a way of coping. Birds skip town. Bears go to sleep in a cave. Fish probably freeze to death, but I don't know. We humans go skiing, have sex and drink lots of booze -- not bad options considering you could be building a dam with a muskrat in an icy river.
It's the booze that concerns us here. Certainly a glass of Scotch or some alcohol in your coffee will get you through, but it's a long season and you'll want some options. We took a look at some classic warm cocktails you may be familiar with -- gluhwein, spiked cider, hot buttered rum, the unfortunately named hot toddy -- and then asked our friends in the cocktail business and at restaurants in the chilly Northeast to give us their versions.
The U.S. doesn't have much of a mulled wine tradition, but Germans have been drinking it for more than 500 years. During the winter you'll find gluhwein at every holiday market and in pretty much any major city square. (They have the advantage of more relaxed open container laws.) Cobble the basic version together with red wine, cinnamon sticks, vanilla pods, cloves, star anise, citrus, and some sugar, and heat it up.
Julie Reiner, the cocktail guru behind a handful of NYC spots (Flatiron Lounge, Pegu Club, Clover Club, Lani Kai), showed us this recipe for a wine-based punch that's also fortified with Campari and orange liqueur. It's richer and more complex than your run-of-the-mill gluwein.
Read more: http:// www .askmen . com /fine_living/galleries/warm-cocktails.html#ixzz1jh1ED47p
