Cocktail of the Week

    Week of November 9 2020/Vampira's Attic Cocktail

IG Reference @mydigitalkitchen
We're closing out the season of Halloween officially this week (I know, we're sad too), with this festive cocktail brought to you by Valeria Azinge at My Digital Kitchen. This cocktail was created in tribute to Maila Nurmi, who played the legendary sultry Vampira in the 1950's. Halloween cocktails are so much fun to us here at Cc-Kit because it gives our bartenders room to truly express their creative freedom. We're highlighting Vampira's Attic Cocktail as #1 this week because of the elements of smoke, vibrance, and of course fright factor. 
Before we spook you out...
    
Check out this dope recipe below! 
  • Black Vodka
  • Lemon Juice
  • Grape Juice
  • Club Soda
  • Dry Ice
  • Blackberry Garnish

Week of November 16 2020/Lit Mai Tai

We miss tiki bars and going on vacation, so this cocktail of the week is in honor of recreating the experience at home. Jon & Siobhan over at Subtle Tiki say they dished out this dope mix after "of course carefully reviewing our renters insurance policy, researching fire safety, and practicing our stop, drop & roll technique." Cc-Kit is highlighting this craft as #1 this week because of the unique ingredients they chose to incorporate in this classic Mai Tai as well as the skill level in the flaming garnish. Looks delicious too!
   
Check out the flaming recipe below!
  • 2oz Rum
  • 1/2oz Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao
  • 1/2oz Orgeat
  • 3/4oz Lime Juice
  • Garnish: Flaming Lime Shell

Week of November 23 2020/Ghost Swizzle

We know it's the week of thanksgiving, and you're probably thinking that we're about to reveal a holiday themed cocktail. Yeah.... not this week! We've decided to spice it up a bit considering we really went all out last month for halloween. Tequila for whatever reason has been our go-to this past month. Seems like quarantine has us all trying new things! This week's cocktail is brought to you by Massimo Zitti over at @thirsty_dreamer. We saw this review on @boozedossier and we couldn't help ourselves but to share it. It's nice to see a swizzle cocktail every now and then as opposed to everything being thrown in a shaker and violently joggled. While mezcal isn't for everyone-most of my friends hate it, we know there are special people out there who appreciate the acquired tasting liquor. The reason this Ghost Swizzle gets our attention this week is because of the unique and awfully odd, but well pairing ingredients used in their recipe. Tomatoes? Aquavit? Bet you'd never guess. The detail on the glassware, respect to the environment with a metal reusable straw, and the ginger paper wrap that served as not only presentation but comfort! Just beautiful. Make sure you follow them for more great craft cocktail content. 
   
Check out this distinctive recipe below!
  • 1.5oz Tequila Blanco
  • 0.25oz Agua Santa Mezcal
  • 0.25oz Aquavit
  • 1.0z Ghost Lemon Juice (Clarified Lemon Juice)
  • 1/8oz Lacto-Fermented Tomatoes
  • 0.5oz Salted Lavender Flower Honey
  • Dash of Mother TNT Tincture (Red Eye Chillies + Scottish Bonnet)

Week of December 14 2020/Mulled Wine

Brought to you by a mixologist at @cocktailinparadise this week is a hot wine cocktail. Created in Turkey, and aside from our regular weekly reviews, this unique drink is a twist of something more elegant per-say. Traditionally we love how this is a winter cocktail brought to life. Right now more than anything I think we all want to feel the warmth and be surrounded by comfort as we come to the final days of the year. Mulled wine, or spiced wine, is usually made with red wine and spices and served warm. We really appreciated the earthy elements this mixologist chose to represent the spice elegantly. Bay leaves, cinnamon, orange peel. Pay attention to the flavor elements, the array of contrasts and similarities. This is a beautiful merge of taste! Perfect for the holidays and warming your loved ones hearts.

Check out this recipe below:
•70cl any Red Wine
•1/2 diced Sweet Apple
•1/2 Lemon Peel
•1/2 Orange Peel
•2-3 Cinnamon Sprigs
•5-6 Cloves
•2Tbs Brown Sugar
•1-2 Bay Leave
•Boil on Low 15Mins
•Enjoy Over Ice

Week of January 4 2021/No Resolution

Happy New Year! Whew, 2020 couldn't have gone by fast enough. We're bringing in the new year with this mystical cocktail named "No Resolution" by @veermasterberlin over at Veermaster Cocktails in Germany! Presentation, presentation, presentation. All of the details remind us of natural elements. Since we've been highlighting responsible sourcing and organic produce, this cocktail takes cocktail of the week! Flowers were a beautiful touch and play on nature, the gin portrayed the perfect blue sky, and the gold brought out the elements of earth. We'll let the beauty of this cocktail speak for itself this week. Did you have a new years resolution? Ours was more tequila!
    
Check out this recipe below:
  • Tanqueray Flor De Sevilla Gin
  • Homemade Lychee Rose Syrup
  • Coconut Water
  • Lime Juice
  • Angostura Orange Bitters
  • Blue Spirulina 
  • Add all ingredients in a shaker
  • Double Stain
  • Yarrow Flower, Nasturtium, Gold Dust Garnish

Week of January 11 2021/Snowmelon

How's your new year been so far? We've all silently tip-toed into 2021 making sure not to touch anything on the way in! This cocktail of the week should give you something to look forward to, as it's refreshing and highly satisfying. Brenton at Toronto Bars (Canada) from @cheerstohappyhour on IG made this really interesting milk punch. At first glance, this is definitely a "don't judge a book by it's cover" type of cocktail. Milk? Who would've thought! Well, we taste tested this one because we were so intrigued and it was really good! This cocktail takes cocktail of the week because of the creativity and expression through texture and shape. An interactive drink appeals to any audience or customer. The balls you see here are frozen melon balls, and they not only enhanced the flavors of the gin in the drink, but they were fun and delicious to chew on throughout every few sips! There were an array of flavors that paired perfectly with one another that even our mixologists wouldn't have thought of! If you'd like to try it out, it can be batched punch style too! Cheers!
   
Check out this recipe below:
  • 1 Cup London Dry Gin
  • 5oz Melon Liqueur
  • 5oz Mint Liqueur
  • 5oz Lime Juice
  • 5.75oz Half and Half Milk
  • Frozen Melon Balls
  • Refer to IG post for Method

Week of January 18 2021/Breezes and Lightning

 Hey everyone! Hows the weather been where you are lately? Us, you ask? Cold. But we're thinking warm! Cocktail of the week is a super easy/breezy refresher that's simple (and tasty) enough for all of us to try at home. It's called Breezes and Lightning. Matthias at @servedbysoberon on IG crafted this really neat looking drink by @pretendbartender with elderflower and ginger syrup. If you're not familiar with cocktail syrups, ooh baby those are a perfect match! With a little grapefruit bitters and fresh squeezed lemon juice, this just might be the diamond of refreshers. If we were to put a little Cc-Kit touch on this drink, a splash of club soda would make us feel like we're in our beach chair again. This drink takes cocktail of the week because of its quick craft time and earthy (organic) elements. Wanna give this a try? 
   
Check out this recipe below:
  • 50Ml Blind Tiger Gin
  • 20Ml Lemon Juice
  • 15Ml Elderflower Syrup
  • 15Ml Ginger Syrup
  • 2 Dashes Grapefruit Bitters

 Week of January 25 2021/Sassy Souther Sipper

We love chocolate. Like we realllllly love chocolate! And we're taking a step away from the massive amounts of Gin that we've recommended over the past couple of weeks. This week's cocktail of the week is brought to you by Kelly Sparks over at @queenbeemixology (IG). She talks about how she really loves the chocolate and peanut butter pair and well... who doesn't? We decided to SIP this one out and try it ourselves just because of the fascination we have with her ingredients. Unlike other whiskey's, this one is peanut butter flavored! If we had to rate this cocktail, honestly we'd give it a 10/10. The whiskey wasn't too pungent, we actually tasted the peanut butter, and there was a chocolate orange slice. So cool! We liked the cute little twist on the classic old fashioned with the orange bitters as well. Just like Kelly says, peanut butter and chocolate... I'm in heaven! Want to check out this sweet and sassy sipper?

  

Check out this recipe below:

  • 2oz. Peanut Butter Flavored Whiskey
  • Dash of Orange Bitters
  • Dash of Aztec Chocolate Bitters
  • 0.25oz. Simple Syrup
  • Juice from half an Orange
  • Garnish: Orange Chocolate/Orange Slice

Week of February 1 2021/Symphony of Elements

Can we just take a moment to appreciate this cocktail? Honestly, a moment of silence please. This COTW is named Symphony of Elements, brought to you by @grigoriy_kornov, a mixologist and author in Moscow! For this cocktail he decided to prove empirically how there's nothing more eternal or attractive than the confrontation of water and fire. Does algae and spicy cinnamon infused vodka sound like something you've ever heard before? How about Kvass (like kambucha) and ginger with chia seeds soaked in hot chili syrup? Unique is an understatement. Well, this mixologist combined all of these ingredients together and as a result got a harmony of flavors, spicy and refreshing. A fun fact about these ingredients: Chia grows high in the mountains of Central America, Fucus Algae grows at the bottom of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Together they create a duet. Aside from the fact that this cocktail is LIT, the elements are so far from what our taste buds can imagine. Another thing to consider is how hard it is to light an entire cocktail glass on fire, safely. Shoutout to the photographer on this one! It's hands down the most unique we've ever reviewed. Aren't you curious? 

   

  Check out this recipe below:

  • Seaweed Fucus infused Beluga Transatlantic Racing Vodka 
  • Fresh Ginger
  • Lemon Juice
  • Cinnamon Syrup
  • Coniferous Kvass
  • Garnish: Radish and Chia Seeds soaked in Chili syrup

Week of February 15 2021/Rush

@Fiftymils in Mexico City was named after the 50ml jiggers that bartenders are notorious for using to measure out cocktails. It's also a very glamorous styled bar with luxury sofa's and a seven meter long marble bar! Can you guess where it's located? Inside the Four Seasons Hotel Mexico City! Their team of mixologists, composed by @alvaro.garcia_cw , @_joshua_monaghan_ and @oshfran came up with this extremely unique cocktail concept! We can't really see what's inside the cocktail or how it looks from the photo alone, so this week's cocktail of the week is completely inspired by the glassware! The name of this piece is "Rush", and the glass is a sack shaped chilled glass. Very different from what we normally see on the cocktail bar, we feel like if this ever came to our table we'd be blown away by the presentation alone. It also leaves so many questions, how is it standing up straight, how was the glass made, and is every glass unique in shape? Intriguing! We hope this inspires all of our mixologists to continue to step outside of the box and deliver that presentation! Now, for inside the glass...

 

Check out this recipe below:

  • Home-made root beer
  • Lemon juice
  • Raspberry
  • Cardamom coulis
  • Garnish: Lemon zest

 

Week of April 05 2021/Gin Basil Smash

 

Since the creation of the cucumber basil gimlet, we've had such a fascination with all cocktails basil related. The flavor profiles that come with the garnish are so refreshing when paired with liquor and the right additives. This week's Cocktail of the Week highlight is brought to you by Alan (@alan_home_bartender_) in France! The Gin Basil Smash isn't a new cocktail, however there are so many unique renditions of it that make every sip feel new. Alan says "Probably the cocktail I served the most in my life. Four ingredients, a very fresh and original cocktail, a magnificent color, and I don't know anyone who doesn't like this cocktail." For us it's the color and the aroma that fresh basil gives off. The placement of Alan's garnish was also very technical... the balance! Shaken and strained over a clear ice cube intentionally to prevent the ice from diluting the drink. We all know that basil pairs very elegantly with lemon or lime, and Alan beautifully represented this cocktail with fresh lemon juice as well as an acacia honey syrup. Whether it's with gin or vodka we highly recommend hitting the garden to incorporate some of that fresh basil into your next drink! Rather often it's the simplest of ingredients that make the most phenomenal cocktails. 

 

Check out this recipe below:

  • 50Ml Gin Citadelle Original Dry @citadellegin
  • 20ML Fresh Lemon Juice
  • 20ML Acacia Honey Syrup
  • 7 Basil Leaves