Fresh Winter Cocktails With Vermont Spirits 

Spice Trade Gin & Tonic

Aaron Wisniewski, Alice & the Magician Cocktail Apothecary, Burlington

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• Matthew Thorsen
• Aaron Wisniewski

"I just tried this [Snowdrop] gin from Saxtons River Distillery last week. It's a really aromatic product, which I, of course, really like. It's made with this vacuum distillation process, so some of the aromas that might normally get boiled off are really there and fresh and prominent. It's a very American-style gin — very light on the juniper. But it's unique in that a lot of those other ginger-and-spice botanicals that are usually in the background are very much in the forefront.

"We've been making this amazing drink — it's like if you left Vermont and traveled across the road to Thailand, stopping in various places and picking up an ingredient at each stop along the way, this is what you'd get. It's so fragrant and green and complex and balanced."

Ingredients

• 1 ½ ounces Saxtons River Distillery Snowdrop Gin
• ¼ ounce fresh lime juice
• ¼ ounce simple syrup
• 3 drops Alice & the Magician Southeast Asian Flavor Elixir
• Fever Tree tonic water
• 2 mists Alice & the Magician Kaffir Lime aromatic mist
• 1 sprig Thai basil

Preparation

• Pour the gin, lime, simple syrup and Southeast Asian Flavor Elixir into a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake until chilled. Strain into an ice-filled tiki mug or a rocks glass and top with tonic water. Spray aromatic mist on the surface of the drink and garnish with Thai basil.

Elma Mela

Sydney Stockman, Pizzeria Verità, Burlington

"This drink was on our autumn cocktail menu. It was really, really popular, and it's really easy to make. It has several ingredients, but none of it is super complicated. We garnish it with a dehydrated apple slice; we get ours at Trader Joe's, but they're easy to find anywhere, and they float really well on top of the cocktail."

Ingredients

• 1 ounce Stonecutter Spirits Heritage Cask Whiskey
• ½ ounce Vecchio Amaro del Capo liqueur
• ½ ounce Carpano Antica Formula sweet vermouth
• 1 ½ ounces fresh apple cider
• ½ ounce lemon juice
• 3 slices raw ginger
• 1 dehydrated apple slice

Preparation

• Place the first six ingredients, including the ginger, in a cocktail shaker. Muddle briefly, then shake with ice. Strain into a coupe and garnish with the dehydrated apple slice.

Snow Day Cider

Celia Savoie, the Bearded Frog, Shelburne

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• Hannah Palmer Egan
• Snow Day Cider

"Appalachian Gap Distillery's Fractal Vodka is one of my personal favorite new spirits — I love this vodka. It's on shelves now, but it's so brand-new that they're doing a release at Hen of the Wood on February 16. It's a little different in that it's got a hint of sweetness to it, this almost-banana note. It's really great to mix with. I'm changing my cocktail menu this week, so this drink will go [up] on Thursday [January 26]."

Ingredients

• 2 ounces Appalachian Gap Distillery Fractal Vodka
• ½ ounce lemon juice
• 2 ounces mulled cider*
• Sap! Maple soda
• Star anise for garnish

*For the mulled cider:

• In a saucepan over medium heat, reduce fresh apple cider with cloves, cinnamon and fresh ginger to taste. For one quart of cider, start with 1/2 teaspoon of each spice and a similar amount of sliced or grated ginger; add more until you like the flavor. Pour into a mason jar, seal and refrigerate for up to 10 days.

Preparation

• Mix vodka, lemon and mulled cider. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice and top with Sap! Maple soda. Garnish with star anise. Editor's note: Or try crystallized ginger!