Slap that sage: Milk Street's Cinnamon-Smoked Whiskey Sour

About a decade ago, we got into making cocktails. Like, really into it. We used to go out to bars in Spokane and hopefully but pointlessly ask for things that no one in our Redbull-loving city carried yet, like Fernet Branca, Cynar, genever, Aperol, Punt e Mes, St. Germaine, Luxardo and other assorted specialty gins and whiskies. When we traveled to Seattle or San Francisco, we sought out fancy cocktails and places to purchase these bottles and ended up with a really weird collection of booze over the years. Joel and I introduced friends to Aperol spritzes, capped off dinner parties with decadent layered shots, and collected descriptions of peoples' first tastes and impressions (mostly levels of disgust) of Fernet. With time, Spokane caught up a little with the opening of places like Bon Bon, Clover, Casper Fry and Durkins. We, in the meantime, joined a wine club and changed the focus of our drink snobbery. Mixing drinks is a rare occasion now and has mostly morphed into simple (or lazy, in my case) concoctions based on what we have in the house, no more than two ingredients, and often, just Maker's Mark or Fernet on ice. Our current joy is a little glass of vermouth on the rocks.

But this was New Year's Eve 2018, and I just received a recipe for Cinnamon-Smoked Whiskey Sours in an email from Milk Street. The ingredients were simple enough to procure on a moment's notice, and we had most of them except for the citrus. And the smoked cinnamon provided me an opportunity to light something on fire. I felt the spirit of 2010 - i.e., my enthusiasm for mixed beverages - working its way back into my soul. Part of the reason this spirit ever existed at all is because Joel is the actual cocktail maker. He's great at it. I make up the accompanying snack board. And, as the case may be, I light the cinnamon.

We sipped these while watching a slideshow of our photos from 2018, and I was filled with all sorts of nostalgia. It was a good ending to a year.

I'm sure this beverage would be great without the smoked cinnamon, but don't shortchange yourself. It really is a simple enhancement that goes a long way and makes things feel more festive.


Cinnamon-Smoked Whiskey Sour for Two
adapted from Milk Street

4 oz. bourbon
1 oz. maple syrup
1 oz. lime juice
3 oz. grapefruit juice
1/2 oz. orange juice, plus 2 strips of orange zest
4 fresh sage leaves
2 cinnamon sticks

Light one end of a cinnamon stick so it briefly catches on fire, then as it extinguishes, place it on a heatproof surface and cover it with your cocktail glass to catch the smoke. Do this with the second stick and glass.

Mix all the liquids in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake vigorously for about 15 seconds.

Take a moment to smell how good the cinnamon smoke is when you lift up the glasses. The cinnamon sticks can now be discarded, or perhaps you can use the other ends for future drinks.

Double strain the shaker liquid into the glasses. Garnish with orange zest. Slap the sage leaves and drop into the cocktails.

Enjoy.