The Spinner

COCKTAIL INGREDIENTS:
- 30 ml Mead Nectar “Suktinis”
- 15 ml London Dry Gin
- 22,5 ml Fresh Lemon Juice
- 22,5 ml Rose Hip Syrup
- 200 ml Hot Water

GARNISH:
- Dehydrated Orange Wheel
- Dried Rose Bud
- Cinnamon Stick

INSTRUCTIONS:
• Combine all of the ingredients in a heat proof glass.
• Stir to combine.
• Top with hot water.
• Drop in the cinnamon stick.
• Garnish with a dehydrated orange wheel and a dried rose bud.

With the cold winter weather settling in, one turns more and more often to a cup of hot tea. I decided to do one better and start a little series of hot winter cocktails, as a boozy alternative. The first cocktail of the series is The Spinner.

Cocktail is built around Lithuanian Mead Nectar “Suktinis”, which is named after a folk dance roughly translating as “spinner”. Hence the name of the cocktail – The Spinner. Mead Nectar brings a lot of booze (ABV 50%), honey sweetness and subtle fruitiness/herbaceousness to the cocktail such as notes of black currant and poplar. To further emphasize juniper notes of the nectar I added a touch of London dry gin, just enough to make the juniper pop out of the background to be noticeable, but not overtake other subtleties. For fresh tartness I chose bright lemon juice balanced with some delicious floral rose hip syrup. Top that with some hot water for dilution and you have yourself a tasty drink for a cold dark winter evening.

To be honest, it is quite surprising for me, that warm cocktails is not a bigger thing than it is. Perhaps, because cocktails are often associated with the tropics, where hot cocktail is the last thing you want. However, with enough careful thought put into it and correct timing a hot cocktail might be exactly the thing you need.