Author: Matthew Arkin

This past weekend, we were fortunate enough to participate in SoNo Fest, held annually in San Diego’s South Park Neighborhood. The event, which features a big chili Cook-Off and a wide array of San Diego’s local breweries, cideries, and kombucha producers, is also a benefit to raise money for McKinley Elementary School. 100% of the festival’s profits go to support the International Baccalaureate Program as well as dance, art, music, Spanish, garden, and ceramic programs at the school in North Park.

This year, Batch 22 partnered with fellow San Diego spirit brand Fierce & Kind to be the exclusive cocktail providers for the event. By the time last call came around, we figure we had served up more than 700 Batch 22 and Fierce & Kind cocktails—everything from Vodka-Cranberrys to Batch & Tonics to Old Fashioneds made with bourbon or Batch.

The event was great fun, and great exposure for our brands, but it also highlighted an important aspect of what we are able to do as spirits producers: Help to raise money and awareness for great causes.

Too often, we’re preoccupied with all the frustrating, time-consuming, nitty gritty details of our daily operations and we forget that there has been a lot of positive change through what we’ve done. Raising money for McKinley was great, as was partnering with our good friends at Fierce & Kind, who dedicate a large part of their business to helping others. Fierce & Kind donates 25% of their profits to a foundation that partners with community-based organizations and provides opportunity through entrepreneurship and mentorship, working to build thriving economic ecosystems one neighborhood at a time. (You can learn more about the Fierce & Kind Foundation at www.fiercenkind.com.)

SoNo Fest was just the last in a series of great fundraisers we’ve been a part of in 2023. Since the beginning of the year, we’ve poured Batch 22 to help raise money for the Jimmy Miller Foundation, which provides Ocean Therapy for people suffering from mental or physical illness, injury, and disability; the San Diego Zoo, South Coast Repertory Theater, The Living Coast Discovery Center, The Los Angeles Arts District, and Spike’s K9 Fund, which provides support for service dogs who have worked in critical roles with first responders and military personnel.

Downtime Cocktails and Batch 22 also continue our ongoing support for charity:water, an international organization that works to provide clean, sustainable drinking water to underdeveloped regions around the world. We encourage you to visit our website or charitywater.org/teams/batch-22 to donate and learn more.

As we look forward to 2024, Downtime Cocktails will continue to take part in as many fundraisers as we can manage. It not only feels good to be able to use our resources to create positive change in the world, it also just feels right.

There are an awful lot of high-octane issues in the news lately. Unfortunately, the world is a very polarized place these days. Although we at Downtime Cocktails always encourage civil political discourse and meaningful debate, big gatherings of friends and family can often lead to highly charged and sometimes hurtful exchanges fueled by politics.
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This (excerpted) article, written in 2022 by Chris Westfall at Forbes, is a well-considered piece that may offer you a roadmap for keeping this year’s debate lively, but not lethal.

Family Matters: How To Avoid Talking Politics Over Thanksgiving Dinner, In 5 Steps ​

One in five voters says political disagreements have hurt their relationships with friends or family, according to a [2022] poll from The New York Times and Sienna College. And in a world where work/life balance is now just life, understanding how to communicate around sensitive political issues can provide vital guidance on how to address touchy subjects at work. Here’s why: Pew Research reports that nearly half of all Americans have stopped talking about politics with someone, as a result of something they said, either in person or online. Not surprising, when 85% of American voters feel misunderstood by voters on the other side. What happens when the “other side” is really just Uncle Tim from Topeka, sharing his polarizing opinions over mashed potatoes and pie? Since rudeness is on the rise, discussion without disagreement just might be the Thanksgiving recipe that every family needs.

Here are 5 ways to keep your Thanksgiving table civil this year:

1. Reframe and Redirect – a simple agreement can help to shift perspectives, and redirect potential conflict. Can we agree not to talk about politics at dinner? Come together as a family and share beforehand that the dinner table is a safe space, and gain agreement so that there’s no misunderstanding. Consider topics that make more sense: what you are grateful for, what you appreciate most in your career and in other people, and what you value (outside of politically-charged issues) most in life. Isn’t there enough to discuss without debating election results for dessert?

2. Keep Calm and Carry On – What happens when Uncle Tim violates the prime directive, and brings politics into the conversation? Robert Carini is a sociologist at the University of Louisville. He suggests that if a friend or relative brings up politics just to get a reaction, remain calm. “One way to win an argument is to make someone lose it,” Carini tells the Louisville Courier-Journal. “Families are way too good at pushing people’s buttons. So don’t let them.” You can always choose how you react, even when your button is pushed. That pause is always possible, even at holiday gatherings.

3. Don’t Try to Win – Suzanne Degges-White, Chair of the Department of Counseling at Northern Illinois University, reminds us that attacking someone’s favorite sports team is not a battle you will ever win. So why try with someone’s political point of view? “You need to keep the conversation only about individual issues,” she says, pointing to an emotional and personal context to frame the conversation. “If you want people to see things from your side you need to connect it to a person’s emotions. For example, with the issue of equal pay for women — people are more likely to connect to the issue if you bring it down to their level. Say something like, ‘Now how would you feel if your daughter worked just as hard as a man in her office but was paid much less?’” Yet an even-handed approach will not guarantee an even-handed response. Dr. Vaile Wright, a researcher at the American Psychological Association, says, “Even if you are the best communicator in the world, you still may not get the outcome you want.” Are you ok with that? How bad do you need to win this one? If your answer is anything other than, “not at all”, pump the brakes on the political convo, and pass the gravy instead.

4. Avoid Labels and Characterizations – When you receive a response to your individually focused questions, avoid labeling the conversation or the response. “I would expect that kind of narrow-minded reply, coming from you,” isn’t going to strengthen your relationship. “Most socialists/uneducated fools/racists/Boomers would respond like that, I see your point.” Yikes – full stop. Remaining neutral is the key, even when confronted with what might seem like outrageous beliefs and viewpoints. Are you there to fix Uncle Tim, or find out more about his point of view? If the answer is the former, and you can’t remain neutral about the latter, it’s time to change the topic of conversation.

5. Curious, Not Furious – Braver Angels is a New York-based organization dedicated to bridging the political divide in this country. Mónica Guzmán, author of I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times, shares in the Braver Angels podcast that curiosity is the key. She says that the political divide has become “a funhouse mirror” – with distortion and exaggeration at its core. “When you are judgmental, you can’t be curious,” she notes, “and when you are curious, you can’t be judgmental.” The only way to navigate these difficult conversations is through a detached spirit of curiosity, where learning is more important than fixing.

Of course, if things do get out of hand, there’s always one surefire to bring everyone’s temperature back down: Crack open a bottle of Batch 22, fill glasses, raise them, and repeat the toast, “Let’s all agree to disagree. Cheers!”

Alright, time for some frivolity.
The holidays are approaching quickly, and soon we’ll all be thrown together with our respective clans to celebrate the season. Alcohol will be a necessity. But so will witty and entertaining conversation about alcohol. To that end, we’ve curated 16 of our favorite “A _____ Walks Into a Bar” jokes for you to have at the ready while sitting at  the Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Christmas table.

Now mind you, these jokes are not what one would consider “good.” We do hope, however, that at least one or two of them will induce a slightly tickled eye roll or a mildly amused “ugghh.” Given our particular business, we’ve christened these one-liners “NeGROANis.”

1. A hamburger walks into a bar and orders a beer. The bartender says, “Sorry, we don’t serve food here.”

2. E-flat walks into a bar. The bartender says, “Sorry, we don’t serve minors.”

3. A priest, a rabbi, and a minister walk into a bar. The bartender says, “What is this, a joke?”

4. A five-dollar bill walks into a bar, and the bartender says, “Sorry, this is a singles bar.”

5. Comic Sans, Helvetica, and Times New Roman walk into a bar.
“Get out!” shouts the bartender. “We don’t serve your type here!”

6. A tennis ball walks into a bar. The bartender says, “Have you been served?”

7. A Roman walks into a bar, holds up two fingers, and says, “Five beers, please.

8. A dictator walks into a bar. He orders everyone around.

9. Three conspiracy theorists walk into a bar. You can’t tell me that’s just a coincidence.

10. An oxymoron walks into a bar. The sound was deafening.

11. A skeleton walks into a bar and says, “I’d like a beer and a mop.”

12. The past, present, and future walk into a bar. It was tense.

13. A dangling participle walks into a bar. Enjoying a cocktail and chatting with the bartender, the evening passes pleasantly.

14. A dyslexic man walks into a bra . . . 

15. A snake walks into a bar. The bartender says, “How the hell did you do that?”

16. The bartender says, “We don’t serve time-travelers in here.” A time-traveler walks into a bar.

As the holidays approach, we inevitably turn our thoughts to the task of gift-giving. With that in mind, as we get into the holiday “spirit,” we thought it would be fun to inspire your gift-giving by starting you off with descriptions of some of the world’s most insanely expensive spirits and outrageously concocted cocktails.
 
Now, bear in mind, there are really two ways to create a crazy expensive drink: You can use expensive ingredients, or you can combine those ingredients with ridiculously expensive items, like cut crystal, diamonds, and gold. We’d like to focus on the former (the pure “cocktails”) but there are some truly nutso examples of the latter, which we just can’t not tell you about.

The most outrageously ostentatious and decidedly decadent bottle of whisky in the world is Isabella’s Islay Whisky, which sells for about $6 million. The liquid contents of this bottle are basically beside the point: The container is an English cut-crystal bottle encrusted with 8,500 diamonds and 300 rubies. You might be thinking, “Why even put anything in bottle at all?” Good question.

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Is $6 million too rich for your blood? Well, for about a third of the cost of an Isabella, you could snag a bottle of Macallan 1926—that goes for about $1.9 million per bottle. This package—by the way—is pretty much just a bottle.
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Not ready to spend millions on your holiday cocktails? No problem. For $10,000, the Ono cocktail at XS Nightclub in Las Vegas includes a pair of gold cufflinks and an 18-karat gold necklace with a black pearl and diamond. Each sip of this drink costs about $1,000; among other things, it’s made with Charles Heidsieck Champagne Charlie 1981 and Rémy Martin’s Louis XIII Black Pearl cognac.

If you go to the heart of London’s Mayfair district, you can find a more affordable cocktail at the Playboy Club. They serve a drink made from 1778 Clos de Griffier Vieux cognac, 1770 Kummel liqueur, Dubb Orange Curacao circa 1860, and two dashes of Angostura bitters from the 1900s. This concoction, known as Salvatore’s Legacy, will only set you back about $7,000. Does that come with a dish of nuts, do you think?

The world’s most expensive cocktail is listed as the Diamonds Are Forever Martini, which costs $22,579 and is served at the top of Tokyo’s tallest hotel, the Ritz Carlton. The martini is a simple mix of Absolut Elyx Vodka, and lime juice. That’s it. Oh, and they garnish it with a $16,000 one-carat diamond. That’s cheating, really. Without the diamond, that cocktail would be a very reasonable $6,579.

For $5,000, you can get a L’Imperial at the bar at the Baccarat Hotel in New York City. It’s a riff on the classic gin cocktail The Last Word, and it uses Green Chartreuse that dates back to the early 1920s. It also uses Nolet Reserve Gin, which goes for $100 per shot, a cherrywood-aged maraschino liqueur ($50 an ounce) and a gold leaf-dipped cherry. All that comes in a diamond-infused Baccarat cocktail glass that is yours to keep once the cocktail is consumed. Again, you’re basically buying a cocktail glass, even though it comes filled with a few ounces of some pretty rare and valuable juice.

The Sapphire Martini they serve at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut used to be a $24 cocktail. At some point, someone decided to put it on the menu with a side of sapphire and diamond earrings. Now it’s $3,000. Served in a traditional martini glass, this Sapphire Martini is made with Bombay Sapphire Gin, Blue Curacao, dry vermouth, and is coated with blue sugar on the rim.
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If you dispense with all the high-end serving vessels and luxury paraphernalia, some expensive cocktails actually just utilize legit expensive ingredients. The Vintage Negroni, served up at bar Maybe Sammy in Sydney Australia, is one of those cocktails. For $110, you can get a super-premium Negroni made with Gordon’s Dry Gin from the 1970s, Campari from the 1970s, and 1960s Carpano Vermouth. Now that’s more within the realm of the reasonable.

Starting around $200 a glass, the Atlas Bar in Singapore will serve you a Vintage Martini, which can be made from a selection of gins that span many decades, from the 1990s all the way back to the early 20th century. The farther back in time the gin goes, the higher the price goes.
 
We hope this little roundup of ridiculously rich beverage fare has amused and inspired you to at least up your cocktail-ingredient game for the holidays. And remember, not all great spirits are outrageously expensive. A bottle of ​Batch 22, after all, is still around $40 or so. (You could buy 150,000 bottles for the price of one diamond-and-ruby encrusted bottle of Isabella Islay Whisky.)

At Downtime Cocktails, we’re not huge fans of black licorice flavors (fennel, anise, licorice root, etc.)—that’s why Batch 22 does not feature them—but we understand that many of you cocktail enthusiasts out there do love a good black licorice blast. And that’s fine. We don’t love you any less. In fact, this week we’re featuring three relatively unknown spirits that are all about the licorice, just to show you how much we care

Raki
 
This clear, anise-forward spirit is made primarily from twice-distilled grapes. It’s known as the national drink of Turkey, but it has a strong following in Greece, Albania, and many other Balkan countries as well.
 
In Turkey, raki is usually consumed with a side glass of chilled water, or it is partly mixed with chilled water, which turns it a translucent milky-white (raki is often called “lion’s milk” in Turkey). Some drinkers prefer to add brown sugar and ice cubes as well.
 
Raki is most often served as an accompaniment to meze (a selection of hot and cold appetizers) or as a pairing with seafood. The founder and first president of Turkey, Mustafa Kamal Ataturk, was a huge raki enthusiast. Evidently, he consumed about half a liter of the stuff each day, which—at an average ABV of about 45%—eventually did him in. He died of cirrhosis of the liver at age 57. 

Arak
 
Like Raki, the popular Middle Eastern and Eastern Mediterranean spirit known as Arak is also a clear, anise-forward alcohol made from grapes and anise seeds.
 
Traditionally, Arak is also consumed with chilled water as an accompaniment, and also turns into a viscous, milky-white liquid when water is mixed in (this is sometimes called the “ouzo effect” but it also happens with absinthe and other spirits). The most common proportion of water to alcohol is one part Arak to two parts water.
 
 Most popular in Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Lebanon, Arak is typically consumed as an aperitif, but can also be found alongside meze dishes and grilled meats.

Pastis
 
This anise-flavored spirit has its origins in France, where the famous alcohol producer Paul Ricard first developed it and commercialized it in 1932. Ricard also created and popularized Pernod, which is very similar to pastis, but with a less-pronounced licorice flavor. Pastis is quite popular throughout France but is especially celebrated in southern regions of the country, particularly in Marseilles.
 
Pastis usually clocks in between 40% and 45% ABV and contains a dose of sugar to balance its strong licorice flavor. Unlike its cousins Raki and Arak, Pastis is made with the addition of licorice root and is most often not clear. Caramel coloring is commonly used to give Pastis its distinct look.
 
It is not unusual for Pastis to be served neat (especially in Marseilles) but many fans enjoy it with some addition of water and/or ice (though ice is not a generally preferred addition). The French adore this spirit as an aperitif and will often have it as an accompaniment to briny olives, nuts, and shellfish and seafood dishes (in fact, many restaurants in Marseilles add a generous slug of Pastis to their bouillabaisse).
 
Among these three anise-centric spirits, you’re likely to find Pastis most often at your local bar or restaurant. It can be used in a number of different cocktails, including a Whisky Sour and a Pastis Spritz, and also in classic French cocktails such as the Perroquet, Le Rourou, and La Tomate.

We at Downtime Cocktails do not condone drinking to excess, but we do love a good drinking story—especially one that involves the creation of cocktails on an epic scale.

One of our favorite cocktail-tales takes place in 1694 in Cadiz, Spain. It was there that British Admiral and Senior Naval Lord Edward Russell hosted a party and oversaw the creation of the largest cocktail ever made.

It seems that Admiral Russell was a bit peeved at the time, as he was the first naval commander in the British fleet who was not allowed to sail his squadron home for the holidays in late autumn. In a fit of pique, Russell decided to throw an enormous bash at an estate in Spain, paid for on the navy’s dime. The party featured 150 different dishes and a huge outdoor garden fountain that was filled with alcohol and served to guests as a punch. How big was this punch cocktail? Well, a boy in a rowboat paddled around the fountain stirring the cocktail as he oared! And bartenders paddled around in canoes, filling up cups for guests. (Evidently the bartenders had to work in 15-minute shifts to avoid being overcome by alcohol fumes and falling overboard.)
 
The fountain concoction was made up of 250 gallons of brandy, 125 gallons of Malaga wine, 1,400 pounds of sugar, 2,500 lemons, 20 gallons of lime juice, and 5 pounds of nutmeg.
 
With more than 400 gallons to drink, Russell’s party continued nonstop for a full eight days, pausing only briefly during rainstorms to erect a silk canopy over the punch to keep it from getting watered down.
 
It’s not surprising that—with a fountain full of alcohol and no limits on consumption by guests—the party eventually devolved into drunken chaos. At some point, one of the guests decided it would be fun to jump into the fountain, which triggered a mad dash by other guests. As one witness recalled, “in went the mob, with their shoes and stockings and all on, and they wanted to turn the boat with the boy over so he might have been drowned in punch.”
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After eight days, the party finally ended. It was only because the fountain had been drunk completely dry.
This holiday season, if you’re inspired to celebrate like an old British Naval Commander, here’s the recipe (downsized!) for Admiral Russell’s punch. If you have a fountain or a swimming pool you want to fill, sorry—you’ll have to do the math yourself.

Admiral Russell Punch

• Ingredients
  • 2.5 Cups Demerara Sugar
  • 1 Cup Boiling Water
  • 18 oz. Strained Lemon Juice
  • 4 oz. Strained Lime Juice
  • 2 Bottles Remy Martin Cognac
  • 18 oz. Sherry or Madeira
  • 1.5 Quarts Cold Water
•  Directions

• Pour the sugar in a punch bowl and add boiling water. Stir to dissolve.
• Mix in the lemon and lime juices and continue to stir more if needed to dissolve all the sugar.
• Add the spirits and stir again.
• Add the cold water and grate nutmeg over the top.
• Garnish with lemon and lime slices.

 
Makes: 18 Cups

Doing fundraisers for causes we support is an important part of who we are. Whether it’s the San Diego Zoo, The Jimmy Miller Foundation, or the L.A. Arts District, we’re eager to have Batch 22 and Downtime Cocktails play a part in the ongoing success of great organizations that do great work.

On Saturday, October 7, Downtime Cocktails was the official spirit sponsor for the annual gala hosted by Spike’s K9 Fund in New York City. High above Manhattan—on the top floor of the Freedom Tower (built on the previous site of the World Trade Towers)—specialty Batch cocktails—custom created for the event—were served to more than 250 guests.

Spike’s K9 Fund’s mission is to provide quality training, care, and protection to both active and retired working dogs under the service of the military, law enforcement, search and rescue, and other public safety organizations.

The organization was founded in 2014 by retired Naval Special Warfare Operator (SEAL) James Hatch, who is also a K9 Handler, Purple Heart recipient, Yale University student, and author of the book Touching the Dragon. During his military service as a K9 handler, Hatch’s life was saved numerous times by his canine partners. On Hatch’s final deployment, a night on which he was critically wounded, a K9 named Remco spared Hatch’s life while losing his own. From that moment forward, Hatch dedicated his life to the training, care, and preservation of working dogs.

To date, Hatch’s fund has helped nearly 2,200 dogs in all 50 states, in part by supplying them with leading-edge custom-fit ballistic vests, heat alarms, critical medical cost assistance, and training support. Most recently, one of Hatch’s K9s, a service dog named Yoda, helped to recapture fugitive Danilo Cavalcante in a weeklong manhunt in Pennsylvania.

The gala at the top of the Freedom Tower offered the perfect opportunity to honor James Hatch, the work he does, and the incredible canines he trains. The four signature cocktails we created spanned the spectrum from boozy riffs on the classics to light and refreshing sippers. One cocktail was designed specifically to honor James Hatch—we call it Down the Hatch (recipe follows). You can find the other three recipes from the gala (Hair of the Dog, Puptail, and K9) at drinkdrinkdrinkbatch22.com.

Down the Hatch

Instructions

• In a shaker with ice combine:

• 1.5 oz. Batch 22
• .5 oz. London Dry Gin
• 1 oz. Sweet Vermouth
• .25 oz. Benedictine
• Angostura bitters
• Orange Bitters
• Shake vigorously to chill and strain into a rocks glass with one large cube. Garnish with an orange peel. 

Vogue magazine says it’s “the best bar in North America.”

The highly regarded website, World’s50Best Bars.com, ranks it #22 in the world.

And yet, when you go to the address listed online, there’s no sign outside to tell you that you’re in the right place. Just a simple “AB” and some instructions on a metal door.

The “AB” stands for “Attaboy,” widely regarded as one of New York’s coolest and most influential watering holes—indeed, it is lauded by many as one of the best on the planet.

Attaboy is a true New York bar; it likes doing things its own way. They don’t take reservations. They only admit parties of six or less. They don’t have menus. Their website is a landing page with an address and a phone number. You wanna know more? See you at 134 Eldridge Street.

Inside, Attaboy’s cozy speakeasy space (28 seats) is all about the cocktails. The whole place is run on the “dealer’s choice” system. Patrons tell the bartenders the kind of cocktail they feel like drinking and—after a certain exchange of ideas—the bartenders go to work.

If you’ve read any of our other bar profiles in this series—Harry’s New York Bar, American Bar at The Savoy, El Floridita—you may have noted that each of those iconic places is steeped in a culture of elegance and exclusivity that gives them a unique status, makes them famous, and gives them great visibility. Attaboy, on the other hand, is small, dark, and hidden. It embraces the speakeasy ethic of operating under the radar, accessible only to the cognoscenti. This distinct lack of outward marketing and exposure is exactly what has fueled Attaboy’s diehard and cultish following.

Attaboy is not without its vaunted history. The space used to house Milk & Honey, another giant in the cocktail world. Previous owner Sasha Petraske was an industry legend. She opened in 1999 and is credited with bringing the speakeasy-centric reverence for the art of the cocktail back into vogue. Milk & Honey was the first bar in the modern cocktail revival to forgo menus—it put the art of mixology front and center and let the creativity and skill of its bartenders take flight.

And take flight it did. Two of Petraske’s protégés—Sam Ross and Michael McIlroy—co-owners of Attaboy—are credited with creating some of the revival’s most enduring classics. Ross invented the Penicillin (Scotch, lemon juice, and ginger-honey syrup) and the Paper Plane (bourbon, Italian orange bitters, amaro, and lemon juice) at Attaboy. And McIlroy invented his celebrated Manhattan variation, the Greenpoint (rye, Chartreuse, vermouth) within these walls as well.

Other iconic bars around the world have created classic, enduring, signature cocktails—and have played host to high society and celebrities of all kinds. Attaboy, however, has built its unique reputation—not by shining the spotlight on who’s sitting at the bar—but rather by shining it on the talented artisans behind it; dedicated pros who shake and stir some of the world’s most creative and interesting cocktails.

It’s easy to fall into a familiar routine when it comes to cocktails, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. A favorite cocktail can provide a welcome treat at the end of a long day, it can provide the social lubricant that enables a connection with someone else, or it can help to mark a special occasion. Once in a while, however, it’s nice to break out of the routine and work to expand your repertoire by tasting some unfamiliar things.
 
Our “United Nations of Cocktails” series highlights the national drinks and spirits of countries from around the world, and—in doing that—we hope to inspire your curiosity and creativity when it comes to making your own cocktails at home or ordering them while out.
 
Some of the spirits we describe will probably sound familiar; others will be totally new. No matter what the spirit or drink is, it is likely used in each country to create a cocktail that is both unique and reflective of a wonderful culture.
 
Venezuela
 
Rum is the national spirit of Venezuela, and a special rum punch called Guarapita is the unofficial national cocktail of the country. This sweet, fruity punch is typically the first alcoholic drink a young Venezuelan imbibes as part of their rite of passage to adulthood.

Guarapita

Ingredients

• 1 (750ml) bottle of rum (Venezuelan: Santa Teresa Añejo)
• 1 liter of passion fruit juice
• 1 liter of orange juice
• 1 ½ cups of grenadine
• 8 limes, each cut into 8 pieces
• Spearmint leaves

​Directions

• Mix all the liquid ingredients in a large punch bowl with lots of ice. Squeeze the lime sections for juice and then toss the pieces into the bowl. To serve, pour punch into a cup or glass, and garnish with a few pieces of slapped spearmint.

Brazil

Brazil’s national cocktail is the Caipirinha, which is made with Brazil’s national spirit cachaça (also known as pinga or caninha), a sugarcane-based liquor. A classic Caipirinha is made by muddling fresh limes and sugar together, then adding the liquor.  Cachaça can be used in cocktails with a wide variety of other spirits, including gin, tequila, rye whiskey, and cognac, but it’s most often used as an ingredient in fruity, tropical concoctions.

Cachaça, which has been made in Brazil for hundreds of years, is similar to rum in that its base is sugarcane, but it has a flavor all its own. Most rums are distilled from molasses, which is a byproduct of sugarcane processing. Cachaça, on the other hand, is distilled from the fermented juice of sugar cane. This important difference yields a spirit that is distinctly funky and grassy. These unique flavors make the Caipirinha stand out among sweet-and-sour cocktails.
 
The Caipirinha and its spirit base cachaça were relatively unknown outside Brazil for centuries. In recent decades, however, the cocktail and the spirit have become much more popular and more widely available, in large part due to the rising availability of first-rate brands of cachaça outside Brazil.

Caipirinha

Ingredients

• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 ounces cachaça
• Garnish: lime wheel

​Directions

• In a double rocks glass, muddle the lime wedges and the sugar. Fill the glass with ice, add the cachaça, and stir briefly. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Kenya
 
Dawa (which means “medicine” or “magic potion” in Swahili) is the national drink of Kenya, even though it does not utilize the indigenous alcohol called Changaa, which is a popular spirit most Kenyans brew at home.
 
The Dawa is a light refreshing citrusy cocktail that goes down exceptionally well in the African heat. The classic recipe is made with vodka, but, of course, we think it’s even better with Batch 22! Kenyans are traditionally enthusiastic beekeepers, so the addition of honey in the recipe is not only delicious, it’s also very fitting.

Dawa

Ingredients

• 1 tsp. Brown sugar
• 1 Lime, quartered
• 2 oz. Vodka (or Batch 22)
• 1 tsp. Honey

Directions 

Muddle the four wedges of lime with the sugar in a rocks glass. Add vodka/Batch and top with crushed ice.  Stir in the honey (the traditional method is to use a thick stick or wooden stirrer, but a spoon works just fine) to the desired sweetness level and remove stirrer. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Here’s our second installment covering lesser-known spirits and ingredients that you might want to get acquainted with. Some of them are best sipped on their own, but most of them will add a unique and interesting flavor to a mixed cocktail. Regardless of your creative intentions, we recommend sipping each one straight before considering how you want to use it in a recipe.

Feni
This spirit from India comes in two main varieties: cashew and coconut. Cashew feni, made from fermenting the juice of cashew apples, is produced in a series of steps that include pressing the fruit for its juice, transferring that juice to a large pot (traditionally an earthen container that is buried in the ground), and leaving the pot for three days while the juice begins fermentation. After fermentation, the liquid is triple distilled until it becomes a spirit of about 45% ABV.
 
Coconut feni is produced in a procedure similar to that of cashew feni. For this variety, the sap (toddy) of coconut tree flowers is collected and fermented in a pot for three days before it is double distilled for a final result of about 42% ABV.

Cashew feni is generally described as having a pungent fruity aroma (think guava) with flavor notes of apple, pear, and jackfruit. Coconut feni is more acidic and vinegar-like on the nose, with tart flavors of coconut.
 
Traditionally, feni is enjoyed neat or over ice, but it is becoming increasingly popular as a mixer in cocktails, especially with fruit juices.

Pisco
Produced in the winemaking regions of Chile and Peru, pisco has become one of the fastest-growing spirits in recent years. Pisco is akin to wine in that it is made from distilling fermented grape juice to a clear, high-proof type of brandy. Although Chile and Peru both produce vast amounts of pisco, the styles and flavors of the spirit from each country are very different.
 
Chilean pisco is made primarily from Muscatel grapes, which are sweet and aromatic. Multiple distillations can take place before the spirit is aged in wooden barrels—typically new American oak or new French oak. Although regulations allow Chilean pisco to reach a maximum of 50% ABV, most finished products come in around 30% to 40%. 

Peruvian pisco is produced with eight indigenous grape varieties, four aromatic ones and four non-aromatic ones. Peruvian pisco is generally clear, colorless, and more subtly aromatic. After a single distillation, it rests for a minimum of three months before being bottled at 38%-48% ABV.
 
Pisco is divived into three categories: Pisco puro is made from a single grape varietal, pisco acholado is made from a blend of grapes as well as a blend of grape musts (juices), fermented musts, and finished piscos. Pisco mosto verde is made from partially fermented musts; they contain higher residual sugar and tend to exhibit more toasted and honey notes than the other piscos.
 
Pisco sours are all the rage at cocktail bars these days, but there are many other ways to enjoy this warming, silky, sweet spirit. It’s a versatile ingredient in cocktails and can be used like a brandy or a tequila in any recipe.

Mama Juana
Similar to a sweet red port, this spirit from the Dominican Republic is traditionally made with a mix of red wine, rum, honey, tree bark, and herbs and spices.
 
Mama Juana has a long history that goes back to before the days of Columbus, when the Taino blended this particular mix of spices and herbs for a medicinal tea. When the Europeans arrived, they added alcohol to the tea and created what is essentially Mama Juana today.
 
To make the spirit, a mixture of tree bark and herbs is left to soak in rum, red wine, and honey. The herbs and spices often include star anise, basil, clove, and cinnamon. Some common variations will also add raisins, molassess, strawberries, and citrus.
 
The most common way to consume Mama Juana is straight up, as a shot, but use as a cocktail mixer is growing rapidly in cocktail bars and Latin-themed restaurants.
 
We developed a great Batch cocktail recipe with Mama Juana that tastes like a 70 proof, adult version of Coca-Cola. It’s simple and super delicious:
 
Batch 22 Cola

 Instructions

• In a rocks glass with ice, mix:
• 1 oz. Batch 22
• 2 oz.  Mama Juana (we like Candela)
• 1 oz. Soda
• Stir with, and garnish with, thick lemon peel twist.

Next installment of What Is That Ingredient?:  Van Oosten Batavia Arrack,
Chareau, Palinka