Let's Get Acquainted With The Farmer!
Welcome to my blog. I’m the Craft Cocktailer, otherwise known as Paulina. I love making cocktails, and I especially love sourcing my ingredients locally from friends and family in the Ottawa area. I believe the closer to home, the better.
It’s a beautiful time of year and I’m excited to be working with fun, seasonal ingredients. For my first concoction, I’ve drawn inspiration from one of the simplest and oldest cocktail recipes in the book: the Old-Fashioned. Traditionally, the Old-Fashioned is comprised of bourbon or whisky, simple syrup (sugar), and Angostura bitters, then garnished with an orange wheel or a cherry. It's kind of boring, right? Let’s spice it up a bit—literally—with spiced whiskey. It has so much flavour, there’s no need for the bitters. Here’s what I’ll be playing with today:
(Left to Right) Maple Syrup, Free range Eggs, Spicebox Whisky, Pumpkin Purée
1. Spicebox Canadian Spiced Whisky, produced and bottled in Montreal.
"Spicebox was inspired by crafty Canadian entrepreneurs who would smuggle contraband cargo in wooden barrels marked 'SPICES'. They knew it was the perfect camouflage and that the aromatic spices would infuse the Whisky with delicious flavors, creating something extraordinary."
2. Fresh pumpkin purée made with pumpkins from Foster Family Farm in North Gower.
3. Maple syrup from Ronald & Diana Coutts in Perth.
4. Free-range eggs from the Chicken Lady in Oak Valley.
Thanks to my community grocer—the B&H—my hunt for local produce and ingredients was quick and easy. They’re also a great place to visit for organic food.
If you ever go to Kemptville, about a half hour south of Ottawa, be sure to visit the Kemptville Farmers' Market. It's located in the B&H parking lot at 200 Sanders Street and runs every Sunday from mid-May to October 30th, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. You'll make new friends with local farmers and crafters, and get to hear some awesome live music as well. You might even run into me there!
Here’s my recipe for the Farmer’s Old Fashioned:
In a martini shaker, add:
2-3 ice cubes
2 oz. spiced whisky
.5 oz. maple syrup
1 teaspoon of pumpkin puree
Shake vigorously and strain into a rocks glass.
Beat 1 egg white until frothy and layer it on top.
Garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon or a cinnamon stick.
Enjoy! :)
The Final Product!
This is my fiance, Carey. He isn't a farmer, but he sure loves whisky...
Paulina Grace Hrebacka
Paulina is an aspiring writer with an interest in philosophy, cultural criticism, journalism, and creative non-fiction. She also enjoys music, film, photography, and astronomy. On a good day, you might find her eating pizza and enjoying an amber ale, or listening to very loud music while driving too fast. She is a true lover of life.