Buvare: The Tart in Tartan

I've never spent a winter in Scotland, though I imagine it would be spent fireside sipping something strong. This smoky and tart holiday cocktail is all about the pull. Best to give in and let it do its thing.

The Tart in Tartan

1 oz Laphroaig Islay Scotch whisky
1 oz Irish whisky
1 oz Cranberry Shrub (recipe here)
1/2 oz lemon juice

Combine ingredients over ice and shake. Strain into a tumbler over one large fresh ice cube. Express oil from a lemon peel and garnish. Sit back and enjoy slowly.

Recettes Secrètes: Cranberry Shrub

Shrubs are all the rage, yet making them couldn't be easier. This fresh cranberry shrub syrup is festive and delicious simply mixed with sparkling water or in a cocktail.
Keep your loved ones current!

      Cranberry Shrub

1 cup water
1 cup fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar
3/4 cups red wine vinegar
peel of one lemon

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat, stir, cover and steep for 20 minutes. Press berries gently with the back of a wooden spoon to release juices. Strain through fine mesh and store in the refrigerator (or can for gift-friendly shelf stability).

Printable gift tag:

Buvare: Kask

When you have a hit on your hands, what comes next? For the folks at Grüner, the answer is open a badass, invitingly-pretentious downtown cocktail room around the corner.
Enter Kask. The kids love it. The product is immaculate. The space is... a mining den? Whatever, it's adorable. You'll love it.

Judah is a man about town. He knew the pretty bartender. He ordered off-menu. He asked for a Gunsmoke and she broke out the big matches.

After a few minutes smoking his inverted bucket glass, she filled it with Rittenhouse Rye, Gran Classico, Combier Rouge, bitters and burnt orange. It smelled like heaven. A burned-out, destitute version of heaven, anyway. Deeelicious.

I was wooed by the exotic odd-man-out on the menu, the High Desert Swizzle. This summer slow-burner paired Del Maguey Vida mezcal with strawberry shrub, lime, and demerara sugar. At first smoky with a vinegar punch, it finished fruity-bright and mellowly sweet. Dangerously addictive. And not unlike an agave-spiked Strawberry Kiwi Mister Misty (that's a good thing).

I was impressed with Kask, the sexiest drinking den in downtown Portland yet. Even if the chairs are borrowed from a kindergarten classroom, they bring us all that little bit closer...

1215 SW Alder St. Portland, OR 97205
grunerpdx.com/kask