Let’s Get Blitzen: Cocktail Advent Calendar – Day 18 – All Aglow. Every holiday (Zoom) party needs a sparkling number. Ring in the season with tinny Christmas music coming through your computer speakers and this perfect cocktail.
Raise a glass to the fact that you’re not trapped beside the weird guy from accounting for three hours at your office holiday party as you shovel another rubber chicken dinner into your mouth.
The All Aglow features apple brandy, lemon, both cinnamon and vanilla syrups, a dash of bitters, topped off with sparkling rosé. It’s a great welcome cocktail – welcome to your living room, that is.
Let’s take a moment to reflect on all the things we can be grateful for in this most bizarre Christmas season of all.
- You don’t have to eat dry turkey. Make yourself a gigantic bowl of spaghetti carbonara or order a double cheeseburger. You’re the master of your own culinary destiny.
- You don’t have to wear real pants. As you’re stuffing your face with whatever you damn well please, you don’t have to worry about sitting uncomfortably at the dining room table as the waistband of your dress pants or party dress digs into the food baby growing in your stomach.
- You don’t have to make small talk. No more being trapped in a corner talking to Uncle Ed the COVID denier.
- No more bad wine. Everyone has someone in their extended family or a friend of the family who makes their own home brew and bottles it with obnoxious labels with holiday puns that only they think are hilarious. This year, treat yourself to the good wine.
- You have more time to undertake that ambitious baking project you’ve been meaning to try for years. Bûche De Noël, anyone?
- You can prioritize the people who matter most. Without a frenetic schedule of party-hopping, you can set aside time for the ones you cherish most – FaceTime while making brunch together or have a Zoom cocktail party with your nearest and dearest (send them the recipe for the All Aglow to make spirits extra bright).
What are you grateful for in this weird holiday season?
All Aglow
- 1 ½ oz Calvados apple brandy
- ½ oz lemon juice
- ¼ oz cinnamon syrup
- ¼ oz vanilla syrup
- 1 dash Angostura bitters
- Sparkling rosé
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
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Shake all ingredients (except the sparkling rosé) over ice until well-chilled.
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Strain into a champagne flute. Top with sparkling rosé.
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Combine sugar, water, and cinnamon sticks in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let sit at room temperature overnight.
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Remove cinnamon sticks and store syrup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three weeks.
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Combine sugar, water, and vanilla in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.Store syrup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
