Let’s Get Blitzen: Cocktail Advent Calendar – Day 1 – Pear Noël. We’ve finally arrived, December 1st and the beginning of 24 days of craft cocktails to make spirits bright this holiday season, when we need it most. Be sure to join me on my Instagram story nightly at 5 p.m. Eastern as I shake up each of these cocktails from today until Christmas Day!
This post is sponsored by Georgian Bay Spirit Co.
I wanted to begin the series with an easy-drinking delight featuring one of the best vodkas on the market – crafted in small batches right here in Ontario. Georgian Bay Vodka is a unique blend of two-row malted barley vodka and corn-based vodka.
It’s unique notes of cereal, spice, and vanilla work in perfect harmony with the pear juice, cinnamon syrup, and citrus I’ve used in this Pear Noël recipe.
Georgian Bay Vodka was recognized as one of the top ten vodkas in the world by Forbes magazine in late August. Priced at $34.95 at the LCBO, Georgian Bay Vodka is the definition of affordable luxury – I cannot recommend this spirit highly enough.
I love using pear juice for festive cocktails because pears are in season in December and it’s a great alternative to the more expected choice of apple cider.
Pear juice is also well-suited to mulled cocktails, like this Mulled Pear and Icewine Punch recipe I whipped up for the 2019 edition of the Let’s Get Blitzen: Cocktail Advent Calendar.
As I often say on my Virtual Happy Hour series on Instagram, it’s about participation, not perfection. If you don’t have the Mister Bitters Fig & Cinnamon Bitters I recommend in this recipe, don’t hesitate to swap it out for a different baking spice bitters like cardamom or just use an aromatic bitters like Angostura.
And rest assured, your cinnamon syrup isn’t going to go to waste. I’ve oriented the entire 2020 Let’s Get Blitzen: Cocktail Advent Calendar around four simple syrups that will be used throughout the month – this cinnamon syrup is an essential building block for many tasty tipples in the calendar. You can still get your free copy of the eBook with all the recipes so you can see what’s coming up next and plan ahead!
Cheers!
Pear Noël
- 2 oz Georgian Bay Vodka
- 1 oz pear juice
- ½ oz lemon juice
- ¾ oz cinnamon syrup
- 5 dashes Mister Bitters Fig & Cinnamon bitters
- Garnish: pear fan
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 cinnamon sticks
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Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake over ice until well-chilled.
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Strain into a chilled coupe glass.
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Garnish with pear fan skewered on a cocktail pick.
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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.
Yay! It’s December and that means a cocktail a day with Yvonne. I love this series and am looking forward to seeing what you mix up.
Lovely drink !
Pear, cinnamon, vodka – sounds like an amazing combo for the holiday season! I love it that you have planned the cocktail recipes such that the syrups can be used in more than one recipe!
Cocktail advent calendar, what a fun idea!
Do you need the bitters? What does it add?
Hi Kendra, you can live without the bitters or swap for a more readily available option like Angostura aromatic bitters. Generally speaking, I describe bitters as the spice rack of your home bar. A couple dashes go a long way to achieving a balanced cocktail, in the same way that salt and pepper help round out a dish!