DRINK

Goosecup’s day menu features coffee drinks made from beans roasted in-house. Below: Ahad and Zaara Raza.

Goosecup’s Caught in the Rain clarified cocktail.

DOUBLE FUN AT GOOSECUP

This Leesburg outpost serves both coffee and craft cocktails.

WHEN ZAARA AND AHAD RAZA moved home to Virginia from Texas, they went searching for the coffee and craft cocktail bars they’d enjoyed in Austin. Coming up empty-handed, the couple decided to open their own. At Goosecup Coffee and Craft Cocktails in Leesburg, the Razas roast their own coffee and have now expanded their food and cocktail offerings. Here, one of Goosecup’s signature recipes, Caught in the Rain, a “clarified” take on the Pina Colada.

What are clarified cocktails? The process involves batching a citrus cocktail with milk and allowing the mixture to curdle, which separates the ingredients, stripping away color, cloudiness, and bite. The technique dates back to the 18th century, when liquors were often harsh-tasting and refrigeration was scarce. Once separated, the drink is fine-strained through a chinois lined with a coffee filter, resulting in a crystal clear, shelf-stable cocktail.

Here’s how they do it at Goosecup:

CAUGHT IN THE RAIN

In a large container, combine: 10oz Plantation Pineapple Rum 10oz Smith + Cross Jamaican Rum 2.5oz Arak (a traditional Lebanese spirit consisting of grape alcohol and anise) 10oz House Seven Spices Coconut Cream 7.5oz Fresh Lime Juice 10oz Fresh Pineapple Juice Add that mixture to a container with 6oz of whole milk and allow to sit refrigerated overnight. Strain the mixture through a coffee filter-lined chinois. For clearest results, pass through the filter a second time. Bottle your clarified cocktail and enjoy. —By Constance Costas

Horton Vineyards’s TitforTat dry red. STEAMPUNK SIPPING

A passion for sci-fi informs Caitlyn Horton’s Gears and Lace wines.

WINEMAKERS LOVE DREAMING UP SPECIAL BLENDS to please their own palates. For Caitlyn Horton, the result is Gears and Lace, a line of steampunk-themed wines with names drawn from Victorian-era slang. The inspired theme earned Horton, the daughter of Horton Vineyard founders Dennis and Sharon Horton, a feature in Sci-Fi magazine.

“Everything I learned about winemaking was on the job,” Horton says. “There was no formal education.” But at 27, she’s a quick study. Her sparkling red, sold under the name Knott and Shuttles (a lacemaking reference) is a personal favorite. “Sparkling reds are out there, but they’re underappreciated,” she notes. “People who don’t love reds, love this,” she says. It’s even attracted committed beer drinkers—an achievement for any winemaker.

Her port-style dessert wine, Bone Orchard (2013), is fortified with brandy. After six years of barrel aging, it debuted in 2019, earning 95 points from The National Wine Review along with glowing praise: “It ranks among the finest port-style wines produced in Virginia.”

“When we open a bottle for a tasting,” Horton acknowledges, “there’s always a fight over who gets to take the leftovers home.”

Bone Orchard also came out a winner among our 2021 Made in Virginia entries. Find out more in our special section in this issue. HortonWine.com —By C.C.

SPIRITED SIPS

Craft cocktails and wine, all with the convenience of a can.

BIARRITZ. TANGIER. CHARLESTON. Alluring destinations, yes, but also the artfully composed flavor profiles of Colony Cocktails’ three canned wine creations. Philip and Jessica Miller developed the line, inspired by their travels. “We loved how food and drink had the ability to pull people together from different backgrounds and even languages,” says Jessica. Based in Middleburg, the Millers are “cocktail enthusiasts seeking that well-balanced and flavor-forward drink,” says Jessica, and aim to “give people a craft cocktail experience with the convenience of a can.”

The Millers encourage customers to find the cocktail variation that best suits them. “We have three very distinct flavors by design,” says Jessica. “We wanted to create cocktails that appealed to every palate.” The Charleston mingles wine with bitter lemon, lemongrass, and allspice, and has “stronger bitter flavors,” akin to a Negroni, says Jessica. The “clean and brightly flavored” Biarritz features juniper berries and lemon. The fruit-forward Tangier joins tart grapefruit with rosemary and cardamom.

The wine-based cocktails are available at Whole Foods and other select retailers throughout the state. Colony Cocktails has also launched e-commerce and is available to ship to Virginia and across the nation. Through the company’s Sip to Give program, 10 percent of profits are donated to Feeding America and City Harvest. Take a taste to find your canned cocktail destination. ColonyCocktails.com

—By Ashley Hunter See our Made in Virginia Winner, Jefferson Vineyards 2019 Viognier, on page 97.

GIFTING A BOTTLE:

Creative Wrappings

No matter how thoughtful, giving a “naked” bottle of wine can send an unintended message: “Here, I swung by Kroger just for you.” But because gift-wrapping a bottle with a giraffe neck can be tricky, we hit on a simple solution: Run a band of pretty gift wrap or scrapbook paper around the middle, tie a bow, add a few berries, and you’ve got a festive gift dressed for any occasion. A metallic Sharpie is ideal for writing on tags—and works directly on the glass, too. And for friends with a sense of humor? Try slipping your bottle into a holiday sock, tying it up with a ribbon, and finishing with a tag.

—By Constance Costas

BEST BOTTLES FOR GIFTING Virginia-made libations make quick but thoughtful gifts.

GIVING WINE OR SPIRITS over the holidays ensures you’ll always find a perfect fit, especially when choosing special editions from Virginia’s wineries, distilleries, or breweries. Need it now? Check ABC stores, neighborhood wine shops, or visit VirginiaWine.org/Find-Wine.

BUBBLES: Locally made sparkling wine is widely available, so it’s hard to pick a favorite. ThibautJanisson Winery and Trump Winery, both near Charlottesville, are among Virginia’s oldest producers of genuine methode champenoise bubbly. TJWinery.com; TrumpWinery.com WINE: A holiday label makes gifting local wine more fun. Fabbioli Cellars in Leesburg, James River Cellars Winery in Glen Allen, and Potomac Point Vineyard and Winery in Stafford are among the Virginia wineries offering festive bottles this season. FabbioliWines.com; JamesRiverCellars.com; PotomacPointWinery.com BEER: Many Virginia breweries make special holiday flavors, but the original Christmas beer is Gingerbread Stout by Hardywood Park Craft Brewery in Richmond. A cult favorite since it debuted in 2011, Gingerbread Stout has inspired a dozen variations, including Christmas Morning (with coffee), Christmas Pancakes (with maple syrup), and Christmas Island (aged in rum barrels with coconut), which recently medaled at the Great American Beer Festival. Hardywood.com SPIRITS: Treat your cocktail-loving friends to something different this year. Belle Isle Craft Spirits in Richmond has distilled the flavors of the holiday season into two limited-edition varieties of moonshine, Pumpkin Pie and Peppermint Patty. Plus, look for the upcoming barrel-aged version of Belle Isle’s Honey Habanero moonshine. BelleIsleCraftSpirits.com —By Mindy Kinsey