spirits | liquids - Fruit and Floral (assorted berries) - Spice (mint and coffee) - Sweet Aromatics (caramel, vanilla and chocolate)
well as a apéritif, while the wine cocktail pairs well with the salad and seafood courses. The beer cocktail accompanies beef, game meats and dessert, and serves as a nice digestif.”
Amid these combinations and many more, there are spaces and shadings. As in music, sometimes the stress is on the note one doesn’t play. Possibilities are infinite, although for the moment, Tuell is content to stop at four expressions of Ballotin, which suit his muse. “We think the Ballotin drinking occasion mirrors any occasion in which a consumer would enjoy a nice Bourbon cocktail, a glass of wine, a craft beer, or a flute of champagne.”
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The possibilities of flavor, presentation and combinations Puritans always find modernism challenging, and these days, so must purists. Store shelves sag beneath the weight of flavored alcoholic beverages, and in the realm of whiskey alone, there are variations adding smoked maple, chipotle peppers, peaches, hops and sarsaparilla root. Why not? Craft beer has grown exponentially by being unafraid to shatter boundaries and to push flavors and presentations previously rejected. With Ballotin Chocolate Whiskey, Tuell offers similarly well-considered flavor choices to a market eager for options and unencumbered by fuddy-duddy. I completed my examination by reconnecting with my friend Stephen Dennison, whose description of his own line of work is typically nonchalant: “I’m a bartender or a mixologist, whichever we’re calling ourselves now.” From his station at the back bar of Louisville’s estimable Bistro 1860, Dennison personally crafted three cocktails using Ballotin that showcase the line’s versatility; one with a spirit (Bourbon), one with wine and the other with beer. “These could be served at a composed dinner,” he observes. “The Bourbon cocktail serves
Mole Sangria
Mole Sangria 3 ounces 2 ounces 3 ounces 1 ⁄ 2 ounce
Malbec Ballotin Chocolate dashes Angostura Bitters blended Scotch soda, to fill berries, to garnish
In a thin Collins glass filled with ice, add all ingredients and top with soda. Stir and garnish with berries.
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Nutty Churchill 3 ounces 11 ⁄ 2 ounces 3 ounces 3
dashes Angostura Bitters Ballotin Caramel Turtle porter or stout beer dashes Woodford Reserve Bitters Chocolate-covered coffee beans, to garnish
Shake without ice. Pour into coupe/champagne glass. Garnish with chocolate coffee beans.
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Doublemint 11 ⁄ 2 ounces Ballotin Chocolate Mint 11 ⁄ 2 ounces Woodford Reserve mint, handful sprigs of mint, to garnish Add crushed ice to a Julep cup or Highball glass, forming a snow-cone styled top. Pick the mint from the stem and muddle, just until bruised. In a shaker with ice add muddled mint, Ballotin and Woodford Reserve. Shake briefly. Slowly pour down the side of the glass. Garnish with the mint sprigs. F&D
Nutty Churchill
Doublemint
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