Just before Galumbi – Drinks & More takes a short Christmas break for a couple of days, I would like to publish a short article in order to show you a small but nice Christmas cocktail. And it’s once again a recipe containing the Vollkorn Korn schnapps by Eugen Schmidt & Söhne. Due to its special flavor profile of freshly baked bread and Christmas being at the doorstep: now is the right time.

The Spicy Christmas Smash is something like a Christmas sour with fresh ginger, homemade Christmas stollen syrup, clementine and lemon juice as well as various Bitters. It therefore offers some aromatic similarities to the Chocosnaps med Klementin or the Advent at Last cocktail which are both clearly characterized by clementine juice, an ingredient that can surprisingly only rarely be found in cocktails. In today’s cocktail the bread notes of the Vollkorn work really well and bestow that certain touch of Christmas biscuits in combination with clementine upon the cocktail. The ginger in turn provides some spiciness. In my first attempt, the cocktail was a bit too sweet because you easily underestimate how much sweetness the clementine juice brings along. In order to prevent this, I have adjusted the proportions of clementine and citrus juice to equal parts and decreased the amount of Christmas stollen syrup by half a centiliter. Although I was concerned that this would come at the expense of Christmas spices, the result has taught me better.

With this recipe I would like to wish all readers a happy and peaceful Christmas and a good time with the family. Cheers!

Recipe:

5.5 cl Vollkorn (Eugen Schmidt & Söhne)
1.5 cl clementine juice
1.5 cl lemon juice
1.5 cl Christmas stollen syrup (see below)
4 slices of ginger
2 Dashes Angostura Bitters
1 Dash Fee Brothers Plum Bitters
1 Dash Fairy Brothers Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters
1 Dash Bittermens Hellfire Habanero Shrub

Christmas stollen syrup:

500 ml of water
500 g of sugar
8 cloves
8 raisins
6 capsules of green cardamom
2 small cinnamon sticks
1 thumb-sized piece of galangal
1 thumbs-sized piece of ginger
2 pinches of grated nutmeg
Peel of 1 lemon
1 tbsp coriander seeds (whole)

Bring 500 ml of water with 500 g of sugar, eight cloves, eight raisins, six green cardamom capsules, two small cinnamon sticks, one thumb-sized piece of galangal, one thumb-sized piece of ginger, two pinches of grated nutmeg, the peel of one lemon and one tablespoon of coriander seeds (whole ones) to the boil and let it simmer for at least 15 minutes on a low heat. Then allow the syrup to cool and fine strain into an airtight container through a fine sieve or a filter cloth. The syrup should be good for 2 to 3 weeks.

Preparation: First muddle the ginger slices in the shaker with your muddler (but do not completely shred them!), then add the remaining ingredients with some ice cubes and shake vigorously. Finally double strain in a glass filled with ice cubes.

Glass: Tumbler

Garnish: Lemon zest and a piece of Christmas biscuit

Buying sources: At specialized retailers or online. The spices for the syrup are usually much cheaper in Asian grocery stores.