Signature Series: The Bloody Forest Cocktail

The sun has begun to set a little earlier.   There is a cool crispness to the morning air that was absent only a few weeks before. The season is certainly changing and that goes hand in hand with Halloween.

As far back as the ancient Celts of North Western Europe there has been some sort of occasion held on the thirty-first of October. For the Celts it marked the end of the harvest season, the end of the light and the outset of the dark time of year. The traditions have greatly changed over time however this is a holiday full of history and tradition.

What is in a name? Typically there is some form of fact, wrapped up in a whole lot of smoke mirrors and a touch of untruth. (for the sake of entertainment of course.) The fact of this cocktail’s name is engrained in history. At one time the Romans were strongly opposed by the tribes of present day Germany, so much so that regardless of their best efforts the “German” lands remain untamed. There were excursions into the vast unending forests, and bloody battles that were fought and lost. It is in that shred of history in which the Bloody Forest cocktail receives its’ name.

Submitted for your approval: The Bloody Forest.

Ingredients:

2 oz. rye whisky

½ oz. Jagermeister

½ oz. Campari

Directions:

Combine ingredients in a mixing glass over ice.

Stir 25-30 times with a barspoon

Strain and serve in your choice of glassware. (Snifter shown)

The flavours within this cocktail that cause the classification of a Halloween cocktail may not be immediately apparent, but with a little history and a touch of imagination the dark, eerie forest combined with the bloodshed from the historical events that took place there have all the makings of a creepy Halloween ghost story. With the addition of dense fog and a walk in the woods to the mix and you have all you will require to spook those that you choose.

Happy Halloween!