Five Long Drinks Built for Winter

Long drinks aren't just for summer: When mixed with the likes of amari, herbal liqueurs and seasonal fruit, the category transitions seamlessly. Here, five long drinks made for winter drinking.

byrrh it

Byrrh It's Cold Outside: Amontillado overcoat. [Recipe]

high altitude highball winter cocktail

High Altitude Highball: The Japanese highball goes alpine. [Recipe]

mcintosh winter long drink cocktail

McIntosh: An IPA-topped ode to the kopstootje. [Recipe]

alpine spritz cocktail

Alpine Spritz: A bitter nod to the Alps. [Recipe]

cranberry beret winter cocktail

Cranberry Beret: BTP's bracing ode to late fall. [Recipe]

From the Tom Collins to the Gin & Tonic to the Pimm’s Cup, long drinks—more mixer than spirit, most often fizzy, all over ice—typically conjure visions of summer refreshment. But it turns out that, when mixed with alpine-herbed liqueurs, dark bitters and winter fruits, the long drink can be just as at home by the fire as poolside.

Take the aptly named Alpine Spritz, which sees dry riesling and homemade grape syrup added to a base of Braulio, the aromatic amaro flavored with alpine herbs that channels the briskness of the mountains; a hit of cremant d’Alsace lightens and lifts. The similarly mountain-inspired High Altitude Highball, from San Francisco’s ABV, combines génépy and Hakashu Japanese whiskey—both hailing from mountainous regions—for a highland riff on the Scotch & Soda.

Not all wintry long drinks need evoke the coniferous pines and the Alps, though; plenty of other cold-weather ingredients work well in the tall drink format. In the Cranberry Beret, Brad Thomas Parsons deploys cranberries and apples in double doses, with fresh muddled cranberries and cranberry bitters complementing apple brandy and hard cider, in a long tribute to the season’s quintessential flavors. At a.o.c., on the other hand, Christiann Röllich’s McIntosh—fueled by apple purée, pecan syrup and malty genever—drinks like apple pie in liquid form.

In perhaps the most warming iteration, Natasha David’s Byrrh Its Cold Outside adds real heat in the form of ancho-infused moscatel sherry. Combined with amontillado, piquant cranberry shrub, spiced Byrrh, lemon and prosecco, David proves that the long drink is truly pan-seasonal.

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