Rounds of peel cut from oranges during prep for Manhattan Cocktail Classic

As of this week, Cocktails for a Crowd is officially out there in the wild!

As I’m gearing up for the Manhattan Cocktail Classic this coming weekend and many of my favorite bartenders are winging their way into town, I’m thinking about one of my favorite parts of working on the book:  gathering advice (and recipes) from bartenders.

By design, this book owes a lot to mixologists. Many of the recipes are bartender originals, of course. But I got a kick out of asking bartenders to spill their secrets about batching (creating large batches of drinks), which often happens behind the scenes at events, cocktail conferences (like MCC) and bars, too.

Here are some of my favorite tips — some of this info is in the book, some not.

You can never have too much ice. That’s not a secret, of course. But Portland bartender Kelley Swenson explained how to figure out how much ice is enough:  for each 750 milliliters (3 1/4 cups) of cocktail (the size of a standard bottle of liquor), allot 7 pounds of ice.   Another useful metric: allot 1 to 1.5 pounds of ice per person. Either way, get what you need and then get some more, because (say it with me!) you can never have too much ice.

Mise en place is your best friend. The French culinary term mise en place means “putting in place.” If you’re throwing a soiree, before your guests arrive, put everything you’re making drinks with in place.  EVERYTHING! Squeeze the citrus, set the glassware where you can reach it, make sure you have all the liquor you need (and all the ice too)! When you go to a bar early in the evening and they’re bustling about even though you’re the only guest at the bar, that’s what they’re up to back there — mise en place. You should do it too.

Control the dilution. Watery drinks suck. This is one reason bartenders consider their ice so carefully. If you can use a large block of ice to chill a punch or even a pitcher of drinks, that’s ideal. It melts more slowly than a handful of ice cube tray ice cubes, which seem to dissolve in record time while your guests are still shrugging off their coats.

Jason Asher, head mixologist at Young’s Market of Arizona, was one of the first to flag for me that for batching purposes, you can add the water yourself, and then chill a drink in the refrigerator or set it on ice. “My rule of thumb is 25% to 30% water comes from dilution” caused by shaking a cocktail, he explained. (I worked with 20% to 25% as my baseline for the drinks in the book.) “For a stirred cocktail, I like to add ice, then stir it, taste it, and when it hits the right amount, then strain the ice out.” You wouldn’t want to do this too far in advance — but a few hours ahead, and it works beautifully.

Learn how to make oleosaccharum. I swear it’s the difference between a good punch and a great punch. Try it and see.  In brief, you muddle citrus peel with sugar, and then the magic ingredient is time. Wine Enthusiast recently published an oleosaccharum primer if you’d like more how-to detail.

Thanks for the advice, barkeep!

This one has been in the works for a while. It’s all about batching cocktails for large groups — a concept that professional bartenders know well, but few at-home bartenders do.  If you’ve never heard of “batching” before, it’s what goes on behind the scenes at cocktail conferences and other events:  I have seen bartenders stirring up drinks for 200 people in giant plastic vats, stirring with what look like rowboat oars….and yet, when they’re dispatched into glasses and garnished with care, it looks (and tastes) like the drink was painstakingly made just for one.  So I asked some of the smartest bartenders I knew how that gets done — and how people can do it at home.

This book, which spans punches, pitchers, bottled cocktails and other large-format drinks,  includes updated classics as well as original cocktails from bartenders. (PS, I think this may be the first book to include a range of bottled cocktails!) The lovely photos were taken by Teri Lyn Fisher. I’m going to highlight some of my favorite drinks and techniques in coming weeks.

If you want to be one of the first to get your hands on a copy, it’s available for pre-order now. Perhaps you’re already thinking about summer entertaining or thinking about host/hostess gifts  – if so, I hope you’ll pick up a copy. Cheers!

Toasty and tasty hot drinks for chilly winter gatherings.

The first steaming, fragrant cup of mulled wine I ever tasted was at Christmastime in Prague. Thinking about the smell of cloves and oranges  transports me to that snowy night: weaving through the crowded holiday market with twinkling lights strung between lampposts, lightly falling snow and the vibrating sounds of church bells. Every few stalls, a vendor was selling the hot drink, and we happily warmed our fingers – and tummies – with each sip.

Called glühwein in Europe or glögg in Nordic countries, this traditional winter drink consists of red wine, spices, sugar, orange and spirits such as vodka or brandy. The best red wines to use for mulled wine tend to be semi-dry and full-bodied – Zinfandel, Merlot or Cabernet.  The version I had in Prague contained slivered almonds and raisins plumped firm with liquid. At Cambridge newcomer Catalyst, bar manager Jason Kilgore makes a Swedish-inspired glögg using akvavit (or aquavit), a grain or potato based Scandinavian spirit that gets its distinct flavor from spices and herbs, most notably caraway. Instead of wine, he uses port and sherry along with an array of spices and dates, prunes and slivered almonds (see recipe below). Island Creek Oyster Bar in Kenmore Square makes a delicious traditional mulled wine using red wine, brandy, cinnamon sticks, allspice, cardamom, cloves, star anise, vanilla bean, orange and nutmeg. Salem’s 62 Restaurant & Wine Bar combines Merlot and cider for a flavorful fall-to-winter combination (see recipe).

A mulled drink made with cider is sometimes called a wassail, a term related to the English tradition of wassailing which can mean one of two distinct things:  a house-visiting wassail is similar to caroling, or going door-to-door singing Christmas carols. An orchard-visiting wassail is when people would sing to apple trees to promote a good cider harvest for the coming year. Try Alton Brown from the Food Network’s Wassail recipe or Boston chef Ken Oringer’s (Clio, Toro, KO Prime, Earth, Uni, Coppa, La Verdad) Hot Mulled Cider from Food & Wine.

Hot toddies are another wintertime classic, dating back to the 17^th century and commonly used as a remedy for illness. Even today, many still swear by a swig of toddy to tame aches and chills. Made with either a hot water or tea base with honey or sugar, fresh lemon juice and whiskey or brandy, these are easy to make to suit your taste.  88 Wharf in Milton uses Canadian Club whisky in their hearty toddy (see recipe below) while Zocalo in Boston went south of the border for a Mexican Hot Toddy using tequila, agave nectar and Mexican cinnamon (see recipe below).

Whether you’re hosting for the holidays or braving the outdoors for tailgating before the game, these mulled wines, spiked ciders and hot toddies will warm you right up!

62’s Mulled Wine

62 Restaurant & Wine Bar, 62 Wharf St., Salem, 978-744-0062; 62restaurant.com

1.5 liter bottle of Merlot

½ cup cranberry juice

½ cup cider

2 whole cloves

3 whole cinnamon sticks

2 star anise

3 whole all spice

Directions: Let all ingredients steep in a pot for approximately 30 minutes. Don’t bring to a boil (it becomes too bitter). Add lemon and /or orange zest to taste and serve with a cinnamon stick.

Glögg

Catalyst, 300 Technology Sq., Cambridge, 617-576-3000; catalystrestaurant.com

Serves 8

1 750ml Port

4 oz Dry Sherry

4oz Sweet Vermouth

1 Cup Orange Juice

Peel of 1 Orange

2 Cinnamon Sticks

8 Pieces allspice

8 cloves

8 cardamon pods

1/4 inch of ginger, peeled

8 dates

8 prunes

1/4 cup slivered almonds

Combine all ingredients, let gently simmer on the stove for an hour and then strain. To serve, add 1 oz of Aquavit to six ounces hot mulled wine.

Hot Toddy

88 Wharf, 88 Wharf Street  Milton, 857-598-4826; 88wharf.com

Serves 1

1 oz Canadian Club whisky

1 tbsp honey

1 cup hot water

Mix ingredients together in a mug. Garnish with two lemon peels and a whole cinnamon stick

Mexican Hot Toddy

Zocalo, 35 Stanhope Street  Boston, 617-456-7849

Serves 1

1 ½ oz Riazul Anejo Tequila

¼ oz agave nectar

1 lemon wedge

1 piece Mexican cinnamon

2 cloves

3-4 oz hot water

Combine all ingredients in an Irish coffee glass.  Stir and let steep for one minute.  Remove spices and enjoy.