The Drink: I’ve now tried all of FEW Spirits products and can say with confidence that these guys know what they’re doing. Last year, we featured this Illinois distillery’s Rye Whiskey. This summer, their Gin was my go to for G&Ts and martinis. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been grabbing their Bourbon Whiskey the most for my evening cocktail. It’s really a little glass of Christmas, with a strong cinnamon, clove and spice smell and taste. The spice (or maybe it’s the 93 proof) hits like their Rye, but with a touch a malt for smoothness. Grab a bottle for some delicious December drinking – on sale on Caskers!

The Other Stuff:

• Adele’s 25 vinyl.
• Stainless Steel Whiskey Cubes. I prefer these over stones. They may not look as cool, but they’ll make your whiskey much colder for much longer.

Rum drinks are typically the last that I order unless I’m on a beach. Every now and then – in the dead of summer – I’ll whip up a mojito, classic daiquiri or Mai Tai. This summer, I explored sipping rums in the Bahamas, easing my way into it with Rum Old Fashioned’s. I’m confident that, until yesterday, the last one I made in July was the last sip of rum I’ve had this year.

Candice (pictured here) came over yesterday after a shoot and went straight to our beer fridge. She came back, to my surprise, with ginger beer. “I want a Dark and Stormy,” she said, with the confidence of a girl who knows what she likes to drink – a favorite quality of mine. I remembered a bottle of Cruzan Estate Diamond Dark Rum that I had and requested we use it instead of a cheaper option (I typically only make Dark and Stormy’s with Goslings Black Seal). The Single Barrel is not what you’d mix with anything, really. It’s perfect for sipping with delicious hints of oak and vanilla. But, I figured we should give it a try.

We splashed a little Reed’s Ginger Brew over a large cube into my favorite vintage glass and topped it with the Cruzan. In our opinion, it blended perfectly as more of a Rum-on-a-Rock-with-a-Splash-of-Ginger Beer cocktail. I put a separate splash in an empty glass and sipped it neat, shocked that I was doing so on December 1st and enjoying every bit of it in our flannels. Take that, winter.

I am a HUGE coffee lover but I never stop looking for my perfect cup. From coffee machines to coffee brews, there are so many ways to get your coffee fix. If you can brew without a machine, I want to know about it. There has been a wave of interest in different types of coffee brew and brewing techniques that can affect your coffee enjoying experience. There are so many Coffee Brewing Methods for the Home and when followed, each method can produce a vastly different brew. Even when I fall in love with one drink, I’m always wondering if an even better coffee is out there somewhere. I’m always on sites like Greatcoffeebrewers.com, seeing if I can upgrade my coffee maker to produce a higher quality cuppa joe for myself in the morning. This is why I was so thrilled when I was approached by a new cold brew coffee company!

The Drink:
Wanderlust Coffee – cold brew coffee brewed, bottled and kegged in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Story:
Alden Eavenson sold the first bottles in mid-summer of 2014. “I had been wanting to get involved in the growth of the coffee scene in Atlanta for a couple years, and after going through a few different ideas, I saw an opportunity and decided to start bottling and kegging cold brew. I’m a big coffee lover, so I really enjoy working on trying to make a quality product and sharing the excitement with our customers.”

Wanderlust locally sources coffee from Octane, where you can get it on tap. “We reached out to a few of the roasters in town,” Alden says. “There is an increasing amount of high-quality coffee available in town — but after talking to Dustin and the Octane team, we knew it was the best fit for what we were looking to do.”

The Drink: In a hunt for some fun ways to drink Campari the other day, I came across this recipe via The Kitchn. This is about as easy as it gets. Fair warning: You have to love Campari to like this cocktail. This is basically a Campari Soda with a hint of something else – them IPA hops tho. But if you’re a Campari Soda fan, this is a way for you to spice it up with a little more booze and to support your local brewery!

• 1.5 oz Campari
• 6 ounces (1/2 bottle/can) IPA – I used Creature Comforts Tropicália.
• Lemon twist to garnish.

Fill a glass with crushed ice.
Add Campari.
Slowly pour the beer.
Squeeze lemon peel over to release oils, rub the rim of glass and drop her in.

The Glass: Bar Taco rocks glass, Westide ATL.

Photographed in Atlanta, GA at The Luminary

Raised in:
Born in Loveland, Colorado, settled and raised in Woodstock, GA.

Lives in:
Roswell, Georgia

Spirit you’re into the most right now:
Working at The Luminary has been really opeing my interest in French Spirits. I was on a huge bourbon kick for the longest time but I have to say that now, I couldn’t love cognac more.

Favorite cocktail on your current menu:
It’s hard to say what cocktail its my favorite right now. It really depends on what mood I’m in. We put one on the menu recently called “Three Miles Out”. It’s a tiki inspiried drink that plays on the classic Hurricane. We use White rum, Dark rum, Yellow Chartreuse, Angostura Bitters, Cantalope Juice and Orange Juice. It’s extremely drinkable and not sweet. It’s a really well balanced drink.

Now would ya look at that:
Meet Jeff Banks, Bar Manager at The Luminary. I’ve had the pleasure of shooting a handful of his cocktails for various stories. Most recently, The Meghan Royale – a Rosè Slushy that’s easily one of the most refreshing and delicious cocktails I’ve ever had (recipe on Town & Country).

• Ely Catteman shirt.
• Levi’s.
• Tattoos by Jason Kelly at Live Free Tattoo.
• Thrifted boots.

You had me at “Rosè Slushy.” And then again at Aperol, lemon and more Rosè.

The Meghan Royale – by Jeff Banks of The Luminary.

Get the recipe on Town & Country.

The Drink: If you Google “the best Pimm’s Cup in the world,” Jamie’s recipe on BarNotes is the first thing you’ll see. And it totally is.

Jamie wanted make a Pimm’s Cup for a dinner club. After doing a ton of research he discovered that, like so many classic cocktails, there are tons of ways people make their Pimm’s Cups. The main split is between the UK and American version. The UK (the originators) use lemonade and Pimm’s. The American’s (that’s us) use lemonade and Pimm’s. But what’s the difference? Well, “lemonade” in the UK is more like ginger ale. So, Jamie took the best of both words. He created this using fresh American lemonade (lemon juice + simple syrup) and lemonade (but with ginger beer instead of ale).

• 2 oz Pimm’s No. 01
• 1 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1 oz simple syrup (1:1)
• Gosling’s ginger beer
• 2 strawberries
• 2 lemon wheels
• 2 sprigs of mint
• Thin cucumber slice

Drop 1 strawberry, lemon wheel and 1 sprig of mint in the bottom of a Collins glass for a bottom of the glass garnish.
Add lemon juice, simple syrup, and Pimm’s.
Add ice and top with ginger beer.
Garnish with lemon wheel, half a strawberry, spring of mint and a thin cucumber slice.

The Glass: Collins glass from The Boston Shaker.

The Drink: This is another one from The PDT Cocktail Book that we’d never made before. It sounded like summer in a glass and turns out, that’s exactly what it is. It is SO DAMN REFRESHING! All caps. This was created by Jane Danger who named it after her Minnesota dream bar, Jane’s Sweet Melon Stand. We slightly adapted it by adding mint which really brought it home for us.

• 2 oz gin – the recipe calls for Plymouth but we used FEW American gin. Any straight gin would work in this, just avoid dry.
• 1 oz watermelon juice
• 3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 oz Aperol
• 1/2 oz simple syrup
• Sprig of mint

Slap mint to release oils and drop in the shaker.
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled Collins glass filled with crushed ice.
Garnish with 3 watermelon balls on a pick.

The Glass: Collins glass from The Boston Shaker.

The Drink: This is one of the best drinks (and so easy to make at home) from The Stone Fox in Nashville, one of Jamie’s favorite bars.

• 1.5 oz St. Germain
• 3/4 oz fresh grapefruit juice
• PBR

Build this cocktail in the glass starting with the grapefruit juice and St. Germain.
Add handful of crushed ice and top with PBR.
Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

The Glass: Handblown glass from Mexico.

The Drink: Jamie has created some amazing drinks over the years but this one is by far my favorite. He was looking for a cocktail that had tequila and these Mole bitters when he found one that surprised him that also included maraschino liquor. “I wasn’t crazy about it when I first made it so I made some changes – less maraschino, add agave and Angostura. For a while it wasn’t perfect but a good friend of mine suggested I add citrus. Once I added lemon, the drink was born. The Vida Encantada.”

• 2 oz reposado tequila – we used Altos
• 1/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
• 1/4 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 oz agave
• 12 drops Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters
• 2 dash Angostura bitters

Stir all ingredients in a glass with ice.
Strain in a rocks glass over a large cube – we used a Neat Ice Kit to create sexy clear ice.
Garnish with Luxardo cherries and a lemon peel on a pick.

The Glass: Rocks glass from Nashville’s Woodland Wine Merchant.