This week's "Seasonal Sips" takes us to Paterno's at the Park, inside of Applachian Power Park. Bartender Jo Finlayson says the bar at Paterno's changes with the seasons.
"People order a lot of martinis during the summer," she said. "We also poured a really popular shandy from Widmer Bros."
Paterno's regulars liked it so much, the bar decided to put the Oregon brewer's Brr Seasonal Ale on tap for the holidays.
Finlayson said while people still order many of the drinks Paterno's is better known for, like their white Cosmopolitan, often they're interested in something a little more festive with flavors of the season.
To Finlayson, that means cranberries.
Two of their specialty drinks prominently feature cranberries and some of their other drinks include sugared cranberries as garnish, adding a little Christmas color to the glass.
Cranberry Margarita
1 ½ ounce El Jimador tequila
½ ounce triple sec
½ ounce lime juice
Mix and serve over ice in a margarita glass
Garnish with sugared cranberries.
Notes:
Bill: I liked it. Generally, most of the margaritas I get are too sweet, owing to the mixes some places uses which are just pure sugar. This was lighter and the cranberry flavor was gentle. It didn't overpower the drink and make it into something else.
Dawn: Now, this one was my favorite. I like margaritas (especially flavored ones, like strawberry) and vodka cranberries. So, this was basically a winning combination for me! I even slipped in a few extra sips.
Cranberry Mojito
1/2 ounce Cranberry simple syrup (recipe below)
1 ½ ounce Bacardi rum
Soda water
Fresh mint
Muddle fresh mint, add cranberry simple syrup, rum, pour over ice in a highball glass, top with soda water, toss in a couple of sugared cranberries, stir.
Notes:
Dawn: This was my second-favorite of the bunch. It was light and refreshing, with just the right amount of mint. It was also a nice combination of holiday colors.
Bill: With the green leaves and red berries swirling in a tall glass, it looks like a magical Christmas potion, which it might be. I'm on the record for hating mint, which tends to be overpowering and makes things taste like medicine. This was pretty good. It was sweet and light. The mint wasn't too strong and complemented the cranberry.
Cranberry simple syrup
Cook 1 cup of cranberries with one cup of sugar and one cup of water for 10 minutes.
Blackberry Moscow Mule
1 cup of blackberries
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 ½ ounce Grey Goose vodka
2 ounces ginger beer
Muddle berries with sugar, add vodka and ginger beer. Mix and serve over ice in a copper mug.
Bill: I thought this was cool because of the copper mugs, which were frosty cold to the touch, and also I got a big mouthful of blackberry when I sipped this. I didn't taste much in the way of ginger, but I liked it nonetheless.
Dawn: I'm in the middle on this one, mainly because I didn't detect much flavor aside from the chunks of blackberries.
Reach Bill Lynch at lynch@wvgazette.com, 304-348-5195 or follow @LostHwys on Twitter
Reach Dawn Nolan at dawn.nolan@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1230 or follow @DawnNolanWV on Twitter.