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I always feel there’s different stages to winter cocktails. There’s denial, wherein escapist fantasies of tropical beaches step in to keep out freezing realities, and Grenada’s Calabash cocktail was our feature on that front. Then there’s bargaining, when you figure if it’s going to be cold and dark at least you can enjoy a stiff drink, a good spirit-forward mix built on cask strength whiskey - where our Devil’s Right Hand recipe from last week stepped in. This week, it moves into acceptance, when we’ve come to terms with the fact that it’s going to be frigid, dark, and unrelenting and we’ve leaned into the flavors and feelings that come with that. Only the Forest is actually an original drink I conceptualized last year, but I wanted to revisit it, make sure I liked the spec, and emphasize its place in our winter portfolio of mixing.

As a number of our original drinks have before, this one takes its name from the animated miniseries Over the Garden Wall, which follows the experiences of two brothers lost in a mysterious forest called The Unknown. This wood is haunted by a shadowy villain called The Beast, who aims to ensure lost souls such as the brothers never find their way home. He claims the only way is his way, “there is only my way, there is only the forest, and there is only surrender.” This drink relies so heavily on the flavors of the forest and presents such a simultaneously foreboding yet enticing sip that the quote lent the perfect name.

It’s built on Barr Hill’s Tom Cat gin, a barrel aged gin that offers classic coniferous notes alongside woody barrel influence and is lightly sweetened with Vermont honey. Cappelletti’s Pasubio vino amaro is the other star player, an alpine amaro from Italy’s Dolomite Mountains that brings both piney herbaceousness and mountain blueberry notes. Zirbenz Stone Pine Liqueur is handmade in Austria from the freshly picked fruit of the Arolla stone pine, and a half ounce serves to emphasize the pine characteristics and add to the fruity body overall. The remaining ingredients are all added quite sparingly, yet they contribute much to the whole. The original recipe calls for a quarter ounce of Green Chartreuse, that most quintessential of alpine liqueurs. As our ingredient lineup demonstrates, though, the world of alpine liqueurs is exciting and diverse. Accordingly, while Chartreuse contributes beautifully, Bordiga’s Centum Herbis brings some very similar notes alongside a unique chocolate beat that complements the honey-sweetness from the gin. Elisir Novasalus comes from Cappelletti, as well, and we only rely on a barspoon because it is arguably the most unrelenting of ingredients in this mix. Unapologetically bitter beyond even the likes of Fernet, Novasalus’s dark, medicinal tones of pine tar and ash effectively ground the drink. A finishing touch of pine bitters, in this case Vena’s Pine Bitters from Maine, drive the pine point to its logical conclusion and ensure that the pine notes are expressed with a zippy citrusiness rather than too dried an austerity.

Such a combination of varied alpine liqueurs may initially seem at risk of being baroque, but in application the drink engages its sipper in such a way as to invite a further step down this path. Is it the right path? Well of course, it’s the only way. There is Only the Forest.

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The Only the Forest Cocktail Recipe

Ingredients:

Step-by-Step Recipe:

  1. Stir all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled rocks glass over cubed ice.

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