Warm Up With Winter Cocktails - Beverage Manager Jeffrey Sykes's Favorites!

Days have grown shorter, the sunsets more colorful and sometimes we just need a drink to warm us up on those cold winter evenings.

While most people think warm drinks will do the trick, think again! Wintertime cocktails may be served cold but pack a nice warm punch. Combine it with an evening sitting by the fire and you've just created the perfect wintertime concoction.

The list of winter cocktails could go on and on, but we went straight to the source and spoke with Graylyn's Beverage Manager Jeffrey Sykes to get his secret list of the best wintertime drinks. Pour, mix, sip and enjoy!

The Old Fashioned (a Graylyn Signature Cocktail!)
Patiently aged Knob Creek small batch rye whiskey muddled with orange peel, maraschino cherry, sugar and Angostura Bitters. Served on the rocks in a highball glass

2 oz bourbon whiskey
2 dashes Angostura® bitters
1 splash water
1 tsp sugar
1 maraschino cherry
1 orange wedge



Mix sugar, water and angostura bitters in an old-fashioned glass. Drop in a cherry and an orange wedge. Muddle into a paste using a muddler or the back end of a spoon. Pour in bourbon, fill with ice cubes, and stir.

Pear and Sparking Cider Cocktail

2 cups pear nectar, chilled
2 cups sparkling apple cider, chilled
2 cups seltzer, chilled
4 ounces (1/2 cup) bourbon whiskey, such as Knob Creek

1 Bosc pear, unpeeled, cored, and cut lengthwise into 8 wedges

Stir together pear nectar, cider, seltzer, and whiskey in a pitcher. Divide pear wedges among glasses, and pour in cocktail. Serve immediately.

Dandy Shandy

4 ounces good quality dark stout or porter beer (or nonalcoholic beer) (1/2 cup)

4 ounces chilled ginger ale or ginger beer (1/2 cup)

Place dark stout beer in a serving glass. Pour ginger ale atop. Makes 1 (8-ounce) serving.

Smoky Martini

2 oz Absolut Vodka
.5 oz Laphroig Single Malt Scotch Whisky
1 dash Pernod

Add both ingredients to a mixing glass and fill with ice.
Stir, and strain into a Martini glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

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Assistant Food & Beverage Manager Jeffrey Sykes Travels to South American Wine Country

Recently TGIC Importers sponsored an educational tour of South American wine country. Jeffrey Sykes, Assistant Manager of Food & Beverage, was selected from a pool of competitive wine professionals to experience, “The Best of Both Sides of the Andes." The winery visits in both Argentina and Chile afforded him a firm understanding of fine wines produced from a perfect combination of the exceptional conditions given in each area of viticulture, along with the work of talented professionals. The wineries remained faithful to their
principles: Tradition, Authenticity and Innovation.

The group voyage began in Buenos Aires where they dived into the culture with a tango dancing evening and delicious Argentinean meats. From there the group flew to Mendoza, Argentina’s biggest and most important wine region, which included Lujan de Cuyo, Perdriel and Barrancas. The Chilean wine regions awaited the group on the other side of the Andes. The exploration began in Isla de Maipo and continued to Leyda Valley and Colchagua Valley and concluded with the district of Casablanca. The last leg of this most engaging wine culture and food experience concluded in Santiago, Chile.

Sykes learned much from his trip to South America and hopes to bring his knowledge back to Graylyn where he can continue to work toward keeping some of the best wines stocked at all times while providing that knowledge to Graylyn's guests.

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