Web Exclusive: Holiday Cheer
Add some local sparkle to your seasonal celebrations with these special drink recipes from Fruitbelt Soda!
Web Exclusive: Holiday Spirits
Raise a glass to the season with drink-themed gifts to delight anyone on your list
For Wine Lovers
Ever thought that winemakers are “living the dream?” Round Barn Winery gives you and your gift recipient the chance to live it for yourselves with their Winemaking Experience. This two-day event allows you to be present for the harvesting and the bottling—what Round Barn calls the “best days of the year.” When you leave, take home two cases of your personalized wine.
For those who are content to drink wine rather than make it, Round Barn’s Market Cranberry Wine is a popular holiday bottle and perfect for mulled wine. Look for this and other gift ideas for your favorite wine lover at the Round Barn tasting rooms in Union and Baroda, MI. RoundBarnWinery.com
For Cocktail Lovers
Try this DIY option for a fun and easy gift of holidays cocktails: Make cinnamon simple syrup at home, attach the recipe for a Cinnamon Old Fashioned to a bottle of local rye whiskey (we like Journeyman Distillery’s Last Feather Rye) and, presto!, you’re holiday ready!
Cinnamon Simple Syrup
Mix 1 cup sugar with 1 cup water and 6 cinnamon sticks. Bring to boil, then simmer for 8–10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Strain into a clean glass jar and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
Cinnamon Old Fashioned
Recipe from Jami Hawkins, Common Spirits, Goshen, IN
Serves 1
2 ounces rye whiskey
¼ ounce Cinnamon Simple Syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Orange peel
Muddle orange peel, bitters and cinnamon syrup in an Old Fashioned glass. Add whiskey and an ice ball and stir for 30 seconds. Twist another orange peel over the drink. Enjoy!
For Coffee Lovers
Looking for something extra special for your favorite coffee fiend? Violet Sky Chocolates uses coffee beans from South Bend’s Zen Café to create simple but unusual Coffee Bars that are positively addicting. Made of cocoa butter, coffee beans and cane sugar, the bars have the consistency of fine chocolate with an intense coffee buzz. Look for Violet Sky at the Purple Porch Co-op and the South Bend Farmers Market. VioletSkyChocolate.com
Or pick up a bag of locally roasted beans from Zen Café (South Bend, IN), Three Crowns Coffee (Warsaw, IN), Light Rail Café and Roasters (Winona Lake, IN), Infusco Roasters (Sawyer, MI), Maple City Roasters (Michigan City, IN), The Refinery Café (Goshen, IN), The Electric Brew (Goshen and Elkhart, IN) or Bendix Coffee Company (South Bend, IN). Be sure to keep an eye out for special holiday blends!
For Beer Lovers
Gift your beer enthusiast with the ingredients and equipment to make a brewing dream come true. Homebrewing kits, available at local brewer’s supply stores like Quality Wine and Ale Supply (Elkhart, IN), DIY Coffee and Ale Supply (Goshen, IN) and Michiana Brewers Supply (South Bend, IN), come in a range of styles from blonde ales to stouts—there’s even a gluten-free kit!
For Juice Lovers
Rein Juice has one mantra: pure. The juicer, located in South Bend, aims to “deliver 100% juice in the most pure way possible.” Your resident health nut will go crazy for this organic, cold-pressed juice. Because the juices are freshly made and bottled with a limited shelf life, gift certificates are the way to go. Visit the storefront in South Bend to buy one and make sure you pick up a smoothie or juice for yourself while you’re there!
—Compiled by Maggie Weaver
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