A hint of sun, temps reaching close to 60°F and a girl on the subway trading in her UGGs for sandals can only mean one thing; menu changes.  Yes, spring is slowly peeking its head from behind the snow-filled clouds of winter. With this new emergence into spring comes the desire to start making menu changes, not only to the revolving seasonal food menus we have grown accustomed to, but also to our ever- expanding cocktail lists.

The seasons changing can be motivation for us bartenders, as it gives us an opportunity to tweak our menus to reflect seasonality in our ingredients, but also seasonality in our selection of spirits.

If I’m going from a late fall/winter menu to an early spring menu, maybe a cocktail list mostly comprised of Cognac, Armagnac and rye-based drinks might not be the most fitting.  So I sit back and take stock of the spirit options as well as what fresh produce is available.

I love the thought process during a menu change because the whole bar comes together, and we as a collective group start learning (or sometimes relearn) how to use certain spirits that maybe we hadn’t played with for a couple of months.  With spring  in mind, the Cognac-based cocktails,  while still great, seem a bit too heavy and therefore the list starts moving toward amber rums, Genevers and reposados.

Thinking of warmer weather, I start minimizing the cooking spices in the drinks I’m creating and replace them with apricots, dark fruits and savory herbs.  While not yet summertime, I realize that spring offers us a chance to move away from cocktails based on heavy spirits, hot drinks and libations utilizing mulled spices to ones using lighter-bodied spirits, fresh green herbs and some effervescence.

As winter gives way to spring, so do drinks crafted after the Manhattan become drinks crafted after the Negroni.  As I look at my drink menu, much like a chef would do, I try to make sure that balance is there. You can’t take four rye and Bourbon-based cocktails off of a menu–say two were stirred-up drinks and two were shaken down cocktails, and replace them with three gin cocktails shaken and topped with soda, and an amber rum cocktail served over crushed ice. In revamping a cocktail list to reflect seasonality, I use my imagination but always with an eye on balancing techniques, style and spirit selection.

Sensing warmer temperatures are just around the corner, I want to replace my spiced syrup Old Fashioned (called Bang the Drum) with a seasonal variation, and come up with the Fennac Fox.

Fennac Fox:

1 ounce Pierre Ferrand Cognac

1 ounce Rittenhouse Rye

1 barspoon of orgeat syrup

½ barspoon of St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram

2 dashes of Angostura bitters

3 dashes of absinthe (I used Pernod)

Garnish with orange peel and brandied cherry

Directions: In a mixing glass add two dashes of Angostura Bitters, three dashes of Absinthe, 1 barspoon of Orgeat Syrup, half a barspoon of Allspice Dram, one ounce of Rittenhouse Rye, and one ounce of Cognac.  Add  ice and stir.  You don’t want to over stir as this cocktail can dilute quickly.  Strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube.  Garnish with an orange peel and brandied cherry.

Stir up one of these cocktails and let the seasonal inspiration start to flow.

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