Triduum | a Holy Weekend cocktail

Recipe

• 1 oz Whiskey
• 1 oz Cognac or Brandy
• .5 oz Gentian Amaro
• .5 oz Green Chartreuse
• 2 dashes Salt & Smoke Bitters
• 2 dashes Orange Bitters
• Garnish: 3 Olives

Strain all ingredients in mixing glass until very chilled and extra diluted (45-60 seconds). Strain into a chalice, wine glass, or coupe. Garnish with three olives on a cocktail pick.

View other Holy Day cocktails.

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I’ve been doing one cocktail for each day of Holy Week, but the three days starting with Maundy Thursday are there own special holiday, called the Paschal Triduum (the “three” days are from Thursday night to Easter morning). So I’m offering a bonus cocktail for this weekend.

This drink is boozy with an herbal sweetness, with a touch of sweetness.

Similar to my Maundy Thursday cocktail, the whiskey and cognac/brandy are for the bread and wine of Thursday. The smoke and amaro are for the darkness and blood of Friday. The chartreuse hearkens burial herbs and the quiet, restful devotion of the monks who still make it to this day. The orange bitters hint at the Easter brightness to come.

The three olives are for each day of the Triduum. They also remind us of the Mount of Olives, as well as the saltiness of tears in both the Passover meal and crucifixion witnesses.

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“Though the Fig Tree Not Blossom…” | A Holy Monday Cocktail

Recipe

• 2 oz Brandy
• 1 oz Lemon Juice
• .75 oz Fig Syrup
• .5 tsp Rose Water
• 1 Egg White

Add all ingredients to a shaker without ice. Shake vigorously for 30-45 seconds. Add ice and shake again for 10-15 seconds. Double strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with flower petals.

View other Holy Day cocktails.

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Thursday through Sunday get all the attention in Holy Week, but significant and symbolic things also happened on the other weekdays. So I’m making a cocktail for each one.

On Monday morning, while on his way to the Jerusalem Temple, Jesus is hungry and sees a fig tree with leaves on it, so it should have fruit he can eat. This one does not. It’s also not the season for the tree to have leaves in the first place.

Jesus sees in the tree a symbol of the Temple itself. It has the outward appearance of bearing fruit but is barren, and it does not know its season. Likewise, the temple has become a place of commerce and routine, not realizing that now is the time of the Messiah.

God in Jesus is rejected by creation itself and his very temple, where the worship and prayer of his people ought to be. So Jesus curses this fig tree and clears out the money-changers in the Temple.

This cocktail tries to capture some of these themes. Its name comes from Habakkuk 3: “Though the fig tree does not blossom and no fruit is on the vines…yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the God of my salvation.”

The grape brandy and soft texture hearken to the wine and solemnity of the temple, and the drink’s flavor is like a fig tree in bloom. But all this is–literally–soured by the lemon juice. It’s an unexpected drink that confuses the senses as you discern the flavors and the balance.

“It’s Still Christmas” (a Holy Day Cocktail)

Recipe

Drink Base

• .5oz Brandy
• .5oz Jamaican Rum
• .5oz Dry Curacao
• .25oz Allspice Dram
• 1 dash Angostura Bitters
• .5oz Demerara Syrup

Drink Topping

• 2oz Strong Earl Grey Tea
• 2oz Steamed Oat Milk
• 2 dashes Rose Water (optional)
• Garnish with Grated Cinnamon and Nutmeg

Served hot. Add the spirits, bitters, and demerara syrup to a mug and stir together. Brew the Earl Grey Tea extra hot and extra strong and add 2oz of it to the mug with the spirits. In a separate container, add 2 dashes of Rose Water to the oat milk and steam it. Pour over the drink in the mug and garnish with freshly ground cinnamon and nutmeg.

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I was not raised with the Christian Church Calendar, so imagine my joy when I found out that, historically speaking, Christmas is not just a single day, but a 12-day Christian festival!

And so, to remind us all that Christmas is still going on, I bring you this cocktail–a beautiful hot drink to help us through these darkest days of the year. It is a merger of The Embassy cocktail and the fantastic “S’No Problem” by my favorite cocktail YouTuber, Anders Erickson.

The main flavor note is warm spice, with some dark funk and molasses. The first few sips catch the floral notes of rose, bergamot, and orange. But as the flavors mix, it settles into an almost chamomile flavor that calms and soothes.

The Black Advent (a Holy Day Cocktail)

Recipe

• 1oz Black Rum
• 1oz Brandy
• 1oz Averna
• 2 dashes Chocolate Bitters
• 2 dashes Citrus Bitters
• 1/4tsp Fernet Branca

Stir with ice, and strain neat into a rocks glass. Garnish with two cherries and add some of the juice into glass as well.

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I have been crafting cocktails for Holy Days and seasons for a little bit now, inspired by Michael P. Foley’s amazing Drinking with the Saints, and I’m going to start posting them on the blog.

We begin the Church Calendar with this drink, “The Black Advent”. You would think that celebrating the same seasons every year could get old and dry, but I find each year brings out specific themes and emphases.

This year, it has felt like the pastors and theologians have really emphasized the darkness aspect of Advent–the need to really sit in contemplation, grief, and longing before we get to the joy of Christmas.

For that reason, this year’s Advent cocktail is one for the darkness. It’s a stirred drink served neat (no ice), so that you can sip it’s silky texture for a long while. This isn’t a super boozy drink. It is smooth, dark, and a little sweet.You could easily turn down the sweetness and still have a great drink. It has notes of chocolate, orange peel, and mint.