Date: January 4, 2021 | Story: Stephanie Maxwell Newton | Photography: Rett Peek |
Shaken or Stirred: Cozy up with a cocktail made with Fox Trail Distillery’s coffee liqueur
Fox Trail Distillery is more than your average distillery. While distilling, aging, and bottling multiple lines takes place at its Rogers headquarters, what sets this producer apart is its on-site bar. Here, carefully crafted seasonal cocktail menus allow patrons to sample the brand’s products in interesting ways. “As a bartender, I’m always trying to curate an experience that either explores new possibilities or revives cherished memories,” says beverage director Brendon Glidden. “As a spirits producer, we have the ability to achieve those goals on a larger scale.” To this end, Brendon and the staff at Fox Trail are constantly playing around with ingredients to create new cocktails that “contextualize their products,” he says.
A former barista, Brendon finds Fox Trail’s Oak & Bean cold brew coffee liqueur to be a particularly good option for experimentation. “Oak & Bean not only provides the characteristics of a nice cup of coffee, but the addition of
ex-bourbon barrel aging and the variety of spices mean it works well in a number of warm and cozy cocktails suitable for everything from brunch to dessert,” he says.
Want to taste test Oak & Bean from the comfort of home? Add a bottle to your bar cart and give one of their staff favorites, the Sneaky Peat, a try. “My advice for folks getting into preparing cocktails at home is to stay curious,” Brendon says.
Brunch Beverage
The Breakfast of Champions features Oak & Bean alongside oat milk and falernum, a liqueur with nutty, spicy notes. While the drink is served in a glass milk carton with chocolate-covered espresso beans at Fox Trail, it’s equally enjoyable sipped from a standard rocks glass at home.
Fox Trail’s Americano is a take on the classic negroni. Find the recipes for both the Americano and the Breakfast of Champions on our blog (athomearkansas.com/blog).
RECIPE
Sneaky Peat
SHOP
1 ounce Fox Trail’s Oak & Bean coffee liqueur
1 ounce whiskey
1 ounce Cynar amaro bitters
orange peel
star anise, for garnish
ice
PREPARE
Combine liqueur, whiskey, and bitters over ice. Stir until contents are chilled. Strain cocktail into a chilled piece of stemware. Using your thumbs and forefingers, face the outer surface of the orange peel toward the cocktail and squeeze a crease into it lengthwise. (This is called “expressing” the orange peel. The result is a spritz of orange oils that settle across the surface of the cocktail.) Discard orange peel. Garnish with star anise and serve.
