Holiday on the Rocks

The Mixologist:

Todd Appel, Bartender/Mixologist, Chicago, IL

Balance and simplicity his base philosophy, Todd’s been behind the bar for nine years and now does cocktail and bar consulting and events. He loves cooking and mixing and putting good things together to create delicious bites and sips.

The Backstory:

Todd first tasted rompope when he was a kid staying with a Mexican family for a few months in 1976, and he wanted to use it in a kind of añejo alexander/egg nog cocktail — staying simple and delicious. He made a version of his Papa Nöel cocktail two years ago at a Tres Generaciones event celebrating three generations of mixologists: Tony Abou Ganim, Bridget Albert, and Todd Appel.

For this drink you’ll really want a barrel-aged spirit and all the natural deep flavors you get from barrel aging like chocolate, almond, fig and vanilla.

Two recipes for this drink follow. A homemade-from-scratch version and a quicker one made with readily available Rompope Coronado.

The homemade rompope has a hand-crafted almond-orgeat/horchata and vanilla bean extract to accent the barrel-aged tequila flavors even more. The base spirit is usually rum. That’s where the rom in rompope comes from. We substituted a quality aged tequila for amazing results.

The Cocktail:

Papa Nöel

Homemade rompope and barrel-aged tequila are the star ingredients of Todd Appel’s signature holiday cocktail. It can be made ahead for holiday parties and will keep in the fridge for several weeks.

• 1 quart whole milk
• 1 cup cane sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• Almond orgeat
• 12 egg yolks
• 2 1/2 cups quality añejo or reposado tequila (Don Julio, Tres Generaciones, Olmeca Altos)

1. Add milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and orgeat to large sauce pan.
2. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Add egg yolks to a mixing bowl. With a ladle, add hot milk to egg yolks a little at a time while whisking it in. This will keep the eggs from curdling with the hot milk. Once it’s all incorporated, pour this mixture back into the sauce pan and simmer while stirring. The mixture will thicken. When it coats a spoon, it’s done, about 10 minutes.
4. Pour into bowl or other and allow to cool. Add tequila. You can place this into bottles or other container in the refrigerator. It will be a nice creamy yellow color.
5. Serve over ice or shaken and served up with fresh grated cinnamon.

Papa Nöel — Quick Version

Todd Appel’s streamlined version of the hand-crafted Papa Nöel includes pre-made Rompope — it’s delicious — for moments when speed counts. The drink can also be made in a large batch and kept in fridge for entertaining.

• 2 ounces Tres Generaciones Añejo Tequila
• 1/2 ounce Rich Cinnamon-Almond Syrup
• 2 ounces Coronado Rompope Vanilla Egg Liqueur

1. Serve over ice or shake and serve up in a cocktail glass with fresh grated cinnamon.

Rich Cinnamon-Almond Syrup

Todd Appel’s signature sweetener for the holidays. It’s great for toddies and hot spiked apple cider.

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• Almonds, blanched and ground

1. Simmer water and sugar in a sauce pan until sugar has dissolved.
2. Add cinnamon sticks and almonds to syrup. Simmer on low for another 20 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Allow to cool, and strain almonds and cinnamon from syrup. Can be stored in fridge for several weeks.