3 holiday cocktails to try with Canada’s newest craft vodka

Drinks come in all shapes and sizes, but few are quite as adept at evoking those holiday feelings and flavours as cocktails. The process of crafting a cocktail within itself can fuel your creativity and allow you to capture the mood and season in a special way.

This year, as we shake up various concoctions in the kitchen, we’re paying special attention to using local ingredients, like uniquely Canadian Northern Keep Vodka. Made using locally-grown ingredients, like Canada rye and winter wheat, it has a taste that’s distinctly Canadian — the perfect base for wintry cocktails.

Sustainability and land protection are at the core of everything the brand does. Each bottle sold also helps protect five sq ft of ecologically significant land, through their partnership with the Nature Conservancy of Canada. Cocktails for a good cause? Now that’s something we Torontonians can get behind.

So, get ready to shake things up over the holidays with cozy cocktails infused with the comforting and seasonal flavours of Canada’s smooth newest craft vodka.

Apple Harvest

Apple Harvest/@bestdayoftheweek

The subtle citrus and spice of the vodka are a match made in heaven for the soothing flavours of cinnamon, ginger, honey, and apple used to make this pie-inspired cocktail.

Regardless of the frigid weather outside, this cocktail will have you feeling warm and fuzzy on the inside.

Ingredients:

• 1 oz. Northern Keep Vodka
• 1 oz. honey syrup (equal parts honey and water, stirred until dissolved)
• 3 oz. apple cider (hot or cold)
• Ginger beer (for topping)
• Cinnamon stick (for garnish)

Method:

If it’s cold outside and you need the perfect thing to warm up, make this with hot apple cider. Simply combine all of the ingredients in a mug and give a quick stir with a cinnamon stick for garnish.

But, if the fire is roaring and you want to experience a refreshing take on the same great taste, make it with cold apple cider instead. Just mix all the ingredients in a rocks glass filled with ice and give it a quick stir with a cinnamon stick for garnish.

Northern Keep Signature Vodka Soda

Northern Keep Signature Vodka Soda/Northern Keep Vodka

Distilled five times for exceptional smoothness, when it comes to Northern Keep Vodka, most of the work has already been done.

That means you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the natural flavours that steal the show in this simple, but refreshing drink.

Ingredients:

• 1 oz. Northern Keep Vodka
• 3 oz. premium soda water
• Lime/lemon for garnish

Method:

Like the drink, the method is simple.

Fill a glass of your choice with ice. Pour over Northern Keep Vodka, and then top with the premium soda. Finish with a lemon and lime twist for a counterpoint of citrus flavour and colourful garnish.

Rosemary Vodka Sour

Rosemary Vodka Sour/@liqculture

Conceptualized by Toronto-based influencer and cocktail whiz, Monica Carbonell, this vodka sour has everything you could dream of in a winter cocktail, including Drambuie (a whisky liqueur), orange, lemon, and rosemary.

All you need is a shaker (or mason jar), a few easy-to-source ingredients, and you have yourself a fancy and frothy drink.

Ingredients:

• 1.25 oz. Northern Keep Vodka
• 0.25 oz. Drambuie
• 1 oz. orange juice
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. simple syrup
• 1 dash Angostura
• 2 rosemary sprigs
• 1 egg white

Method:

Add all your ingredients into a shaker, without ice (putting aside one rosemary sprig for garnishing). Give the ingredients a vigorous shake to allow the egg whites to foam.

Note, that for the simple syrup, you can simply combine granulated sugar with equal parts boiled water and stir until it’s dissolved and combined.

Open up your shaker and add some ice before giving it another sturdy shake. Then, all that’s left to do is strain your mixture into a glass with some fresh ice and a rosemary sprig for garnish.

Northern Keep is made by the artisans at Alberta Distillers, a proudly Canadian distillery that was recently named Distillery of the Decade at the Canadian Whisky Awards earlier this year.

Give it a try for yourself by grabbing a bottle of Northern Keep Vodka at your neighbourhood LCBO for the holidays — and get shaking!