Warm your bones with some hot Latino Cocktails!

Winter has arrived and it’s really, crazily, bone-chillingly cold in DC. In fact, weather people predict that this Saturday for our Three Kings Day Celebration (3-6pm) will be one of the coldest DC has seen in years. The ten day forecast looks more appropriate for Canada than the U.S. Capital.

But, there’s a silver-lining to this frostbite inducing weather: an excuse to drink super delicious, latin inspired warm cocktails! We’re whipping up a batch of Vino Navegado tomorrow to share with you as part of out #DailyCata!

What is this “Vino Navegado,” you ask? It’s basically the Chilean version of mulled wine, a warm, spiced drink based on vino. If you love it after trying it in store, or just want something to warm yourself up with, here’s the recipe:

3 Orange peel slices

1 slice of Orange

2 sticks of cinnamon

1 tbs grated or ground nutmeg

3 whole cloves

½ - 1 ½ cups white sugar (to taste; we went with ¾ of a cup for our recipe)

1 bottle medium to heavy red wine (use fairly good stuff, but don’t go overboard)

Combine ingredients in a medium saucepan (make sure to squeeze the orange slice). Put on medium heat until right before it boils (it’s not the end of the world if you take it all the way to boiling, but it’s not ideal). Lower heat and cover for 15 mins. The longer you let it simmer, the more the spiced flavor you’ll get. Hint: for a bit more kick, add 1 oz of brandy to each serving.

Now, we all know that there’s no shortage of warm cocktail ideas, so here are couple more to get your creative brain spinning:

Hot Toddy - This is the drink featured in the picture for this post. Usually the recipe calls for either scotch or brandy, but we think our latino twist of using Santa Teresa Añejo rum works even better! Combine in the glass 2 oz Santa Teresa Anejo Rum, 4 oz hot water, ½ honey and a freshly squeezed lemon wedge. Garnish with a lemon wheel.

Hot Buttered Rum - The definition of decadent. Take copious amounts of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice, mix with warm (but not melted) butter, then drop a spoonful into hot dark rum. Go for spiced rum to up the flavor level to “cozy.”

Spiked hot chocolate - We've got a wonderful cocoa powder from Bolivia called "El Ceibo." Just mix with milk and add sugar, because its not pre-sweetened. Your choice on what to spike it with...but we do have a suggestion: 2 oz of Vecchio Amaro del Capo. Ironically, the label says “serve chilled,” but its heavenly in piping-hot hot chocolate!

Puerto Rican Coquito - Co-founder Pedro's own take of a traditional recipe learned from his beloved grandmother, Idalina. Coquito means holiday in a glass, celebration with family and friends. The recipe is a family secret but many people ask him to share it and here it goes...with a twist.

(1) can of condensed milk, (1) can of coconut milk,  (1/2) can evaporated milk, (2 1/2) teaspoons of ground cinnamon, (2 1/2) teaspoons of vanilla extract, 1 1/4 cup of Puerto Rican Rum (Don Q Cristal) and (2) egg yolks. Put all ingredients in a blender and let blend 5-7 minutes. Then let rest in your fridge for at least 4 hours. Shake well and serve in a rock glass with a cinnamon stick for garnish. 

Weather’s what you make of it, right? At least, that’s what we’re telling ourselves to get through this cold spell!