Nopa staff spiritual tasting: The Republic

Heather is so good

Staff “spiritual” tasting at Nopa

If there are two things we have a lot of at the apartment right now it’s pineapple and open bottles of Italian wine. Therefore, I have created a special wine cooler as an ode to my funky roomate Simi (who is frantically working on her Capstone project at the moment).

Get our your fancy, weird wine glass that you only use when the good ones have run out at a party. You know the one I’m talking about. Fill it with ice (crushed ice might be nice!)

To a shaker full of ice, add:

• 3 oz of Arneis (or whatever Italian white you have open)
• 1 oz of fresh pineapple juice
• 3/4 oz of Meyer lemon juice (standard lemon would be fine, too)
• 3/4 oz of Tito’s vodka (or your preferred local option)
• 1 sprig of fresh rosemary
• a dash of Angostura bitters
• a splash of honey simple syrup (regular simply syrup would be fine)

Shake it. Strain into the prepared glass and float Izze clementine soda on top. Garnish with a pineapple wedge and hand over to your buddy with the rest of the bottle of Arneis. And maybe some other snacks for her cram sesh.

My roomate requested a drink to help her unwind from a stressful interview. This is what I came up with:

Escape from Yountville Fizz

• 2 oz gin (I used 209 Gin)
• 3/4 oz Lillet
• juice of one white grapefruit (about 1 1/2 oz)
• two dashes of grapefruit bitters
• tonic water

Combine the first four ingredients in a shaker over ice and shake for about 10 seconds. Strain into a lowball glass filled with ice and float tonic water on top. Then go watch Modern Family or something.

My layered drink(more for appearance than taste): Chambord, Galliano, Midori, Plum eau de vie, Maker’s mark… Again, just to experiment with layering.

Napa Rose Cocktail

Time to sample

The cachaca line up

Cachaca batidas ingredients