LEFTOVERS PUNCH RECIPE

Making cocktails for a crowd this weekend?
This is the only recipe you need.

This punch is the best possible use for leftover poultry herbs, which you're bound to have after Thanksgiving meal prep. Make a little bundle of stray rosemary, thyme and sage, and plunk it in tart cranberry juice with clove-studded citrus and our vodka for a festive punch.

Mix it up tonight, chill, and set it out just before guests arrive on Thanksgiving. 

LEFTOVERS PUNCH

By Logan Hunter

2⅓ cups Cardinal Spirits Vodka (about ¾ bottle)
1 gallon pure unsweetened cranberry juice
15 cloves
2 oranges, sliced
1 cup sugar
1 whole vanilla bean, sliced lengthwise, or 1 ounce vanilla extract
Poultry blend herbs (1 sprig each of sage, rosemary, thyme)

Combine all ingredients in a punch bowl and stir to dissolve sugar. Refrigerate and let chill overnight so that flavors meld. Strain if desired before serving.

CRAFTPACK, VOL. 11

Links that make you go Hmmm.

3 outstanding cocktails to make with Nocino, our new walnut liqueur.

Would you rather breathe in booze or drink it?

Here's what graced Gourmet magazine's covers decades ago this month: wassail in December 1953, eggnog in December 1943, and a glass of brandy in December 1941.

This is kind of a big deal.

If you're into snagging cocktail ingredients in the wild, then put this Forager's Cocktails recipe book on your wish list. 

HOLIDAY GIFT BOXES ARE HERE

A short list of people in your life who will love a Cardinal Spirits holiday gift box:

Mom.
Postman.
Your receptionist.
Friendsgiving host.
Uncle Steve.
Bestie.
Frenemy.
Aziz Ansari.
Julie and Jason, who just had a baby.
That guy you want to impress.
Your kid's teacher.
Ryan and Lauren, who just bought a house.
That federal agent, who keeps asking all those questions.
Your paleo friend.
That account you want to win.

Our holiday gift boxes are HERE! Available at the distillery only, starting Friday, through the holidays for as long as they last (probably not that long). To be safe: You can pre-order them right this second.

Even the actual cardboard boxes are local — they were manufactured in Columbus, Ind., at Columbus Container Corp. Locally made products in locally made packaging — it does not get more local than that, folks. 

Here's what we've got:

Gift Box 1
Set of 3 half-size bottles of Vodka, Tiki Rum and Standard Dry Gin

Gift Box 2
Set of 3 half-size bottles of Vodka, Songbird Craft Coffee Liqueur and Songbird Flora

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Songbird Coffee Kit
Full-size bottle of Songbird Craft Coffee Liqueur and two glass coffee mugs

Moscow Mule Kit
Full-size bottle of Vodka and two pure copper mugs

Video by Anna Powell Teeter

MEET OUR CREW: KEVIN HINKLE

We've got a spectacular crew here at Cardinal Spirits, and we'd like you to meet everybody one by one. Today, get to know Kevin, one of our wonderful bartenders.

KEVIN HINKLE

HOMETOWN
Portage, Ind.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU LIVED IN BLOOMINGTON?
4 years

BEST PART ABOUT LIVING HERE?
I like the people. This town is chock-full of talented, hard-working individuals...
and a great selection of food.

FAVORITE DRINK?
Any IPA I can get my hands on.

GO-TO DRINK AT CARDINAL?
Zelda's Return... so good.

FIRST JOB?
Throughout middle school and high school a couple friends and I ran a highly successful lawn care company. Our only clients were my friend's stepmom and her boss.

MAKE A PREDICTION ABOUT THE FUTURE:
I have a good feeling about John Stewart moving to HBO.

FAVORITE CEREAL?
Great Grains Cranberry Almond Crunch

IF YOU COULD HAVE A DRINK WITH ANYONE…
I'd love to have a drink and play a round of golf with Chevy Chase in Caddyshack

FIND KEVIN
On Instagram @kevinhinkle  |  On Facebook

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MICHELLE GOTTSCHLICH

ALEX UTTER

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CHRIS RESNICK

ALYVIA CAIN

CRAFTPACK, VOL. 10

Links that make you go Hmmm.

If you dig signature cocktails or have a penchant for punch, then you'll love our Holiday Spirits + Cocktails for a Crowd class this Wednesday. (Free bottle of your favorite Cardinal spirit for signing up!)

Speaking of entertaining: it's fun to peruse these vintage punch bowls from the legendary (and local) Indiana Glass company. And - another pretty punch set.

20 fall wines under $20 is a handy list!

Anatomy of the hot cocktail. 

NOCINO SOUR COCKTAIL RECIPE

We can’t get enough of this cocktail during fall and winter. It’s just right for colder months: Naturally warming, and holiday-ish without being holiday-ish, you know what we mean? The star spirit is Nocino, a green walnut liqueur that we release every November.

If you want to know more about how we made this special liqueur, it's all right here, from walnut to bottle.

NOCINO SOUR

Makes 1 cocktail

1.5 ounces Cardinal Spirits Nocino
3/4 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce demerara syrup
1/4 ounce sweet vermouth
3 dashes Angostura bitters

 Shake all ingredients well with ice, then strain into a coupe glass.

MORE NOCINO COCKTAIL RECIPES:

WALNUT MANHATTAN

MILK PUNCH

MILK PUNCH RECIPE

Milk Punch is one of those cocktails with a name that is not helping its image. A punch, made of milk? Hmmm.

"Oh, I'll try just a sip of yours," you'll say cautiously to a friend. "I don't think I could finish a whole one." 

But then you sip this creamy, dreamy, frothy little concoction and it becomes immediately clear that you could finish a whole one ... maybe a few whole ones, actually.

A classic milk punch is brandy or bourbon, milk, sugar and vanilla, shaken until ice cold.

Our rum-based version, created by Cardinal bartender Chris Resnick, is one of the best twists on a milk punch that we've ever had. It calls for a splash of Nocino, the smooth, earthy green-walnut liqueur that we are releasing this Saturday.  (Join us, won't you? Free samples, special cocktails, bottle sales.) Even though this cocktails is steps away from a milkshake, the nocino adds a kind of warmth that you'll love.

MILK PUNCH

By Chris Resnick

Makes 1 cocktail

1.5 ounce Cardinal Spirits Tiki Rum
3/4 ounce Cardinal Spirits Nocino
1 ounce heavy cream
large spoonful of apple preserves

Shake all ingredients vigorously with ice, then strain into a glass with ice.

WALNUT MANHATTAN COCKTAIL RECIPE

Nocino, our newest spirit arriving this Saturday, is definitely delicious all on its own. It is, after all, a digestif, meant to be sipped neat after a meal. But Nocino is fun to play around with in cocktails, too— it can be that subtle twist that makes a drink memorable.

Take the Manhattan. You've had dozens of them. But have you had one with Nocino? The warm, earthy notes of Nocino are right at home in this classic cocktail, adding a lusciousness that makes this drink appeal to even those who wouldn't normally order a Manhattan. 

It's a perfect signature cocktail for your annual holiday dinner with friends — say, Friendsgiving? Nocino will be available by the bottle at the distillery only starting Saturday. 

WALNUT MANHATTAN

By Chris Resnick

Makes 1 cocktail

1.5 oz Cardinal Spirits White Oak Whiskey
3/4 oz Cardinal Spirits Nocino
1/2 oz sweet vermouth
dash of bitters

Stir gently with ice, then strain into a cold glass.

RSVP TO NOCINO RELEASE DAY

OUR NEXT RELEASE: NOCINO

A digestif, or a spirit that is sipped after dinner, is a ritual that we can get on board with this time of year — just a little pour of something special that warms you from head to toe.

Our newest spirit, nocino, is exactly that.

Nocino is a traditional Italian liqueur made with green, unripe walnuts. For our version, we harvested walnuts right here in Indiana, then combined them with our vodka and spices, and let that steep for months. The result: A luscious, mellow, earthy elixir that has this wonderful, naturally warming quality. It's meant for this time of year.

A 375ml bottle is $25, and with the holidays coming up, it makes the perfect host gift: It's local, unusual and easy to drink. So, one for you, and one to share, perhaps? 

As far as we can tell, this is the first Indiana amaro (a.k.a. an Italian after-dinner drink). You can sip our nocino neat, mix it into cocktails or pour it over ice cream. 

This is a special spirit for us. It all started with this walnut tree and its bounty:

The tree belongs to Cardinal Spirits co-founder Adam Quirk's uncle- and aunt-in-law, Walt and Barb Schroeder, of Fort Wayne. Walt's walnut trees are volunteer seedlings from his own aunt and uncle in Ohio. Walt remembers the young trees were about a pencil's width and 2 feet tall when he planted them. Fast forward many years, to Adam and his wife, Jessica, and some of their family, loading several baskets with green walnuts from this big, plentiful tree. 

Nocino is something that many Italians would traditionally make from scratch to have on hand for family and friends. Cardinal Spirits co-founder Rick Dietz researched those family recipes and translated them from Italian. The instructions offered great tid-bits, surely from some knowledgable Nonnas, on when to harvest the walnuts (on June 24, the Feast of St. John the Baptist), how long to age them (many recipes say at least 40 days, but one said exactly 48), what to add in (cinnamon, cloves and lemon peel are common) and agitation techniques (stir the walnuts for two minutes at a time, every few days, with a dedicated wooden spoon).

We made our nocino the old-fashioned way. We quartered the walnuts, then submerged them in vodka along with spices, and left to steep for months. Over time, the mixture got darker and darker.

Last week, we took a trip to Burton's Maplewood Farm in Medora, Ind., to get the last ingredient for our nocino — maple syrup. Burton's syrup is legendary, and it's the perfect foil to bitterness from the walnuts.

Now all that's left to do is fire up the bottling line and fill, fill, fill. We can't wait for you to try our newest spirit starting Saturday! 

CRAFTPACK, VOL. 9

Links that make you go Hmmm.

Cool Material gave our exclusive whiskey glasses a little love last week. 

How 14 common cocktails got their names.

Brew your coffee with vinegar. Um, whatnow?

A kitschy, dive bar-ish take on the Mexican bulldog. Yay or nay?

Spilling secrets: Did you catch our video on how we make our Songbird Craft Coffee Liqueur?