The Maca-Bee Cocktail
Image by Courtesy of The Sipping Seder
During Hanukkah, there’s nothing like a nice cocktail to wash down the epic amounts of fried food. Rob Corwin and Danny Jacobs, who created the popular Sipping Seder have come to the holiday rescue once again with their newest Maca-bee Cocktail, a mix of bourbon, honey syrup, lemon juice, and macadamia nut liqueur. “The Maca-bee Cocktail takes its name from a crossing of macadamia nuts (i.e., “maca”) and honey (i.e., “bee”),” they explain on their website. “It’s a bit more tongue in cheek than the drinks on our Passover list, but no less delicious.”
Their latest cocktail came about as a request from friends who enjoyed the Sipping Seder and wanted something similar for their holiday party. Corwin and Jacobs teased that “At Hanukkah we serve only flaming drinks. How’s your insurance?” While that was a joke, it did put the wheels in motion for a Hanukkah-themed drink. “We toyed around with actually putting together a list of eight flaming drinks,” says Corwin, “but it just felt too involved to be practical for most folks at such a busy time of year. Instead we decided to focus on crafting a single signature drink for the celebration. We wanted it to be accessible, seasonal and exceedingly sippable.”
Once they came up with the name, the rest of the drink fell into place as they realized that honey and macadamia nuts are a natural pairing. Like all of their cocktails, the Maca-bee went through extensive testing before Corwin and Jacob were happy with the result. They started with gin but quickly switched to whisky and settled on Redemption High-Rye bourbon as the perfect base. They warn that the macadamia liqueur can overpower other flavors so it’s important to use it sparingly. “The resulting drink is an interesting balance of flavors,” explains Corwin. “It’s bright and cheery, but with a nice wintery warm finish to it.”
They admit that this drink is more playful than the reflective selection in the Sipping Seder, “but that somehow seemed fairly fitting for Hanukkah.” L’chaim!
The Maca-bee Cocktail
Yield: 1 cocktail
2 ounces Redemption High-Rye Bourbon
¼ ounces honey syrup (two parts honey to 1 part water)
¼ ounces lemon Juice
1 teaspoon Trader Vic’s Macadamia Nut Liqueur
Lemon peel
1) Combine all ingredients and shake with ice.
2) Fine strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
3) Twist a swatch of lemon peel over the top and drop into the glass.
Courtesy of The Sipping Seder
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