What to Do With the Port You Bought on Impulse This Holiday Season
Holidays are a time of excesses, and excesses are starting to take their toll. Aside from general fatigue and a little bloating, my seasonal craze is starting to fade and it turns out that Christmas Claire may have gone overboard with her food and alcohol purchases (again).
For example, instead of buying a port cheese ball – a superbly processed product found at any grocery store – I made it from scratch. It was good (and appreciated), but the port cheeseball requires port, so now I have an almost full bottle of cheap, super-sweet port in my kitchen, mocking me.
I drank some of it on Christmas Eve and it wasn’t very good (although it was perfect in a grated cheddar and cream cheese ball). I probably cook with it, but I am also thirsty because it is, after all, an alcoholic beverage. Luckily, fruity sweet port mixed with strong bourbon makes a pretty decent old-fashioned drink.
You probably guessed it by now, but this drink should not be made with expensive port. This is for the port and cheeseball or the eight dollar bottle you bought from Trader Joe’s because it felt like a holiday. This is for a port someone brought to your office at a Christmas party that remained closed, so you took it because you are not wasteful.
Port in this context acts like a syrupy sweetener, but it also allows you to say that you are “making a cocktail” – you are not drinking the bound bourbon straight from the bottle yet. And although this is a “cocktail”, it can be made right in a glass, which is good, because whoever has the energy to stir, shake, or any other nonsense. To make it you will need:
- 2 ounces of bourbon spilled in bonds will work too (rye will work as well)
- 1 ounce of the port you bought this holiday season.
- 3 drops of Angostura bitter
Add ice to lowball and pour all ingredients onto ice. Shake the glass or stir it with your finger and enjoy. If you want to add a side dish, a strip of orange peel will do.