This week’s cocktail reminds me of the depictions of a St. Bernard with the little barrel of brandy around its neck coming to rescue me from the avalanche. Speaking of avalanches, the West Virginia legislature has gaveled in for 2026, and that means sixty days of havoc as the time-limited, underpaid, amateur legislature works to get an agenda through the gauntlet of the session. If you are a public affairs official or a journalist, it feels like you’ve been hit by an avalanche—you’ll assuredly be buried for at least sixty days, barring a special session. A barrel of brandy seems rather fitting for a legislative session in Appalachia—I’ve written over at the West Virginia Weakly about brandy’s centrality to Appalachia’s cultural history with Old EP. For those buried in the legislative avalanche, sadly there will be no brandy, the depiction of St. Bernard’s carrying the barrel of brandy around their necks actually comes from a British painting and doesn’t have a basis in the monastery for which they get their name.

Today’s cocktail, a take on a Boston whiskey sour served up, was created by Ash Miyasaki at Let’s Go! Disco in Los Angeles. I found it in Imbibe while searching for recipes that specified tea. You wouldn’t know from this blog, but tea is on equal footing with cocktails in my life. Whether its English breakfast, Oolong, Pu-erh, Matcha, or Gyokuro, I love them all. (Perhaps worth some posts.) This one specifies strong Chai. Morgantown has one of the best tea purveyors in the region, The Tea Shoppe, so I stopped by and chose Nepali Breakfast for the drink. Thank you to Ash for a great cocktail with a distinctive garnish. You don’t see grated zest on a cocktail often, but it’s a great idea. I make it exactly as she specified, except I trade Kikori, which is distilled from rice, for Bourbon (Maker’s Mark). Sadly, my college-town liquor store, with its extensive collection of fruited vodka, doesn’t carry Kikori.

Chill your glass until frigid. In a shaker tin, combine the ingredients, sans garnish, and bring the tin together for a dry shake (no ice). For foam development, it requires a vigorous, prolonged shake, approximately 20–30 counts. Then add ice and shake as usual and shake normally. Fine-strain the drink into your glass and top the knob (a common moniker for a high point in Appalachia and the Ozarks) with grated nutmeg and orange zest. Enjoy.

Glass: Coupe or Nick and Nora

Options: The obvious option here is to revert to Ash’s specification of Kikori. Should you not have Maple syrup on hand, rich simple syrup with a couple of drops of Maple extract will get it done. I think a lot of whiskies work here, including Scotch (a blended Scotch with that “doughy” quality seems particularly good). Stay tuned for a Scottish version in the near future.