Walk In The Woods
John Berens John Berens

Walk In The Woods

[#ad] We are officially halfway through the @catanpisco and @settlersofcatan series today! This drink brings you pisco in an Old Fashioned format. This is a style you don’t often see with pisco, so definitely give this a try because it’s delicious! The inspiration is the Wood resource card, combined with the fact that the late founder of Settlers, Klaus Teuber, was known to enjoy exploring the outdoors.

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Berry Versatile
John Berens John Berens

Berry Versatile

It’s officially the Summer of Strawberry. For one, little kids go through more fruit than several grown men, and currently we’re on a strawberry kick in our house. This inevitably means the occasional batch of strawberries about to go bad, which is actually the best kind for syrups and the like. To that end, I made a strawberry rhubarb ginger shrub that is amazing (full recipe on my website, link in bio) and good in everything I’ve tried it in so far.

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Heated Negotiations
John Berens John Berens

Heated Negotiations

I’m back for the fourth chapter of the @catanpisco and @settlersofcatan collaboration! If you’ve ever played the game, this is probably a familiar scene: you want to build a City, but your opponent is refusing to give you the resources you need (at a fair price, that is). Things get tense, even a little spicy. This drink is just the diplomatic juice the situation needs.

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Manhattan Old Fashioned
John Berens John Berens

Manhattan Old Fashioned

I’m excited to share the first of a couple drinks featuring an amazing Colorado-based distillery, @lawswhiskey. I had the chance to meet some of their team recently and they kindly sent some of their amazing whiskey. There are also some cool personal ties to their story that I’ll share during my next post. To start things off, I wanted to keep it simple, but of course with a twist.

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Year Of Plenty
John Berens John Berens

Year Of Plenty

Drink number 3 of the @catanpisco and @settlersofcatan collaboration is a riff on the classic pisco sour (pisco, citrus, sugar, egg white). The inspiration was the Development Card named “Year of Plenty”, which made me think of Thanksgiving. To make a pisco sour fit for the holiday, I brought in cranberry, orange, and cardamom— a tried and true flavor combination.

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Just Add Chips
John Berens John Berens

Just Add Chips

When I first heard about San Miguel Southwestern Gin that @old_harbor was going to send me— full of lime, cilantro, and cucumber, among other botanicals— I immediately thought of salsa. But how could I bring in salsa into a cocktail? I’m curious to hear others’ approach here, but I went with a shrub.

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Great Rinds Think Alike
John Berens John Berens

Great Rinds Think Alike

I love the Drinkstagram community— among many things, it’s a great place for inspiration. My talented, creative, and hilarious buddy @highalcoholcontent recently posted a super cool drink with clarified watermelon vodka and fino sherry. That combination makes so much sense and sounds amazing, so I had to try it. I don’t have a centrifuge (or an awesome Dremel-fuge equivalent), so instead I made a low-ABV hack.

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Grapes & Grain
John Berens John Berens

Grapes & Grain

Today I have drink #2 in my Catan & Catan series, highlighting an amazing Chilean pisco (@catanpisco) and the classic board game, Settlers of Catan (@settlersofcatan).

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Jalpearzu
John Berens John Berens

Jalpearzu

I’m really feeling the summer-y drinks lately, and this one is no exception. At first glance, it might read “heavy” with whisky and brandy in the mix, but the versatility of this lighter Japanese whisky is on full display here and serves as the sturdy anchor that allows this juicy, flavorful highball to come to life.

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Ten Points To Victory
John Berens John Berens

Ten Points To Victory

Today’s drink includes some scenery that some of you may recognize— yes, those are Victory Point cards from the modern classic Settlers of Catan (@settlersofcatan). I’m a huge board game nerd (shocking, I know) and love the Settlers series, so I was incredibly excited to create a themed drink using a delicious pisco that goes by the same name. @Catanpisco is Chilean, single grape, double distilled, and is delicious, clean, floral, delicate yet complex, and as good neat as is cocktails. I appreciate them sharing a bottle with me and I’m excited to make some more themed drinks down the road to celebrate the Catan & Catan collaboration!

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