December 11, 2018

Canadian Christmas Cocktail

Yup, the Christmas posts have begun.

Does this make me behind the times? It is, after all, nearly the middle of December.

My tree’s not up, and I’ve only baked one batch of Christmas cookies so far. It’s possible I’m behind, but I’m honestly not that bothered by it.

Truth is, there are too many other things going on right now. Christmas is going to have to take care of itself. I’m buried in marking, I’m writing press releases like there’s no tomorrow, and scheduling social content for 5 different channels. It’s nutty, kids.

But that’s okay. All of this frenetic energy is going to come to crashing stop when I get on a plane at the end of the week to go somewhere where it’s not raining 24/7. Where it’s warm and sunny.

The problem is, to get to that point, so that I don’t have to worry or work while I’m away, is an immense amount of work.

It’s all gonna be worth it, though!

So let’s have a cocktail, shall we?

I recently started working with Maple Water. Now, you might be wondering (as I was), what the heck is maple water??? Well, my friends, it just might be the most Canadian thing, um… ever.

Basically, when they tap the maple trees in the spring, they are collecting the sap inside the trees. That is maple water. Once they have enough of it, they boil it down and make it in the syrup you know and love on your pancakes. It takes 40 litres of maple water to make one litre of syrup.

But in the meantime, some smarty-pants discovered that this stuff tastes good, and when they had it analyzed, it turns out it contains electrolytes, amino acids, and ABA, a plant hormone that may help to balance blood sugar levels. Basically, if you have been a fan of coconut water, you’re going to love this stuff. If you have not been a fan of coconut water (ie, me), you’re going to love this stuff.

So what can you do with it? It’s great for making coffee (c’mon, now, coffee and maple??!), you can put it in your smoothie, I’ve been using it to make overnight oats. And… cocktails!

For me, this stuff pretty neatly takes the place of a simple syrup. It’s not a sweet, and it has a touch of acidity. I’ve been liking experimenting with it a lot.