Walk through the Woods

A few years ago, against the judgement of our friends and loved ones, we took a trip to Germany and Italy in the dead of winter. “It’s too cold, go somewhere else” they said. “No” we said. My wife is nothing if not determined, and she was fixated on experiencing the Christmas markets in their splendor. We rented a two seat Mercedes and had only a loose agenda. Hitting a new city, and often a new country, nearly every day, we started our trip cruising from Munich to Neuschwanstein, the magical castle, and into Austria. Passing through Austria, we wondered if we could make it into Italy before sunset. We went for it, and drove to Bolzano, where we encountered our second incredible Christmas market.

The markets in both Bolzano and Munich were fueled by Glühwein. Warm, sweet, a hint of citrus, cheap red wine and aspirating brandy, we downed a few cups and felt warm inside, With the temperature hovering around freezing, it really hits the spot. 

Now that it’s starting to get cold… well relatively cold… can’t really complain about cold in San Francisco, I find myself getting lazier and gravitating toward simple, warm recipes. The Walk through the Woods is simple to make, can be made in bulk for party guests, and captures the season in a mug.

You will go through a the schnapps alarmingly quickly so make sure you stock up. One bottle will only make roughly 2 mugs!

Ingredients

• 6 oz Appel Schnapps (Schönauer Apple Liqueur highly recommended)
• .5 oz Amaro (Bruto Americano well)
• A few Pinches of Cinnamon

Glass

Mug

Instructions

• Add all ingredients except cinnamon to a thick bottomed sauce pan
• Heat until it starts steaming.
• Top the mixture with cinnamon
• Pour the drink from sauce pan into mug(s)
• Garnish with cinnamon stick and serve