As the cold of winter begins to blanket the Pacific Northwest, so too does the fluffy gray fog that the region is often known for. Though dreary, the weather here has been an inspiration for many things and is said to be the birth place of the popular café drink, the London Fog. In turn, Seattle restaurant Local 360 uses this drink as the source of inspiration for its very own Fremont Fog Cocktail.
The Fremont Fog is the brainchild of Local 360 bartender James Germain, a 10-year vet of the bartending world. Despite his seasoned history of mixing delicious cocktails, he says Local 360 is the first bar to really push him to be creative and invent his own drinks on a daily basis, some of which end up on the menu.
Germain’s ideal winter cocktail features a balance of fruit and spice, which he achieves in the Fremont Fog. He also splashes in enough vodka so that it’s “not going to knock you off your feet, but it gives it a little extra pep.” The drink is even further balanced out with a house-made vanilla simple syrup and is all tied together with the creaminess and foamy texture of the steamed milk.
“It was kind of a cold, foggy day outside and I thought to myself, ‘Oh, this would be a good day for a London Fog,’” Germain says. “I decided play around with it and I added vodka from a distillery in Fremont called Mischief, so I decided to call it the ‘Fremont Fog.’ We used an orange-lavender grey tea instead of a regular grey tea, just to give it some extra charm.”
The Fremont Fog is also fairly versatile. It could make for a great brunch or breakfast cocktail—the most important cocktail of the day—or be served after dinner and/or with dessert because of its sweeter notes. Either way you drink it, the cocktail should be appreciated for its simplicity. “It’s basically a classic drink modified in a simple way, which I think makes for a good cocktail,” Germain says. “Seattle seems to get really pretentious with its mixology, which is a lot of fun, but sometimes it’s cool just to keep it simple.”
Check out the recipe for the Fremont Fog cocktail below, and in case you missed our previous installments of Holiday Cocktail Central, click here for the Gingerbread Flip and here for the Toffaha Toddy.
Fremont Fog Cocktail
Ingredients:
1 ounce Fremont Mischief Vodka
½ ounce vanilla syrup
1 bag Flying Bird Botanicals Orange-Lavender Grey Tea
½ cup hot water
½ cup steamed milk
Directions:
Pour hot water in snifter or mug. Add vodka and vanilla syrup. Add tea bag and steep for a few minutes. Remove tea bag, add steamed milk, stir. Pour foam on top and garnish with loose tea leaves.
