Drinking what you write

January 4

I met some liquor publicists at Soho Cantina West. I had just finished writing a feature on winter cocktails, and was glad to sample some more of them. Winter-themed cocktails, I wrote, tend to be hot, or rich (or both) or use ingredients that invoke the season, either by actually being in season during the winter, like pomegranate and citrus, or by seeming wintry, like vanilla or pine (yes, pine; there's a pine-infused vodka at Aquavit, in case you're curious and in New York).
So Soho Cantina's Café Galante with Mexican coffee, cinnamon, orange and coffee liqueurs and cream fit the bill. The Golden Orchid had that same orange liqueur, vanilla cognac, mint, orange juice and simple syrup, served with crushed ice. So it supported my thesis, too.
I chatted with the publicists and, briefly, with Marina Cashdan, Lifestyle Editor of Z!nk, who popped in but soon had to leave to see a friend's play. It happens.
We snacked on braised pork with sautéed spaghetti squash. The braising liquid contained that same orange liqueur, and I have to admit that it was really only at that point that I realized which alcohol the publicists were representing that day. I'd last talked to them about Beaujolais Nouveau.
I respect a mellow pitch. In fact, after sampling those items I was encouraged to have a jalapeño margarita, simply because it tasted good. If it had that orange liqueur in it, no one told me.
As we left one of the publicists slipped me a mini-bottle of gin, another client.