A great cocktail is the result of passion and precision.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 oz Apple Cider
• 2 oz Thousand Cranes Sake
• 1 oz Cinna-Simple Syrup
• .75 oz Ruby Port 

Cinna Simple Syrup:

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups water
• Heat in a pot until dissolved
• Add 4 cinnamon sticks and allow to cool
• Take out cinnamon sticks 24 hours later
• Store in an airtight container.

PREPARATION:

• Combine ingredients in a rock glass and stir
• Garnish with a dehydrated apple
• Add ice to create a lighter, fruitier flavor, or leave it straight up to allow more cinnamon notes to surface.

By: Angela Guillory

Ingredients:

• 3 oz Thousand Cranes Sake
• 2 oz White Vermouth Mix
• Lemon Rind

White vermouth mix:

• 2 parts extra dry vermouth (Recommend: Gonzalez Byass extra dry or Dos Deus extra dry)
• 1 part sweet white vermouth (Recommend: Dos Deus White)
• 1/2 part Lilet Blanc

Preparation

• Chill glass
• Combine ingredients in a mixing glass with ice
• stir
• Remove ice from glass and strain into Nick &  Nora glass/coupe
• Important: Express the oils from the lemon rind over the glass, wipe the rim with the rind, and put in or over the glass
• Serve

By: Alex Thaley

Ingredients:

• 3-5 English cucumber ribbons
• 1 pinch salt
• 3/4 oz lemon juice
• 3/4 oz lime juice
• 4 oz Thousand Cranes Sake
• 1.25 oz lemongrass simple syrup
• 1 egg white
• 5-6 dashes of aromatic bitters

lemongrass simple syrup:

• 3-5 crushed lemongrass stalks
• 1 C water
• 1 C sugar
• Bring water and lemongrass to a boil
• Remove from heat
• Steep for a minimum of 2 hours (preferably overnight). Combine lemongrass tea with sugar and return to heat to melt sugar.
• Store in an airtight container with a freshly crushed lemongrass stalk.

Preparation:

• Muddle cucumber with salt and citrus juices.
• Add remaining ingredients and reverse dry shake.
• Double strain into a coupe glass where the oils of both lemon and lime have been expressed and along the outer rim and edge/side of the glass beforehand.
• Spread the dashes of aromatic bitters using a toothpick
• Garnish with a cucumber ribbon.

By: Brenna Sullivan

Ingredients

• 3oz White Lotus sake (gently invert and swirl the bottle before pouring)
• 3oz Cranberry
• 1.5oz brown sugar cinnamon syrup

Brown Sugar Cinnamon syrup

• 2-quarts dark brown sugar
• 1-quart water
• 9 cinnamon sticks
• Simmer for 45 min then chill

Preparation

• Served over ice with a toasted cinnamon stick

By: Tyler Jones

Ingredients

• 2oz White Lotus sake (gently invert and swirl the bottle before pouring)
• 1oz Dolin Genepy
• .75oz Midori Melon
• .75oz Pistachio Orgeat
• .50oz Lemon Juice
• 1oz Calpico Original - found at kroger and amazon
• 2 dashes of Celery Bitters

Pistachio Orgeat

• 50 grams shelled pistachios
• 195g Hot water
• Seeds from 2 cardamom pods
• 165 grams sugar

1. Soak Pistachios in cold water then hot water for 5 minutes each and remove skin/film
2. Add Pistachios, 195g hot water, the seeds from 2 cardamom pods and 165g sugar into blender.
3. Blend until smooth, approx. 90 seconds. strain through fine mesh or nut bag.
4. It’s possible to skip soaking the pistachios in cold/hot water and removing skin, however the orgeat may be more brown than green.

Preparation

• Shake and Strain into footed pilsner glass with crushed ice
• Add a cantaloupe ball garnish

By: Taylor Clark

Ingredients

• 2oz White Lotus sake (gently invert and swirl the bottle before pouring)
• 2 slices fresh apple (about 1/8 of a whole) muddled in a shaking tin
• 2oz Matcha Liquor Mix

Matcha Liquor Mix:

• 2 teaspoon matcha powder
• 1 teaspoon crushed black peppercorns
• 2oz limoncello
• 2oz Grand Marnier
• 2oz Giffard Ginger
• 2oz Midori
• .5oz Lime juice
• 3 dashes of Curry bitters

Preparation

• Long / Hard Shake
• Double strained
• Double OF Glass
• Large Cube of Ice
• Orange coin in middle of cube

By: Lucas Hornerberger

3rd Place Winner of the 2024 Craft Cocktail Challenge

Ingredients

• 3oz Origami White Lotus sake (gently invert and swirl the bottle before pouring)
• .5oz lemon juice
• .5oz Giffard Banane du Bresil
• .5oz Giffard Crème de Cacao

Preparation

• In a shaker tin combine the ingredients
• Shake and strain to a Collins glass
• Fill with crushed ice (if crushed ice is unavailable,  pour the ice from the shaker.)
• Garnish with a cocktail parasol

By: Merrick Fagan

2nd Place Winner of the 2024 Craft Cocktail Challenge

Ingredients

• 2oz White Lotus sake (gently invert and swirl the bottle before pouring)
• 1oz Pisco 
• .5oz pear, ginger, mint syrup
• 2 dashes of bitters

Pear, Ginger & Mint Syrup

• 325g cubed pear (approx. 2 whole pears)
• 25g freshly shredded ginger
• 25 mint leaves (medium-sized)
• 350g sugar
• Method 1 (preferred): Combine all ingredients into a vacuum-sealed bag and place in sous vide bath at 135 F for 2 hours, mixing once or twice throughout by gently rolling the bag in hand. Remove from bath, strain through a fine mesh and refrigerate. Discard solid leftovers, or reserve for ice cream topping, etc.
• Method 2: Combine all ingredients into a sealable container. Let sit at room temperature in a cool, dark space for 48 hours, stirring occasionally. Strain through fine mesh and refrigerate. Discard solid leftovers, or reserve them separately.
• Output: approx. 478g

Preparation

• Stir on ice, and strain into a cold/dry martini glass
• Garnish with a dehydrated pear slice (very thinly slice and pre-treat with citric acid solution or lemon juice and dehydrate at 135 for 6-10 hours until crispy and slightly brittle)

By: Evan Adney

1st Place Winner of the 2024 Craft Cocktail Challenge

INGREDIENTS

• 2oz White Lotus sake (gently invert and swirl the bottle before pouring)
• 2oz cold brew
• 0.5oz vanilla syrup

Preparation

• Shake with ice
• Double strain into a chilled coupe glass
• Garnish with coffee beans

Ingredients:

• 2oz White Lotus (gently invert the bottle 2-3 times before pouring)
• 1oz Honey-Sriracha-Rooibos Syrup*
• .75oz lemon juice
• A spoonful of greek yogurt

Honey-Sriracha-Rooibos Syrup

• 1 Cup Honey
• 1 Cup Water
• 1 tablespoon sriracha
• 1 tablespoon rooibos tea

1. Bring water to low boil.
2. Add honey, sriracha, rooibos
3. Stir until honey is dissolved.
4. Let steep for 10 minutes and strain

Preparation:

• Shake all ingredients
• Strain into rocks glass
• Top with crushed ice
• Garnish with orange wheel

By: Sam Bilyeu