Hot drinks for cold nights

by Nicole Lisson
- The Capitol Hill Times - 

Hot drinks are a necessity to ward off the cold during a Seattle winter, and there are plenty of bars and restaurants on Capitol Hill where you can warm up your body temperature. However, there is an art to making a good hot drink. For example, hot chocolate has to be made with milk, not water and preferably with dutch coca powder. After trudging through the rain, I found some of the best hot drinks our neighborhood has to offer, all made with quality ingredients and care.

Columbian Hot Chocolate
The Confectional 
618 Broadway East 
Owner Paul Verano created this recipe for this thick sipping chocolate – a mix of spices that are a closely guarded secret and stirred together with Ghirardelli chocolate and milk. Speaking from experience, it is rich enough to warrant ordering a small, and I am a die-hard chocolate fan. A small shaker filled with cayenne pepper is available on the counter to add a kick to your drink.

The Hot Dickens Cider 
Canon 
928 12th Avenue
Recently voted the best bar on Capitol Hill, this small whiskey and bitters emporium has the feel of an old timey bar. Candles flicker behind the vast selection of alcohol that lines two wall-to-ceiling shelves behind the bar. The Hot Dickens Cider is concocted from gin, apple cider and allspice. It is the perfect drink to welcome in the holidays.

The Bullet
Liberty Bar 
517 15th Avenue East
This off-the-menu cocktail by Liberty bartender Nathan Quiroga is everything you want in a hot drink. A combination of honey, Averna and Green Charteuse warms up your stomach with one sip. It is a well-balanced cocktail that is anything but simple on the palate. Botanical and bittersweet are two ways to describe The Bullet. If you are feeling adventurous, wander into Liberty and ask one of the many talented bartenders to make you a custom cocktail.  You won’t be disappointed.

The Bullet, Liberty Bar
Nicole Lisson / The Capitol Hill Times

Buffalo Cider 
Knee High Stocking Company 
1356 E. Olive Way
This is not your typical bar. It’s a speakeasy, which means you need to send a text to the hostess before you can even enter the establishment. If you do get past the silver door, the small plates of food and the impressive cocktail list will make the exclusivity worth it. The Buffalo Cider is made with Buffalo trace, which has a sweet vanilla oak flavor that pairs well with the apple cider.

Latte  
Espresso Vivace Roasteria 
532 Broadway Avenue East
This wouldn’t be a proper Capitol Hill drink list without featuring at least one coffee-infused item. Vivace is known for their latte art and their freshly roasted coffee beans. The spacious interior on Broadway is a haven for young twenty somethings. Their fingers tapping away on their laptop keyboards add to the soundtrack of Jimi Hendrix blasting over the speakers. While the latte is a standard drink, Vivace makes it with great care. Theirs features incredibly smooth steamed milk and a nice tart note in the finish.