The Brandy Bar + Cocktails

Main Content

NC Spirits, LLC dba The Brandy Bar Private Social Club

We hope you'll enjoy our one of a kind business where we have created an air of togetherness, mutual respect, and love of the Western North Carolina Mountains. These are the shared commonalities that bring us together as a Social Club. Brandy Bar members are truly North Carolina Spirits.

Recent Posts

Wed – 12/6 $5 brandy pour & Thurs 12/7 – 4-9 PM – 12 days of Christmas cocktails

By

Wed 12/6 – 4-9 PM – $5 special on a straight pour of two of your favorite brandies: Ginger Brandy -sweet ginger with a hint of brandy –a smooth sensation with floral notes. or Vanilla Cognac. -Meuknow cognac flavored with vanilla – Sweet vanilla notes. highlighted by a smooth cognac. It’s time to be sipping on a nice brandy and enjoying our moderate Carolina winter.

Thurs 12/7 – 4-9 PM – 12 Days of Christmas Cocktails Part I -In 567, the Council of Tours “proclaimed the twelve days from Christmas to Epiphany (traditionally 6 January) as a sacred and festive season, and established the duty of Advent fasting in preparation for the feast.” Christopher Hill, as well as William J. Federer, states that this was done in order to solve the “administrative problem for the Roman Empire as it tried to coordinate the solar Julian calendar with the lunar calendars of its provinces in the east. Traditionally the 12 days of Christmas begin December 25 through January 5 (although some celebrations begin December 26 thru January 6).

The traditions of the Twelve Days of Christmas have been nearly forgotten in the United States. Contributing factors include the popularity of the stories of Charles Dickens in nineteenth-century America, with their emphasis on generous giving; introduction of secular traditions in the 19th and 20th centuries, especially the American version of Santa Claus, and increase in the popularity of secular New Year’s Eve parties. Presently, the commercial practice treats December 25th as the last day of the “Christmas” marketing season, as the numerous “after-Christmas” sales” that commence on 26 December demonstrate. The commercial calendar has encouraged an erroneous assumption that the Twelve Days end on Christmas Day and must therefore begin on 14 December.

   Some who celebrate the Twelve Days may give gifts on each of them, with each of the Twelve Days representing a wish for a corresponding month of the new year. We may feast on traditional foods and otherwise celebrate the entire time through the morning of the 25th. Contemporary traditions include lighting a candle for each day, singing the verse of the corresponding day from the famous English carol written in 1780 titled The Twelve Days of Christmas and lighting a yule log on Christmas Eve and letting it burn some more on each of the twelve nights. For some, the 12th night remains the night of the most festive parties and exchanges of gifts. Some households exchange gifts on the first (25 December) and last (5 January) days of the Twelve Days.

   What better way to celebrate the Christmas countdown with our 12 cocktails – 6 this week and the remaining 6 on December 21st. Always remember that the best way to spread Christmas cheer is drinking cocktails when friends are near.

12 Days of Christmas Part I Cocktails: 12 Drummers Drumming – Apple brandy, rum, cranberry juice, ginger beer; 11 Pipers piping – Spiced apple brandy served warm; 10 Lords a leaping- CB Frost, rum, pineapple juice, lime juice, orange juice, grenadine, sprite; 9 Ladies Dancing – Applejack, gin, grenadine, sour mix; 8 Maids a milking – CB Frost, amaretto, heavy cream; 7 Swans swimming –  CB Frost, Chambord, blackberries, Champagne topper;  1/2 price on Cognac flight 

Reminder on Dec. 12/12 – NC Writers Network returns – 7-9 PM and December 12/19 – Songwriter Sessions returns 7-9 PM so come join us to relax during all that Christmas shopping! 

Wed – 11/29 – eggnog special & Thurs – 11/30 – 4-9 PM – Coffee Cocktails

By

Wed. 11/29 – 4-9 PM – We are celebrating the beginning of the holiday season with our very special eggnog – a homemade custard of eggs, milk, and spices. This is a cooked custard – not raw eggs. This will be a first come, first serve so get here early!

Thurs 11/30 – 4-9 PM – Coffee cocktails – “Coffee – the favorite drink of the civilized world.” – Thomas Jefferson. The history of  coffee dates back to 850 AD, and possibly earlier with a number of reports and legends surrounding its first use. The word “coffee” entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch koffie, borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish kahve, in turn borrowed from the Arabic gahwah. Ancestors of today’s Oromo people in a region of Oromia Ethiopia were the first to cultivate coffee plant and recognize the energizing effect of the coffee. There is also evidence of either coffee drinking or knowledge of the coffee tree from the early 15th century, in the Sufi monasteries of Yemen, spreading soon to Mecca and Medina. By the 16th century, it had reached the rest of the Middle East, Persia, Turkey, India, and Northern Africa. Coffee then spread to the Balkans, Italy, and to the rest of Europe, as well as Southeast Asia despite the bans imposed during the 15th century by religious leaders in Mecca and Cairo, and later by the Catholic Church.

In the mid-1600’s, coffee was brought to New Amsterdam, later called New York by the British. Though coffee houses rapidly began to appear in the colonies, tea continued to be the favored drink in the New World until 1773, when the colonists revolted against a heavy tax on tea imposed by King George III. The revolt, known as the Boston Tea Party, would forever change the American drinking preference to coffee. 

Brazil became the largest producer of coffee in the world by 1852 where it remains. It dominated world production, exporting more coffee than the rest of the world combined, from 1850 to 1950. Since 1950 the playing field has widened due to the emergence of other major producers, notably Columbia, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, and most recently Vietnam, (which overtook Colombia and became the 2nd largest producer in 1999 and reached 15% market share by 2011.

A recent change to the quality of coffee market is lattes, Frappuccino and other sugary coffee drinks. With their rise they became more popular causing coffee houses to be able to use cheaper coffee beans. The cheaper coffee beans are called Robusta and they contain more caffeine than the more expensive beans. The cheaper beans’ higher caffeine content is also a factor in their popularity. Another myth is the high caffeine content in light, dark, and espresso beans. Though darker roasted beans have a more intense flavor, they have less caffeine than light roast. This is because when a coffee bean is roasted, it loses up to 90 percent of its water content.  Espresso has 63 mg of caffeine in a 1 oz shot while regular coffee, has 12 to 16 mg of caffeine in every ounce, on average, but who drinks 1 ounce of coffee? So, 8 oz of regular coffee gives you 95 to 128 mg of caffeine.

Coffee Cocktails: Amaretto Coffee – Amaretto, coffee, whipped cream; Espresso Martini – CB Frost, espresso, Tia Maria (with or w/o heavy cream); Black Russian – CB Frost, Trader Vick’s chocolate liqueur, splash of Kahlua; White Russian – CB Frost, Marco white chocolate liqueur, splash of Kahlua, heavy cream; Irish Coffee – Calvados, brown sugar, whipped cream; 1/2 price fruit/infused flight