I might be shooting myself in the foot, calling it this early in the year, but it’s chilly outside here in Minnesota.  As I write this it’s 46 degrees outside, and not looking much warmer for the rest of the week.  Fall is here with a vengence, and it’s imperative that we Minnesotans do our best to fight back, at least on the cocktail front.

So I call to you, my friends in the north, mull some wine!  Have a Hot Toddy!  Whisky up that coffee!  Skip the dessert wine, and have some warm brandy!  It’s delicious!

You’ll thank yourself for it.  There’s no better feeling than walking into your favorite drinking establishment after a long day of picking apples or raking the lawn and sipping on a vodka and hot apple cider, or putting on that itchy wool sweater and mixing up some Tom and Jerrys for friends.

Winter can be a difficult time for Minnesota and the upper Midwest.  If we ready ourselves for the season with some Hot Buttered Rum, spring will come sooner than you think.