Holiday Recipes: Gimli Club

From Robert Björn Taylor

By Darcie Duttweiler
Portrait by Louis Lorencez

Robert Björn Taylor is as famed for his hearty hugs as he is for his high-end cocktails. For the better part of the past decade, the gregarious bartender has crafted libations for some of the city’s best restaurants and bars, like Vixen’s Wedding, Otoko, Emmer & Rye, Peché and Midnight Cowboy. Nowadays, you’ll find the sober bartender freelance consulting on some hush-hush upcoming projects, working as a graphic designer and writing a book called “NAH: Non-Alcoholic Handbook,” which will focus on the alternative lifestyle and drinking culture of a bartender and recovering addict. He aims to create an inclusive positive influence within drinking culture and the service industry by promoting mental health alongside constructive consumption. His version of a wintery sipper takes you to the Great White North.

Gimli Club

“The story of this cocktail is a nod to the Vinarterta holiday cake of Manitoba, Canada. It’s an Icelandic traditional fruit layer cake usually composed of prunes, cardamom and vanilla. By marrying the flavors of the Vinarterta cake with Crown Royal Black’s rich flavors, it creates a harmonious festive cocktail! The egg white sour gives it the beautiful mouthfeel of an airy cake and balances out this holiday treat,” says Taylor. Photo by Robert Björn Taylor.

Ingredients
• 3/4 oz Crown Black
• 3/4 oz Crown Vanilla
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1/2 oz Winter Spiced Simple Syrup (Recipe below)
• 1 egg white
• Bar spoon raspberry preserves
• Grated nutmeg to garnish

Instructions
Add egg white to the shaker first, then all ingredients and dry shake. Add ice and shake. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Winter Spiced Simple Syrup

Ingredients
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 6 cardamom pods cracked
• 2 star anise pods
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 teaspoon allspice berries
• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 1/2-inch piece fresh ginger thinly sliced

Instructions
In a small pot, combine the sugar and the water. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar for about 10 minutes.

Toast spices for about a minute until you smell the aromatics. Add the toasted spices and ginger to the pot. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from the heat, let cool to room temperature for about 30 minutes. Using a fine-mesh strainer, strain the syrup into a suitable container.

Bottle and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.