The Sipping Seder is a creative reinterpretation of the traditional Passover seder plate as a series of classically-inspired cocktails. The project was born out of our strong interest in cocktail culture and our desire to keep ties with Jewish heritage. At this point in our lives, neither of us is really engaged in any significant religious practice of Judaism. It remains important to us, however, to mark some celebration of Jewish holidays throughout the year as a means of staying connected to our Jewish upbringing. Our love of cocktails centers around an appreciation of exquisite elixirs, but it runs deeper than that. We love the way cocktails can represent links to history – tangible, tastable connections to the sense and spirit of bygone eras. Our usual cocktail exploration involves ferreting out old recipes as a way of understanding something of the times in which they existed. Here, we thought it would be fun to turn that process around. We’ve tried to rework elements and approaches from classic cocktails and modern mixology in new ways that could forge new connections to our own history and traditions. Obviously, this is not intended as an actual observance of Passover. These recipes could never replace the seder plate – no matter how much you might want them to. These cocktails are merely artistic representations. Together, we hope they’ll bring you some light-hearted joy at a time when many turn their thoughts to tradition. And, if you’re at all like us – handier with a mixing glass than a sauté pan – we hope The Sipping Seder will make it a little easier to pull off a Passover-inspired gathering. We’d never attempt to host friends and family for a home-cooked Passover dinner. Stirring up a few tasty tipples, though, is something we can handle fairly well. The seder asks us to retell the story of the exodus from Egypt as if we had been there in person. It’s hard to imagine enduring generations of slavery and a slew of plagues, only to flee our homes in the dead of night and run straight into the sea with the world’s fiercest army in hot pursuit. If we managed somehow to survive the experience, what would we do when at last we reached safety? Perhaps we lack the fortitude of our ancestors, but we can easily imagine being ready for a good stiff drink. Maybe two. If that sounds reasonable, The Sipping Seder offers six options to wet your whistle before a long camping trip in the desert. (Sorry to ruin the ending.) Each is crafted from classic inspirations and a bit of modern mixology. Together they represent this enduring story as told through the items on the traditional Passover seder plate. Visit us at sippingseder.com
