Long before the first sip, a beverage has already done half its work if done well. Your brain has taken in the curve of the glass, the color of the liquid, the faint aroma rising from the vessel and even the ambiance, but did you really register all the signals your brain was firing?

Psychologists have coined the term “inattentional blindness,” and I will be the first to admit I am guilty as charged. A pause to fully enjoy is increasingly rare in a world built for speed, scrolling, multitasking and constant forward motion, but what ultimately separates an ordinary drink from a meaningful one is intentionality — the quiet decision to pause, to notice, to fully arrive in the moment. Planning for the next 10 steps while doing the current five is a hospitality industry necessary evil that we even build into our curriculum, but it certainly shouldn’t be the recipe when we are on the enjoyment side. 

To keep pushing my creativity forward, I recently purchased a few texts on the recommendation of a bartender from the cocktail-forward stop in my old stomping grounds — the Violet Hour in Wicker Park. While it closed this summer after 18 years of operation, the Violet Hour is largely credited with launching a shift in how Chicagoans enjoyed cocktails — intentionally and full of hospitality. 

This philosophy is echoed in all three of the new texts I am enjoying. However, a few words from pioneering bartender Sasha Petraske, famously written in the book, “Regarding Cocktails,” that his wife, Georgette Moger-Petraske, assembled from his notes, really hit home: “hospitality is present when something happens for you that could not have happened without you.” In other words, the drink is never just the liquid; it’s the moment built around it. Whether it’s a quiet evening on the patio or a multicourse pairing dinner, the drink in front of you isn’t just a beverage. It’s an experience in progress. That’s why a great drink feels effortless. 

There is a reason my café con leche in Granada, Spain, was magical day after day. The magic isn’t chaos; it’s balance. Sweet without acid feels flat. Acid without sweetness feels sharp. Bitterness needs softness. The most memorable drinks walk a careful line between these elements — just enough contrast to keep the brain engaged and the palate curious. “Liquid Intelligence,” a straight-up science guide to cocktails, shows how precision itself can become a quiet act of focus and deliberation. Together, they point to a deeper truth: intentionality now requires resistance — resistance to rushing, to distraction, to doing things “sort of.” In choosing to make or savor a drink with purpose, we reclaim a small but powerful moment of presence. The glass becomes more than refreshment; it becomes a reminder to slow down and actually inhabit the time we are given. 

This holiday, take a moment to be intentional with the sips you take and the drinks you make. We notice more when we feel connected, and the moments we share with intention and care become the moments our minds choose to keep. Happy holidays everyone. 

Golden hour spritz 

Designed for uplift, light social energy and calm refreshment. 

Ingredients

• 3 oz. fresh orange juice
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• 1 oz. honey-ginger syrup
• 4 oz. chilled sparkling water
• Ice
• Orange peel and fresh thyme for garnish 

Optional (cocktail version)

Add 1 1/2 oz. bourbon or botanical gin 

Honey-Ginger Syrup (small batch)

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 inches fresh ginger, sliced 

Simmer 10 minutes, cool and strain. Refrigerate up to 2 weeks. 

Directions

Fill a wine glass with ice. Add orange juice, lemon juice and honey-ginger syrup. Stir gently. Top with sparkling water. Add spirit if using. Garnish with expressed orange peel and thyme sprig.

About

Lincoln Land Community College offers credit programs in Culinary Arts, Hospitality Management and Baking/Pastry, and non-credit cooking and food classes through LLCC Community Education.

Cooking or food questions? Email epicuriosity101@llcc.edu.