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New York-based holiday pop-up bar sensation Miracle will be taking over The Skip in Detroit to spread holiday cheer in the form of delicious cocktails. That means, when stopping into the downtown bar from November 24 (Black Friday) until December 24, this neighborhood bar will have transformed into a winter wonderland. But, just what exactly is Miracle?
Imagine walking into one of your favorite local bars during the holiday season when it’s freezing cold outside and being greeted by the warmth of seeing the whole place turned into your personal North Pole right down to the strategically-placed mistletoe. People are wearing warm sweaters (some ugly, some not), sipping on some carefully crafted holiday cocktails and everyone seems to be in the holiday spirit.
Miracle owner Greg Boehm and his team work with bars across the world to bring holiday cheer to different cities. That means providing these bars with Miracle-themed glassware, giving them lessons on how to decorate their interiors for the holidays and, most importantly, arming them with recipes for 12 holiday-themed cocktails designed by bartender Nico de Soto. Shoot Your Rye Out. Photo courtesy of Miracle. While Miracle requires participating bars to adhere to their guidelines and cocktail menu/recipes, they do allow for a little wiggle room. “…depending state to state, there’s different availabilities on certain spirits and modifiers,” The Skip co-proprietor Joe Robinson said. “So, if you have, let’s say a bonded rye that we can’t get here or an overproof bourbon, we would do whatever is closest to it and then we might need to adjust the recipe as far as proportions just to have it taste right, but the base of the cocktails has to stay the same.” Those aforementioned 12 menu drinks from Miracle are required, but fans of The Skip need not worry; you can still get your Irish coffee fix and with a holiday twist at that. “…we were able to add cocktails that…are more in line with what we normally do,” Robinson said, “so we’ll have like, a frozen peppermint Irish coffee and a couple other cocktails in addition to the many that they provided…we always have an Irish coffee at The Skip and that’s, kind of, one of our mainstays and what people really come for.” Christmapolitan. Photo Courtesy of Miracle. Some of those 12 cocktails include the “Christmapolitan” (vodka, elderflower, dry vermouth, spiced cranberry sauce, rosemary, lime, absinthe mist), the “Muletide” (mezcal, amontillado sherry, allspice dram, ginger, lemon) and the “Snowball Old Fashioned” (gingerbread bourbon, wormwood bitters, lemon zest). That last one has Robinson pretty excited. “We got a snowball machine where, basically, you throw a bunch of ice in there and grind it up and it shaves it out and it looks like snow and you just pack it into a snowball,” he said. “So, instead of a large, clear-cut ice cube or regular ice cube, the Old Fashioned comes with a big snowball as the ice, which is pretty sweet…It’s like a snowball from the bully at school, like, it’s packed pretty hard. It’ll hurt. [laughs]” When it comes time to actually redecorate The Skip with tinsel, ornaments, mistletoe and all manner of holiday decorations, the Rust Belt bar will be closed on the Sunday before Thanksgiving and reopen on Tuesday, November 21, however, the holiday-themed drinks won’t start pouring until November 24. “Basically, the space will be decorated and transformed, and we’ll just add the cocktails on the 24th,” Robinson said. Miracle is a month-long venture for The Skip, so you’ll have plenty of time to see what all the fuss is about. And, for you repeat offenders, there will be reasons to make multiple trips, other than the delicious cocktails. “We’ll be having some different themed events and parties within the pop-up,” he said. “So, we’ll have, like an ugly sweater Christmas party and some other fun events during it to help activate the space. And those will be released on [the Miracle at The Skip Facebook page] throughout.” Have you been craving something like Miracle to come to Detroit? Not every city gets the chance to host a pop-up like this, so it’s a pretty cool opportunity for The Skip and its patrons. Grab your warmest, ugliest sweater and some holiday cheer, and head downtown to rediscover some of the magic of the holidays. — Remember to drink responsibly and plan ahead with a designated driver or take advantage of one of these local designated driving services.
