Photo by Michael Piazza / Styled by Kyisha Davenport

For the final story I’ll share with you this year, a cross between a Q&A and a collection of personalized cocktail recipes, I reached out to a handful of my folks to thank them, shine the spotlight on them and make them (and you!) each a cocktail based on their favorite winter traditions and flavors. You’ll also learn a bit more about their phenomenal work in food, education and culture—all of which welcomes your support.

Sāsha Coleman is an assistant of photography at America’s Test Kitchen. She has worked with Cultured Magazine, Friendly’s, Chop Chop Magazine, Tirat Zvi and McDonald’s. She has also been everyone’s favorite cook at Mahaniyom and Comfort Kitchen (which I know because I cannot go anywhere without being asked where she is).

KYISHA: What ingredient(s) did you choose, and why?
SĀSHA: Bosc pears are a great winter fruit. They’re delicious and hardy—you can pick them in the fall, leave them for weeks in the winter and they’ll still ripen.

KD: Where can we find them in Boston?
SC: You can find Bosc pears literally anywhere, but shop local and buy them from UFI [Urban Farming Institute] in Boston.

KD: Let’s tell the readers how we met.
SC: We met many moons ago in a previous life, and never left each other.
KD: But most recently, we were introduced at Commonwealth Kitchen as well! Sāsha and Tersillia were in a business course together, and Biplaw was an early mentor. But yes, we’ve never left each other since!

KD: What is special to you about our community, or being “in community” with each other?
SC: I love how in Boston we can find nooks of culture. There’s farmland. Stories from your neighbors that you’d never read in a textbook. There is so much richness to the culture here that’s not just Paul Revere or the Minuteman Trail.

KD: Say we’re hanging out in Boston: Where’s our go-to place to eat and drink together—or what places do you recommend folks try out?
SC: We are going to Aga’s [Highland Tap Room in Roxbury]: It’s a cultural institution! But we of course spend plenty of time with Boong, Pao, Tersillia and Biplaw, so anywhere they’re going, we’re probably there, too.

IT’S A CELEBRATION

Makes 1 cocktail

1 sugar cube
3 dashes Angostura bitters
1 ounce pear mead or poached pear syrup
1 ounce Pierre Ferrand Ambre cognac
3 ounces Champagne
lemon twist

Coat the sugar cube with bitters and drop in glass. Pour mead and cognac over the cube. Top with Champagne. Serve with lemon twist.

This recipe appeared in the Winter 2022 issue as part of a larger story, Winter Cocktails: In Community.