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Winter may finally be coming to a close here in Jerusalem, but the crisp, windy nights and hovering clouds aren't gone for the year quite yet. As good an indicator as any, the chalkboard specials at cafes and bakeries are still touting the classic Middle Eastern cozy street beverage that is sahlab. A sweetened, milk-based, gelatinous and perfumey drink with a custard-like texture, sahlab is usually served with toppings like cinnamon powder, coconut shreds and chopped pistachios.

In Jerusalem, sahlab can be grabbed at any number of outlets with large, often adorned earns keeping large batches hot - from street carts and kiosks to all-night bourekas bakeries to swanky cafes. The settings may be drastically different, but the recipe is almost always the same. A traditional Turkish treat that derives its name from its signature thickening and fragrance-lending ingredient - the ground bulbs of the Early Purple Orchid (the sahlab literally means "orchid" in Arabic and Hebrew) - contemporary local varieties favor corn starch and flavor agents to replicate the endangered original.

Those interested in enjoying this favorite of the Mediterranean region have choices all over Jerusalem, and below are GoJerusalem.com's selections for the best places around town to pick up a cup of sahlab.

Mifgash Hashech

Even if your schedule has you out late, or early, you can join the crowd of partiers and graveyard-shift taxi drivers at Mifgash Hashech for a sahlab.

Open 24 hours Sunday through Thursday in the industrial area of Talpiot, Mifgash Hashech caters to shoppers and the work force by day and club patrons by night. The sahlab is thick enough to eat with a spoon, and you can round out your meal with the sweet and savory offerings at this bakery, which include pastries, za'atar-dusted breads and bourekas stuffed with cheese, eggs or vegetables.

Café Smadar

Nestled within the Lev Smadar cinema complex on the German Colony's Lloyd George Street, Café Smadar serves a wide variety of sandwiches, pastas and salads - as well as popcorn and beer to take in to the movies.

The inviting atmosphere, filled with movie buffs and hip, young Israelis - not to mention a tall glass of warming sahlab - can serve as an antidote to winter's dreariness.

Uzi-Eli

Uzi-Eli Chezi's shop, at 10 Etrog Street in Machane Yehuda, is known for its serums and drinks promoting health and vitality. Drawing on folk medicine and old Jewish healing knowledge, he uses ingredients such as kombucha, etrog juice and gat (khat).

In the winter, Uzi-Eli offers his own take on sahlab, made with a base of goat milk. To warm up locals and visitors alike, he brews "The Beverage of Kings," a tea-based, non-dairy hot drink featuring melted chocolate, khat extract, cinnamon and cardamom.

Al-Amin

For treats from the rest of the Middle East, drop in at the Old City's Al-Amin bakery. Located near the Damacus Gate in the Muslim Quarter, they serve a noteworthy sahlab to go with daily offerings of pastries, breads and bagels.

The landmark shop offers cheeses from Jordan and Egypt; what they call "butter milk," which is a type of pourable yogurt; blocks of Jordanian-style halvah; and grape-apricot fruit leather.

With a Haifa-style bourekas

Two more bakeries, these specializing in bourekas, serve delicious sahlab: Turkish Bourekas from Haifa on Jaffa Road near Safra Square (open 24 hours but closed for Shabbat) and Bourekas Haifa, located in the main outdoor row of the Machane Yehuda market.

The sahlab at both outposts is creamy and fragrant and a lovely accompaniment to a bourekas stuffed with cheese, potato or spinach. If you're already there, recommended are all the bourekas fix-ins: a hard-boiled egg, techina and pickles.

Illustrative images courtesy of Debra Solomon, Seb Ruiz and Barak Kassar from Flickr under a Creative Commons license.