Cocktail Recipes for Thanksgiving Thru to Christmas

November 16, 2016 – ‘Tis the season for entertaining so we’ve gathered 24 recipes that will see you through the next two months.  Whether you are looking for something to serve to a crowd on Thanksgiving or you just want to have a recipe that is easy to make and doesn’t require a veritable back bar to concoct, we have you covered.

All the recipes are designed for the fall/winter season and we’ve divided them into five categories:  Four Ingredients or Less; Bespoke Cocktails, Cocktails Using Adult Sodas, Large Format (Punch) Cocktails and Eggnogs.  Ingredients include rum, bourbon, vodka, beer, adult sodas, liqueurs, vermouth and wine.   Something for everyone.

Cheers!

Recipes Using Four Ingredients or Less

Vanilla Hot Toddy

1.25 oz. Crown Royal Vanilla
1 tsp fine grain sugar
2 small cloves
1.5 oz. boiling water

Add Crown Royal Vanilla, fine grain sugar and cloves in a mug. Add boiling water. Stir and enjoy.

Mutiny Mule

1.5 oz. Captain Morgan Jack-O’Blast
3 oz. ginger beer
2 oz. lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a glass filled with ice, stir and garnish with a lime wedge.

Tennessee Cider

1.3 oz. George Dickel No. 12
4 oz. apple cider
0.5 oz. Grade B maple syrup
3 dashes Angostura Bitters

Combine all ingredients. Garnish with an apple slice and cinnamon stick.

Poinsettias and Pisticci

1.5 oz. Amaro Lucano
1 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. honey syrup*
Rosemary sprig for garnish

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain into coupe glass. Garnish with rosemary sprig.

* Honey syrup recipe: In a small pot over medium heat, combine one cup honey and one cup water. Stir lightly until dissolved.

Pomegranate Bliss

1.5 oz. Usquaebach Premium Reserve Blended Scotch
1 tsp. sugar
1 tbsp. pomegranate seeds
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Orange peel and cinnamon stick for garnish

In a rocks glass, add sugar, pomegranate seeds and bitters, and muddle until sugar is dissolved. Add a large ice cube and the scotch, and gently stir. Garnish with cinnamon stick and orange peel.

The Gingerbread Man

1 2/3 oz. La Quintinye Vermouth Royal Rouge
6 oz. ginger ale
Garnish with an orange twist

Serve over ice in a highball glass. 

Star of Autumn

1 ½ parts Facundo Neo
1 part Laird’s Applejack
¼ part maple syrup
¼ part lemon juice
Apple wheel (Green or Granny Smith) for garnish

Shake all ingredients with plenty of ice.  Strain into a coupe glass.  Garnish with a thin apple wedge or curled apple peel.

Treacle

2 parts Banks 7 Golden Age Rum
1 part apple cider
0.5 parts Grade B maple syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a double old-fashioned glass filled with one large cube.

Toasty Prost

1 oz. Jack Fire
½ apple brandy (ex: Laird’s Applejack)
6 oz. Samuel Adams Octoberfest
Dash simple syrup

Pour Jack Fire, apple brandy, and & Samuel Adams Octoberfest over ice in pint glass. Pour into shaker & stir. Pour back into pint with cinnamon/sugar rim.

Autumn Mule

1 oz. Irish whiskey (ex: Jameson)
1 oz. ginger beer
6 oz. Samuel Adams Octoberfest
Orange slice with 4 dashes bitters

Pour whiskey, ginger beer & Samuel Adams Octoberfest over ice in pint glass. Pour into shaker and stir. Pour back into pint & garnish with bittered orange.

This one is a little savory, yet zesty! Great beer drinker’s cocktail.

A Very Bisol Season

2 oz. Prosecco Bisol Crede D.O.C.G., chilled
1.4 oz. vodka
.25 oz. rose syrup
.25 oz. lemon juice
3 drops cranberry bitters

Combine ingredients in a champagne flute, and serve.

Bespoke Cocktails

Cape Cod Sour
Created by Ben Potts, Bartender at Beaker & Gray, Miami

1.5 oz. elit Vodka
.75 oz. simple Syrup
.75 oz. lemon Juice
2 bar spoons cranberry preserves
2 dash orange bitters
1 egg white
Float red wine

Shake all ingredients except wine with ice, shake again without ice, strain into large rocks glass, top with red wine float, garnish with lemon zest.

All Things Considered
Created by Joe Calles, Bartender at Luxbar, Chicago

2 oz. elit Vodka
1.5 oz. Persimmon Cordial*
.75 oz. fresh lemon juice
1 pinch kosher salt

Place all ingredients into a shaker tin. Add ice. Shake and dilute until chilled. Strain and pour into a coupe glass garnished with fresh grated cinnamon.

Persimmon Cordial Recipe

2 cups diced and skinned fuyu persimmons
2 cups sugar
2 cups water

In a small saucepan, add diced and skinned fuyu persimmons, sugar, and water. Bring to a simmer and let cook for 45 minutes before straining. Then take 1 cup of the diced/skinned persimmons and blend it back into your persimmon syrup. Store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Cider of the elit
Created by Amin Benny, Bartender at Fig and Olive, LA

2 oz. elit Vodka
.5 oz. Pear Purée
.5 oz. fresh lime juice
.5 oz. Homemade Cider Syrup*
2 oz. Unfiltered apple juice

Shake and strain over ice and serve in a rocks glass topped with a dehydrated apple ring garnish. Place straw through hole in ring.

Cider Syrup Recipe

1 cup water
1 cup refined sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
2.5 tbsp whole clove

Lightly toast cinnamon and clove. Add water and steep spices until water starts to boil. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Let heat, but do not let boil. Cover and allow it to get to room temperature. Strain out all spices. Refrigerate and should be good for 2 weeks.

Cocktails Using Adult Sodas

Twisted Root Deer

1 part Jägermeister
4 parts Not Your Father’s Root Beer
1 part vodka
¾ parts simple syrup
½ lemon (cut into thirds)

Muddle simple syrup and lemon into a mixing glass. Add ice, Jägermeister, and vodka. Stir to combine. Pour into a Collins glass filled with ice and add Not Your Father’s Root Beer. Garnish with a lemon wheel and mint sprig.

Ginger Bells

2 oz. gin (preferably Dry Gin)
1/4 oz. simple syrup
¾ oz. grapefruit juice
Dash of cinnamon
1.5 oz. Not Your Father’s Ginger Ale

Add all ingredients into shaker except the Ginger Ale. Fill the shaker with Ice. Strain into a Collins Glass with ice. Top off with Not Your Father’s Ginger Ale. Garnish with Lime Wheel.

Dark N’ Rooty

2 oz. dark spiced rum
4 oz. Not Your Father’s Root Beer
½ oz. lime juice

Fill a tall glass with ice cubes and pour in the rum, root beer and lime juice. Stir until well chilled. Serve immediately.

Large Format Cocktails
(Punch)

Friendsgiving Rum Punch 

1 part Bacardi Gold rum
1 part Bacardi Superior rum
3 parts apple cider
2 parts lemonade (sweetened)
1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
4 sticks of cinnamon (garnish)
1 apple cut into slices (garnish)

In a large punch bowl, combine all ingredients with an ice block. Garnish with cinnamon sticks and apple slices.  Serve on the rocks.

elit Spiced Pear Punch

1 bottle of elit
1 bottle of sparkling wine
1 cup of pear nectar
1 cup of lemon juice
1 cup spiced simple syrup or to taste
1 cup of sliced pear
2 lemons sliced with cloves
1 bag of ice

Add lemon slices with clove and a little bit of ice to hold the slices in place to the bottom of the punch dispenser. Add elit, sparkling wine, pear nectar, lemon juice, and spiced simple syrup to the punch dispenser. Add additional ice. Stir mixture then add sliced pear. Garnish with lemon slices with cloves.

Yields: 20 servings depending on glass.

Eggnog

Coconut RumNog

1 cup Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva Rum
1 cup maple syrup
1 cup heavy cream
1.5 cup coconut milk
1 pinch sea salt
3 eggs, separated
1/2 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. grated nutmeg
2 cinnamon sticks

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients, except egg whites until evenly blended together. Drop in cinnamon sticks, cover and chill eggnog mixture for up to two hours. Right before serving, using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff peaks begin to form and gently fold into chilled eggnog mixture. Pour into glass and garnish with grated nutmeg, coconut shreds and cinnamon stick. (Note: Recipe serves 6)

Willett Holiday Eggnog
From Joy Perrine The Bad Girl of Bourbon

½ cup Willett Pot Still Reserve
4 cups whole
1⅓ cups fine granulated sugar
12 large egg yolks
1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream

In a medium saucepan, whisk milk and sugar over medium heat until sugar is dissolved, 1 to 2 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks. Whisking constantly, pour hot mixture into yolks in a slow and steady stream. Return mixture to pan; cook over medium low heat, stirring often, for 20 minutes. Strain into a bowl. Stir in the Willett Pot Still Reserve and cream. Let cool. Cover and refrigerate until chilled. Garnish with a dash of nutmeg, cinnamon, a candy cane (hanging off the rim of the glass), and a cinnamon stick.

Pistachio Eggnog

1 oz. spice-infused bourbon
½ oz. Dumante pistachio liqueur
3 oz. ready-to-drink eggnog
2–3 drops green food coloring

Combine ingredients and shake (no ice); pour into a white wine glass. Top with whipped cream, grated nutmeg, and a miniature candy cane. Serve with two short straws.

Pumpkin Eggnog

4 oz. brown sugar syrup
1 can (8 oz.) pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 oz. spice-infused bourbon
3 oz. ready-to-drink eggnog

Stir brown sugar syrup into canned pumpkin puree. Keep refrigerated in a jar with a lid. Combine 2 ounces of the pumpkin mix with bourbon and eggnog. Shake (no ice). Pour into a white wine glass. Top with whipped cream, grated nutmeg, and a miniature candy cane. Serve with two short straws.

Traditional Eggnog

1 oz, spice-infused bourbon
3 oz. ready-to-drink eggnog
Brown sugar syrup to taste

Combine ingredients and shake (no ice); pour into a white wine glass. Top with whipped cream, grated nutmeg, and a miniature candy cane. Serve with two short straws.