The holidays can be tough. They might call it “the most wonderful time of the year”, but there’s a lot of stress. What present can you possibly buy for your in-laws that will be better than the one you gave them last year? How is my house going to be clean enough to allow guests in to celebrate Christmas, Hanukah, Fetivus, Kwanzaa or any other wintery holiday? Did I wait too long to start putting up holiday lights? It’s kind of hard to hang lights on your roof with three feet of snow.
But there’s always booze – the one easy way to relax after all that stresses of the holidays. By no means am I saying that you should grab a bottle of Scotch and pour dram after dram until your problems go away. Trust me, they won’t. But, you can still enjoy a couple holiday cocktails after a long day of driving around the packed mall parking lot looking for the last available spot.
Here’s 7 holiday cocktails to get you through the end of the year:
Yippie Ki Yay MF
By Nico de Soto, Head Bartender at MACE
Glass: Santa’s Pants Mug
Ingredients:
- 3/4 Plantation Barbados Rum
- 3/4 Avua Cachaca Amburana
- 1/2 Plantation Overproof
- 1 Pumpkin-Almond Orgeat
- ¾ Lime Juice
Garnish: Mint & Powdered Sugar
Ice: Pebble Ice
Preparation: Combine all ingredients. Pour over solidly packed Santa’s Pants mug of ice. Garnish with mint and powdered sugar.
Snowball Old Fashioned
By Nico de Soto, Head Bartender at MACE
Glass: Miracle Double Rocks
Ingredients:
- 1.75 oz Rye Whiskey
- ½ oz Becherovka
- ¼ oz Walnut Liqueur
- Bar spoon Demerara
- Dash Angostura Bitters
Garnish: None
Ice: Snowball ice
Preparation: Combine all ingredients, stir and pour over snowball ice.
The Northern Lights
Glass: Teardrop Goblet
Ingredients:
- 1.5oz BOMBAY SAPPHIRE EAST
- 1/2oz Yuzu
- 1/2oz Bergamot
- 1/2 Grapefruit tonic
- 2oz Club soda
- Lemon zest
- Grapefruit slices
Garnish: Lavender sprigs
Ice: Ice cubes
Preparation: Combine all ingredients, except the club soda, in a shaker and shake with ice. Strain into a teardrop goblet or chilled flute, top with club soda and garnish.
Shakespeare’s Globe
Created by Cody Goldstein for LOCL at NYLO and available seasonally
Glass: Snow Globe
Ingredients:
- 2 oz Four Pillars Gin
- 5 oz Root Beer Seltzer
- .5 oz Vanilla Syrup
- .5 oz Douglas Fir Liqueur
- .25 oz Cointreau
Garnish: Edible disco glitter
Ice: None
Preparation: Shake gin, syrup, Douglas fir, and Cointreau with ice for 5 seconds. Double strain into the globe and fill with root beer seltzer.
EXIMO Noir
Glass: Coupe glass
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ parts FACUNDO EXIMO
- ¼ part cold brew coffee syrup
- ¼ part Amaro Montenegro
- ¼ part Combier orange liqueur
Garnish: Orange peel
Ice: None
Preparation: To make the cold brew coffee syrup, combine equal parts cold brew coffee and Demerara sugar. In a mixing glass, stir all the ingredients with plenty of ice. Strain contents into a coupe glass. Garnish with orange peel.
On Christmas Island
By Paul McGee, Founder and Head Bartender at Lost Lake
Glass: Miracle Santa’s Pants mug
Ingredients:
- 1 oz El Dorado 8 Year Demerara Rum
0.5 oz Smith & Cross Navy Strength Jamaican Rum 0.5 oz O.F.T.D
0.5 oz Lost Lake Ginger Syrup**
0.5 oz Don’s Spices #2
0.5 oz Passion fruit syrup
0.75 oz lemon juice
Garnish: Lemon peel and cinnamon stick
Ice: Crushed ice
Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in a tin with one cup of crushed ice. Buzz on single spindle mixer for 3 seconds, dirty dump into glass. Top with more crushed ice. Garnish with lemon peel and cinnamon stick.
**Lost Lake Ginger Syrup: 6 parts simple syrup (1:1), 1 part fresh pressed ginger juice.
BACARDÍ Old Cuban
Glass: Coupe glass
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ parts BACARDÍ 8 Años Rum
- 2/3 part simple syrup
- ½ part fresh lime juice
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
- 2 parts Martini & Rossi Prosecco
Garnish: 6 Mint Leaves
Ice: None
Preparation: In a cocktail shaker, combine mint leaves, lime juice and simple syrup; gently muddle the mixture. Next, pour in the BACARDÍ 8 Años rum, Angostura bitters and ice. Place the lid on the shaker and shake well. Strain the mix into a coupe glass and top up with prosecco. Garnish with mint leaves.
