There’s no better time than the holidays to spend with friends and family — and seasonally appropriate cocktails! That’s why I’ve amassed several scribbled pages of festive drinks over the years packed to the brim with festive flavors like apples, cranberries, mulling spices, and pine. Each year I serve a seemingly endless amount of these holiday experiments to good friends and kindly willing family members, but here are a few favorites that have made the cut season after season.
A Last Splash of Color
Matthew Edwards, 2015
Ingredients:
1.5oz Bonded Bourbon
.5oz VSOP Calvados or Laird’s Bonded Apple Brandy
.75oz Fresh Grapefruit Juice
.75oz Fresh Lemon Juice
.75oz Spiced Fig Syrup
4 Dashes Angostura Bitters
Directions:
Add all ingredients except bitters to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a double old fashioned glass filled with crushed ice. Float bitters and add more crushed ice if necessary.
Christmas Club
Matthew Edwards, 2017
Ingredients:
1.5oz London Dry Gin
.5oz Bianco Vermouth
.5oz Fresh Lemon Juice
.5oz Cranberry Pine Syrup
.25oz Egg White
Directions:
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until chilled and strain. Add the drink back to the tin and shake again, without ice. Pour the drink into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a small sprig of pine or skewered cranberries.
Mulled Fashioned
Matthew Edwards, 2015
Ingredients:
2oz Apple-infused Rye Whiskey
.5oz Orange Spice Syrup
4 Drops Allspice Dram
2 Dashes Black Walnut Bitters
Directions:
Add all ingredients to a mixing glass. Add ice and stir for 30 seconds. Strain into a double old fashioned over a single large ice cube/sphere. Garnish with an expressed orange twist.
Cranberry Martini
Ingredients:
2oz Fresh Cranberry Juice
1.5oz London Dry Gin or Vodka
.5oz Dry Vermouth
.5oz Cointreau
Directions:
Add all ingredients to a mixing glass. Add ice and stir for 30 seconds. Double strain into a chilled coupe or cocktail glass. Garnish with cranberries skewered on a sprig of rosemary or pine.
What’s your favorite cocktail to enjoy over the holidays? Let us know on Twitter @eCityInteract. And if you do happen to try any of these recipes, be sure to snap a picture and tag us in it.
Happy holidays, and happy sipping.
