HOLIDAY DRINKS

Holiday and Signature cocktails that include your wedding theme are easy to create and can be served at your showers, bachelor parties, rehearsal dinner, and reception. When creating a special drink, remember to also include a non-alcoholic choice on your menu.

by Shelley Waugh
DECORATING YOUR DRINKS
You decorate your food and your home for the holidays, why not your cocktails as well? Here are some helpful tips to spruce up your holiday cocktails to be more festive and delicious.

First, you want to start with the spirits that allow you the easiest mixability such as using tequila- and vodka-based drinks because both are crowd favorites, plus by adding a few simple ingredients to these bases, you can make tasty, colorful holiday cocktails.
 
Margarita base
1 1/2 oz. Herradura Silver
1 oz.  fresh lime juice
1 oz. simple syrup

Vodka base
1 1/2 oz. Finlandia Vodka
1/2 oz. orange liqueur

Store these bases in your refrigerator so they are chilled. With both, give them a good stir before pouring them in either a martini or rocks glass.

Now that you have your bases, you can add festive mixers to glasses to match the colors of your decor. For instance, you can add 1 1/2 ounces of the following ingredients to make the colors of the season: pomegranate juice for red, melon liqueur for green, blue-raspberry mix or Blue Curacao for blue, and apple cider for gold to help decorate your home for the holidays.

Holiday drinks, left to right, The Garland, The Blue Bow, The Red Ribbon and The Gold Gift. Please see recipes below.

The Garland
Use with the margarita or vodka base
1 1/2 oz. Melon liqueur
Garnish: Lime slice

The Blue Bow
Use with the margarita or vodka base
1 1/2 oz Blue Curacao
Garnish: Star fruit

The Red Ribbon
Use with the margarita or vodka base
1 1/2 oz. Pomm Wonder juice
Garnish: Pomegranate seeds

The Gold Gift
Use with the margarita or vodka base
1 1/2 oz Apple Cider
Garnish: Cinnamon Stick

Recipes and Tips courtesy: Tim Laird for Brown-Forman Corporation. For more product information visit www.pomwonderful.com (Pom juice), www.midori-world.com (melon liqueur), www.curacaoliqueur.com (Blue Curacao), www.martinellis.com (apple cider), www.finlandia.com (Finlandia Vodka) and www.herradura.com (Herradura Silver).

EASY COCKTAILS FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Serving simple cocktails with fresh ingredients pulled straight from the holiday table is the easy and elegant way to perfectly pair your beverage with the turkey and all the trimmings. Apples, cranberries, pumpkins and spices are great cocktail ingredients that will already be on hand for preparing the holiday meal. Incorporating these ingredients in cocktails will help to highlight the similar flavors in your appetizers, dressing, and sides.
 
New York-based Brian Van Flandern, of Creative Cocktail Consultants Corp. serves versatile cocktails with “a whole lot of fresh flavor” for his Holiday get-togethers. “My favorite is a refreshing autumnal cocktail that I call Cider House Rules,” Flandern said. “The crisp flavors of apples and cinnamon conjure images of the holidays - and works well with meals from early fall right through the end of winter.”

Cider House Rules
1.5oz 100% Agave Tequila
1.5oz Fresh-squeezed Apple Cider
.5oz Sparkling Water
.25oz Fresh Lemon Juice
.5oz Agave Nectar or Cane Sugar Simple Syrup
1/16 tsp Ground Cinnamon
 
Combine all ingredients, and serve up in a martini glass garnished with an apple wedge.
 
West coast’s Cameron Bogue, Executive Bar Manager for Lumière and db bistro modern, prefers classic cocktails updated with fresh ingredients already on his holiday shopping list. “The spice of a good Falernum always reminds me of the brisk days during the holiday season,” says Bogue. “I blend it with fresh-squeezed cranberry juice, to add tart acidity and highlight the other flavors I already have on the table.”
 
Harvest Swizzle
1oz Aged White Rum
.75oz Homemade Falernum* or a quality, commercial Falernum
1.25oz 100% Pure Cranberry Juice**
Shake and pour in a tall glass over crushed ice.  Garnish with mint sprig.

• Falernum
1 part Rum infused 24 hours with Lime Peels, Cloves and Ginger
1 part Orgeat
2 parts 2:1 simple syrup
 
Chicago’s own Adam Seger, Nacional 27, translates traditional holiday recipes into new, creative cocktails.  Seger says, “My delicious adult interpretation of holiday cranberries will put smiles on your guests' faces, as well as a bit of stress relief for the host because it tastes as delicious with the meal as it does while sampling the appetizers and reminiscing with guests.”
 
Holiday Mojito
3 tsp Rum-marinated Cranberries*
3 Lime Wedges
3 Orange Wedges
3 Generous Pinches Fresh Mint Leaves (some small stems are ok)
1.25oz Rum
1oz Cranberry Juice
1oz Fresh-squeezed Orange Juice
1oz Mint Syrup**
 
Rub a lime around the lip of a strong pint glass and frost glass by inverting in a bowl of superfine bar sugar. Add cranberries to glass and muddle well until you crush some berries and smell fragrant cranberries. Add lime and orange wedges, and mint. Muddle until mint is fragrant. Add remaining ingredients and stir until combined. Fill glass with ice and top with club soda.
 
*Rum-marinated Cranberries - Macerate fresh or frozen cranberries in a glass jar covered in rum for 2 days to 2 weeks depending on desired flavor
 
** Mint syrup  - blend 2 cups sugar with 2 cups water in a sauce pan until sugar is dissolved. Turn off heat and add generous pinch of bruised mint leaves to syrup while still hot. Cool and strain syrup into a sealable container. 

Photos and recipes courtesy of The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, a national trade association representing the leading brands of distilled spirits and their commitment to encourage responsible beverage alcohol consumption by adults.

Understand that a standard drink of regular beer (12 oz.), distilled spirits (1.5 oz. of 80-proof spirits) and wine (5 oz.) each contains the same amount of alcohol. Visit www.discus.org.