The cold, dark days of winter can be a struggle for some, especially after all the excitement of the holidays. We like to lean into the season and find ways to stay social and generate warmth, from having friends over for drinks or dinner to staying in with a hot toddy by the fire. Here are a few seasonal drink ideas to brighten the nights.
Spiced Pear & Whisky Punch
Yields 18 cocktails
1 bottle Dewar’s 12 Year Old Scotch whisky
4 cups Pear juice
2 cups Ginger beer
1 cup Fresh lemon juice
1 cup Simple syrup (or to taste)
2 Cinnamon sticks
4-5 Star anise pods
Pear slices, lemon slices, and cinnamon sticks for garnish
In a large punch bowl, combine Scotch whisky, pear juice, lemon juice and simple syrup. Stir well to combine. Add cinnamon sticks and star anise to the punch and let it sit for at least 30 minutes to infuse the flavors. Just before serving, add ginger beer. Garnish with pear slices, lemon slices, and additional cinnamon sticks. Serve over ice.
The mixologists at Dewar’s created this recipe.
Mexican Hot Chocolate
2 oz. Partida Anejo tequila
6 oz. Hot chocolate
½ tsp. Ancho chile powder
1 pinch Ground cinnamon
Heat up the hot chocolate in a pot. When heated, add ancho chili and ground cinnamon and stir until combine. Heat a mug with hot water; pour out water, add spiced hot chocolate and tequila, and stir. Garnish with grated cinnamon and a cinnamon stick. The mixologists at Partida created this recipe.
Proper Pearing
1 ½ oz. iichiko Silhouette shochu
1 oz. Pear juice
¾ oz. Simple syrup
¾ oz. Lemon juice
Prosecco
Combine ingredients, except prosecco, into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake, then strain into a wine glass. Top with prosecco and garnish with a pear slice.
The mixologists at iichiko Shochu created this recipe.
Cherry Crush
1 ½ oz. Cherry-infused bourbon and Cognac
1 oz. Port
½ oz. Maple syrup
¾ oz. Lemon juice
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour in cherry-infused bourbon and Cognac, port, maple syrup and lemon juice. Shake vigorously for about 15 seconds to blend the flavors and chill the mixture. Strain the cocktail into a rocks glass over fresh ice. The mixologists at Marion Miami created this recipe.
Hot Buttered Rum
1 ½ oz. Dos Maderas 5+5 rum
1 Tbsp. Butter
1 tsp. Demerara sugar
1 pinch Cinnamon
1 pinch Nutmeg
Build in a heated mug or Toddy glass. Add your butter, sugar and spices. Fill halfway with boiling water. Add rum, then top with hot water. Garnish with an orange peel studded with several cloves and some freshly grated nutmeg.The mixologists at Dos Maderas created this recipe.
Core Values
2 oz. Vodka
¼ oz. Apple cider vinegar
¾ oz. Fennel cordial*
1 ½ oz. Spiced apple cider**
¼ oz. Lemon juice
Soda
Combine ingredients except soda in a shaker and shake. Strain into a tall glass over ice and top with soda. Garnish with a dehydrated apple.
*For Fennel cordial
Combine 2,000 ml. cane sugar, 2,000 ml. water, 2 pinches of salt and black pepper, 200 grams fennel bulbs (chopped) in a sauce pot. Heat on high until combined. Strain, cool and store.
** For Spiced apple cider
Combine 1 gallon apple cider, 500 ml. water, 169 g. chopped ginger, 2 star anise, 2 cloves, 1 tbsp. coriander seed, and the peels of 1 orange and 1 lemon in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer, and turn to low heat. Let simmer for 15 minutes. Strain and store.
Anderson Riddle, bar manager at The Radical Hotel in Asheville, NC, created this recipe.
Cider Maple Old Fashioned
1 oz. Koloa Cane Fire rum
1 ½ oz. Bourbon
½ oz. Maple syrup
1 oz. Apple cider
2-3 dashes Orange bitters
Combine ingredients in a mixing glass. Stir with ice to chill. Strain into lowball glass over a large ice cube. Garnish with an orange peel.
The mixologists at Koloa created this recipe.
Couple Up Coffee
2 oz. Old Elk straight wheat whiskey
3 oz. Hot coffee
¾ oz. Honey simple syrup
1 dash Chocolate bitters
2 oz. Heavy cream
¼ oz. Raspberry simple syrup
Combine whisky, coffee and honey syrup in a glass and stir. Combine heavy cream and raspberry simple syrup in a shaker tin and whip. Layer cream on top of cocktail. Garnish with 3 coffee beans.The mixologists at Old Elk created this recipe.
Pretty Big Dill
1 ½ oz. Blanco Tequila
1 oz. Simple syrup
1 oz. Lime juice
¼ oz. Pickle brine
2 dashes Scrappy’s Bitters firewater habanero tincture
Tajin spice for rim
Rim a rocks glass halfway with a lemon and dip in Tajin spice. Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake. Pour contents into rocks glass. Garnish two cornichons on a pick.
The mixologists at Bobby Nashville created this recipe.
Winter Negroni
1 ½ oz. Aviation American gin
¾ oz. Bitter red liqueur
(such as Campari)
¾ oz. Sweet vermouth
3 dashes Bitters
1 spritz Absinthe
Add gin, bitter liqueur and sweet vermouth to a mixing glass and stir. Spritz a rocks glass with absinthe, then strain Negroni over fresh ice. Garnish with a rosemary sprig.
The mixologists at Aviation created this recipe.
Mango Cider Martini
1 oz. Chinola mango liqueur
1 oz. Cinnamon whiskey
1 oz. Sour mix
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and all ingredients. Shake well until the mixture is thoroughly chilled, then strain it into a coupe glass filled with fresh ice. Finish by garnishing with a light dusting of grated cinnamon or nutmeg and a cinnamon stick.The mixologists at Chinola created this recipe.
Bourbon Bacon Barrel
2 oz. Wyoming Whiskey double cask bourbon
½ oz. Pedro Ximenez sherry
½ oz. Ancho Reyes chile liqueur
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Combine all spirits and ingredients in a glass mixture. Add ice and stir to chill and mix thoroughly. Strain the mixture into a rocks glass and top with ice. Garnish with maple glazed bacon strip. The mixologists at Waldorf Astoria Washington D.C. created this recipe.
Apple Sage
1 ½ oz. Calvados apple brandy
¾ oz. Honey apple sage syrup*
¼ oz. Lemon juice
Combine ingredients and shake.
Strain over a big cube in single rocks glass.
Garnish with a sage leaf.
*For Apple honey sage syrup
Combine 300 g. honey and 300 g. water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil stirring. Add 300 g. apple cider and 20 g. sage leaves, bring back to a rolling boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and allow sage leaves to steep for 1 hour. Strain.
The mixologists at Four Twenty Five in New York created this recipe.