What Are You Drinking This Holiday Season?

The holidays are quickly approaching and Drambuie, Icelandic Reyka Vodka, Montelobos Mezcal, Ancho Reyes, Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum, Hudson Whiskey and Q Drinks have all sorts of cocktail recipes for the at-home entertaining season.

The recipes range from keeping you and your family/friends warm from the dropping temperatures to keeping everyone festive yet refreshed.

Cheers!

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Reyka Spiced Cran Mule

2 parts Reyka Vodka
1 part Spiced Cranberry syrup
3 parts dry ginger beer
Combine ingredients. Shake and strain top champagne.

*Cranberry syrup – ½ cup Demerara sugar, 1 cup water, 12 whole allspice berries, 12 whole cloves, Zest of 1 orange, 1 inch piece of fresh ginger (peeled and chopped), 3 cinnamon sticks, 2 cups fresh cranberries
Combine all ingredients over heat except cranberries and stir until sugar dissolves. Add cranberries and bring to a boil… let boil until cranberries burst (about 3 min). Remove from heat and let sit for an hour.
Strain through fine mesh strainer.

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Cranberry Sauce Gin & Tonic – Jimmy at the James

2 parts Botanist Gin
½ part simple syrup
½ of fresh lemon juice
1 heaping barspoon cranberry sauce
Q Tonic
Lemon Wheel
In a cocktail shaker combine the gin, simple syrup, lemon juice and cranberry sauce. Shake with ice for about ten seconds and then strain into a tall glass with ice. Stir in tonic water and garnish with a lemon wheel.

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Sailor Jerry Mulled Cider

1 Part Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum
3 Parts Mulled Cider
Cinnamon
Cloves
Heat Sailor Jerry and slowly add cider and desired spices. Stir and let cool before serving.

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Green Rabbit – by Proof

3 parts Homemade Melon Milk
½ part Ancho Verde
¾ part Hendrick’s Gin
Combine ingredients and shake well
Strain over fresh ice in a wine glass
Garnish with pineapple mint and serve with a straw

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Drambuie’s Mulled Wine

8 parts Drambuie
1 bottle (750 ml) Red Wine-Suggest Cabernet Sauvignon
2 parts Honey
1 Spearmint-Peppermint Tea Bag
Peel of ½ Grapefruit
Peel of 1 Orange
2 tbsp Fresh Grated Ginger
½ tsp Whole Juniper Berries
½ tsp Whole Allspice Berries
½ tsp Whole Peppercorns
With a mortar and pestle grind the berries and pepper corns and add to a sauce pan. Add all other ingredients to the sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and let stand for 1 minute. Strain and serve. If not hot enough, bring back to a simmer. Serve hot.

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Ponche Primavera (pitcher)

12 ½ parts Montelobos Mezcal
7 ½ parts Ancho Reyes Chile Liqueur
5 parts lime juice
5 parts lemon juice
15 parts sweetened agua de Jamaica (Mexican hibiscus tea water, can be found in most supermarkets)
1 part Oleo Saccharum (an oil made from mixing citrus peels with sugar)
Combine all ingredients in a punch bowl and mix together. To keep chilled, freeze a large ice block the night before by double boiling water and using a large casserole dish. Add edible flowers to the water before it freezes (optional). Let ice block rest in punch bowl throughout the gathering. Build ingredients into a glass mug

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Hudson Hot Toddy

Add to a mug or Irish Coffee glass:
2oz Hudson Manhattan Rye
.75oz fresh lemon juice
Heaping teaspoon good, local honey
4oz very hot water
-OR- substitute a preferred brewed tea or mild/diluted cider for the amount water required.
Optional but recommended: dash or two of aromatic bitters
Stir to blend and dissolve honey. Add a star anise and a lemon slice studded with cloves for extra aromatics.

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