Bring some holiday cheer to your restaurant with one of these cocktails.
Mulled Wine
Mulled wine, variations of which are popular in Europe, is typically made with red wine combined with spices and served warm. It is a traditional drink during winter, especially around Christmas and Halloween.
Recipe:
- 2 bottles red wine
- ½ cup brandy
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 4 cardamom pods
- 8 whole cloves
- 8 black peppercorns
- 8 allspice berries
- 1 orange, zested and juiced
Combine all in a slow cooker set on low and allow to simmer for at least two hours before serving. Only reheat leftover mulled wine once, then discard. Serve in a warmed glass coffee mug with orange peel to garnish.
Royal Tannenbaum
Created by Lara Creasy, this cocktail ran on the cover of Imbibe magazine in December 2009 and appears in the book The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart.
Glass: Martini
Garnish: Citrus-marinated olive, rosemary
Recipe:
- 2 oz. Blue Coat gin, Tanqueray gin or other London Dry-style gin
- ½ oz. Zirbenz pine liqueur
- ½ oz. Bianco vermouth, such as Carpano Bianco or Dolin Blanc
- ¼ oz. simple syrup
Combine all in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a citrus-marinated olive speared with a rosemary spear.
To make citrus-marinated olives: Drain olive brine from a 1 gallon olive jar and reserve for drink use. Zest 2 lemons, 2 limes and 2 oranges. Marinate olives in a mixture of lemon, lime and orange juices with a little water and the citrus zest.
Visions of Sugarplums
Damson gin is especially popular in Britain, where the plums are ripe in early September and the liqueur can be made in time for use as a Christmas treat.
A recipe to make it from scratch originates from the “Drinking with Dickens” book, written by Cedric Dickens (great-great-grandson of Charles!), which includes the recipes for all drinks mentioned in Charles Dickens’ books.
Recipe:
- 1 oz. Averell Damson gin
- 1 oz. Laird’s applejack
- ½ oz. Lazzaroni amaretto or similar quality brand
- 1 barspoon lemon juice
- 1 dash Angostura’s bitters
- 1 dash Peychaud’s bitters
Combine all in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into an old-fashioned glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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