Three-Piece Suit
MAKES ABOUT 8 SERVINGS IN A 1-LITER SWING-TOP BOTTLE
I like my drinks nicely tailored, with every element well matched and fitting right. This smooth little number from Steven Huddleston of Parcel 32 in Charleston, South Carolina, fits the bill, starting with a base of barrel-aged tequila, which layers agave’s grassy notes with soft vanilla aromatics. The reposado tequila blends seamlessly into oloroso sherry, which adds roundness and a nutty caramel note.
2 cups reposado tequila
1 cup oloroso sherry
2 teaspoons orange bitters
¼ cup 1:1 simple syrup (this page)
¾ cup water
At least 2 hours and up to 4 hours before serving, make the batch. Use a small funnel to pour tequila, oloroso sherry, bitters, simple syrup, and water into a 1-liter swing-top bottle. Seal, turn gently end over end to mix, and chill in freezer. (If you’d prefer to batch further in advance, refrigerate filled bottle, then place in freezer an hour or two before serving.)
To serve, turn bottle gently to mix, then pour cocktail into chilled coupe glasses.
The Night Shift
MAKES ABOUT 8 SERVINGS IN A 1-LITER SWING-TOP BOTTLE
On a snowy evening, after a muddy slush-puddle day, you might be dreaming of a sojourn on a sunny beach spent with a glass of rum or a tropical cocktail in your hand. But what you need where you are is something a little more spirit-driven. This cocktail from Sean Kenyon of American Bonded in Denver closes the gap, pairing Cognac and rum with warming allspice dram, a tiki staple born in Jamaica. It’s all rounded out with lush Italian vermouth and topped off with an aromatic orange twist.
1¼ cups Cognac
1 cup aged Jamaican rum (such as Appleton Signature Blend)
1 cup Carpano Antica Formula sweet vermouth
2 tablespoons allspice dram
½ cup water
TO SERVE
8 orange twists
At least 2 hours before serving, make the batch. Use a small funnel to pour Cognac, rum, vermouth, allspice dram, and water into a 1-liter swing-top bottle. Seal, turn gently end over end to mix, and refrigerate.
To serve, turn bottle gently to mix. Place a large ice cube in each rocks glass, then pour in cocktail. Express oils from an orange twist over each cocktail and use twist as garnish.
Hook, Line, and Sinker
MAKES ABOUT 8 SERVINGS IN A 1-LITER SWING-TOP BOTTLE
Seattle’s Mark Sassi teases out the best qualities of bourbon in this drink. Orange bitters team up with a small portion of apricot liqueur to highlight the fruit and vanilla aspects of the whiskey without letting things get too sweet. A touch of bitter, complex Punt e Mes brings down the proof and leaves you with an herbal finish.
2 cups bourbon
¾ cup Punt e Mes
¼ cup apricot liqueur (such as Giffard Abricot du Roussilon)
2 teaspoons orange bitters
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon water
TO SERVE
8 orange twists
At least 2 hours and up to 3 hours before serving, make the batch. Use a small funnel to pour bourbon, Punt e Mes, apricot liqueur, bitters, and water into a 1-liter swing-top bottle. Seal, turn gently end over end to mix, and chill in freezer. (If you’d prefer to batch further in advance, refrigerate filled bottle, then place in freezer an hour or two before serving.)
To serve, turn bottle gently to mix, then pour cocktail into chilled coupe or Nick and Nora glasses. Express oils from an orange twist over each cocktail and use twist as garnish.
Double Down
MAKES ABOUT 8 SERVINGS IN A 1-LITER SWING-TOP BOTTLE
Cardamaro is a Moscato-based aperitif that’s nutty, gingery, and mildly bitter—it packs a ton of warm baking-spice flavors into a single bottle. Using it in a cocktail feels a bit like cheating; a complex-tasting drink with this stuff requires basically zero effort. This recipe from Morgan Anders of Seattle’s Rob Roy leads us to the promised land. Just pour Cardamaro in a bottle with rye and sherry, and you’ve got a ready-to-drink cocktail for any cozy evening. Morgan’s original spec, with equal parts Cardamaro and rye, is easier to remember, but I like to add a little extra whiskey (as I‘ve done in this recipe) to bring down the sweetness.
1¼ cups plus 2 tablespoons rye
1¼ cups Cardamaro
½ cup fino sherry
¾ cup water
TO SERVE
8 lemon twists
At least 2 hours before serving, make the batch. Use a small funnel to pour rye, Cardamaro, fino sherry, and water into a 1-liter swing-top bottle. Seal, turn gently end over end to mix, and refrigerate.
To serve, turn bottle gently to mix. Place a large ice cube in each rocks glass, then pour in cocktail. Express oils from a lemon twist over each cocktail and use twist as garnish.
Ticktock
MAKES ABOUT 8 SERVINGS IN A 1-LITER SWING-TOP BOTTLE
Yes, there’s a flagon of rum in this sturdy cocktail from Jennifer Akin of Rumba in Seattle—after all, it’s named for the crocodile who ate the pirate Captain Hook’s hand. But it’s actually a drink for Scotch lovers; the heathery smoke of Islay whisky comes to the forefront, laced with clove. The rum blend gives you a little leathery Jamaican-style funk. Sip it near a wood-burning fireplace if you’re not, in fact, at sea.
1½ cups white rum
½ cup funky Jamaican rum (such as Smith and Cross)
½ cup Punt e Mes
¼ cup peaty Scotch (such as Ardbeg)
2 teaspoons Angostura bitters
¼ cup chilled clove-mint syrup (recipe follows)
⅔ cup water
TO SERVE
8 lemon twists
At least 2 hours before serving, make the batch. Use a small funnel to pour white rum, Jamaican rum, Punt e Mes, Scotch, bitters, chilled clove-mint syrup, and water into a 1-liter swing-top bottle. Seal well, turn gently end over end to mix, and refrigerate.
To serve, turn bottle gently to mix. Place a large ice cube in each rocks glass, then pour in cocktail. Express oils from a lemon twist over each cocktail and use twist as garnish.
CLOVE-MINT SYRUP • MAKES ABOUT ⅔ CUP
½ cup water
½ cup sugar
6 whole cloves
45 fresh mint leaves
Combine water, sugar, and cloves in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved. Turn heat to low and keep warm for 5 minutes, then remove from heat, stir in mint leaves, and cover. Let sit for 25 minutes, then strain through a fine-mesh strainer and refrigerate until chilled or for up to 3 days.
USE IT UP
A little clove-mint syrup dresses up fresh lemonade. Start with 2 parts just-squeezed lemon juice, 3 parts cold still or sparkling water, and 1¼ to 1½ parts clove-mint syrup, to taste. Serve over ice, garnished with a mint sprig.
ALCOHOL-FREE
TURMERIC PINEAPPLE
THE BLAYLOCK
POMEGRANATE-CITRUS SANS-GRIA
HONEYDEW LIMEADE
KUMQUAT SHANDY
MULLED MAROON
RHUBY SHRUB
Turmeric Pineapple
MAKES ABOUT 10 SERVINGS IN A 2-QUART PITCHER
Anyone can pour a sad soda into a glass, but really successful nonalcoholic drinks have more depth of flavor. This easy pineapple concoction from Morgan Anders of Rob Roy in Seattle holds your interest with its subtle earthy side, contributed by a few teaspoons of powdered turmeric. You’ll need three or four pineapples to make a full batch, depending on your juicer’s yield and the size of the fruit. If you don’t have a juicer, puree the peeled fruit in a blender until smooth, then strain.
3¾ cups fresh pineapple juice
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3½ teaspoons ground turmeric
1¼ cups chilled 3:2 honey syru
p (this page)
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons water
TO SERVE
Ground turmeric (optional)
Up to 2 hours before serving, make the batch. Prepare pineapple and lemon juices and pour into a 2-quart pitcher along with turmeric. Stir vigorously to mix, then add chilled honey syrup and water and stir again. If not serving immediately, seal well, covering with plastic wrap if needed, and refrigerate.
To serve, stir mixture well. Pour into ice-filled rocks glasses and garnish each glass with an additional sprinkle of turmeric.
The Blaylock
MAKES ABOUT 16 SERVINGS IN A 2-QUART PITCHER
Have you ever drizzled a really good grapefruit with honey? It’s one of those perfect combinations, so it’s not shocking that the pairing works in a glass, too, as Milwaukee’s Adam James Sarkis demonstrates with this recipe. It couldn’t be simpler to combine honey, grapefruit, lemon, and seltzer, but the mixture is surprisingly complex in flavor, both tangy and rich. Make sure you have nine or ten grapefruits; yields will depend on whether you’re using an electric juicer or squeezing them by hand. Prep the honey syrup at least an hour—and up to a week—in advance, so it’s properly cooled when you start the batch.
4½ cups fresh pink grapefruit juice
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons chilled 2:1 honey syrup (this page)
TO SERVE
16 star anise pods (optional)
2 (1 L) bottles chilled seltzer
Lemon wedges (optional)
Up to 2 hours before serving, make the batch. Prepare grapefruit and lemon juices and pour into a 2-quart pitcher. Add chilled honey syrup and stir well to mix. If not serving immediately, seal well, covering with plastic wrap if needed, and refrigerate.
To serve, toast star anise pods (if desired) over high heat in a dry skillet, watching carefully, just until fragrant, about 45 seconds. Fill tall glasses with ice, then carefully fill glasses about halfway with chilled seltzer. Top with pitcher mix, give each glass one gentle stir, then garnish with star anise pod and lemon wedge, if desired.
Pomegranate-Citrus Sans-gria
MAKES ABOUT 8 SERVINGS IN A 2-QUART PITCHER
The secret to good booze-free sangria is a bunch of tart citrus and a little spice. Pomegranate juice (sweetened with raspberry jam) stands in for red wine here; it gets additional tannin and warm flavor from long-steeped tea. I’ve included a sprinkle of cayenne to subtly mimic alcohol’s heat; if you want a spicy drink, feel free to add a pinch more. Consider this recipe your flavor base: you can garnish it with whatever seasonal fruit you have on hand. If you’d like to add more than a cup of fruit, make sure your pitcher can hold the extra volume.
2 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam or spread
1 cup water
2 chai tea bags
2 English breakfast tea bags
8 thin orange wheels
1½ cups fresh grapefruit juice
1 cup fresh orange juice
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2¼ cups chilled unsweetened 100% pomegranate juice (such as Knudsen)
⅛ to ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, as desired
4 thin lemon wheels
1 cup fresh berries, sliced peaches, or other seasonal fruit (optional)
TO SERVE
¾ cup chilled club soda, plus more as needed
Up to 1 day before serving, put raspberry jam and water in a 1-quart saucepan and bring to a bare simmer over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve completely. Turn off heat and add chai and English breakfast tea bags, making sure they’re fully submerged. Let steep for 40 minutes, then discard tea bags. If not serving immediately, cover and refrigerate.
Up to 2 hours before serving, make the batch. Place 4 orange wheels into a 2-quart pitcher along with tea mixture. Tap orange wheels about ten times with a muddler or long wooden spoon, just enough to bruise peel; don’t pulverize it. Prepare grapefruit, orange, and lemon juices and pour into pitcher mix, along with pomegranate juice and cayenne, and stir to mix. Add lemon wheels and remaining 4 orange wheels, plus any additional fruit, and stir gently. If not serving immediately, seal well, covering with plastic wrap if needed, and refrigerate. (I do find that this improves after an hour or two in the fridge, but not much more.)
To serve, stir mixture well, then add chilled club soda and give it another gentle stir. Pour into ice-filled tumblers or wineglasses, offering additional club soda to anyone who prefers a spritzier sangria.
Honeydew Limeade
MAKES ABOUT 10 SERVINGS IN A 2-QUART PITCHER
It’s not that regular limeade is boring, but things get much more interesting when you add cooling honeydew juice. This recipe from Troy Sidle of ZZ’s Clam Bar in Manhattan is subtly spiced with white peppercorn and nutty green tea. Poured over ice, this drink is restorative and tart. And don’t worry, you don’t need a juicer for this. After removing the melon’s seeds and peel, toss the cubed fruit in your blender and let it run, then strain through a fine-mesh strainer. The sweetness of the drink will depend on how ripe your honeydews are; taste a bit and add extra syrup to the pitcher if needed.
3¾ cups fresh honeydew juice (from 3 large or 4 medium melons)
1¼ cups fresh lime juice
5 to 7 tablespoons chilled spiced green tea syrup (recipe follows)
1 cup cold water
TO SERVE
10 mint sprigs
Up to 2 hours before serving, make the batch. Prepare honeydew and lime juices and pour into a 2-quart pitcher, stirring well. Mix in 5 tablespoons chilled spiced green tea syrup and water. Pour a small amount of pitcher mix over ice and taste to assess sweetness, then stir in additional syrup if needed. If not serving immediately, seal well, covering with plastic wrap if needed, and refrigerate.
To serve, pour into ice-filled collins glasses and garnish each glass with a mint sprig.
SPICED GREEN TEA SYRUP • MAKES ABOUT ¾ CUP PLUS 2 TABLESPOONS
1½ teaspoons whole white peppercorns
⅔ cup water
2 green tea bags
⅔ cup sugar
In a small, dry saucepan, toast peppercorns over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add water and bring to a bare simmer, then add green tea bags, making sure they’re completely submerged. Remove from heat and let steep for 6 minutes, then discard tea bags. Add sugar to saucepan, return to medium-high heat, and stir constantly until completely dissolved, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool for 15 minutes, then strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a mason jar or other resealable container. Refrigerate until chilled or for up to 1 week.
Kumquat Shandy
MAKES ABOUT 8 SERVINGS IN A 2-QUART PITCHER
If there’s a drink that’s more refreshing than beer, it’s the shandy or radler, made by mixing lemonade or soda into the brew for a lower-alcohol thirst quencher. And I have good news: while nonalcoholic beers can be disappointing on their own, they work just fine in a shandy. Inspired by a satsuma variation at the sadly departed Prairie School in Chicago, I amped up the drink’s tartness by pairing juicy orange with lemon and macerated kumquat. Do note that nonalcoholic beers are technically allowed to have up to 0.5% alcohol by volume. Of course, you can also use a full-strength wheat beer or pilsner here if you’re tippling.
1 cup fresh orange juice
½ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup kumquat syrup (recipe follows)
TO SERVE
⅔ cup chilled club soda
3½ cups chilled nonalcoholic beer (such as Erdinger NA, from 3 bottles)
8 kumquat halves, skewered on cocktail picks (optional)
Up to 1 hour before serving, make the batch. Prepare orange and lemon juices and pour into a 2-quart pitcher. Stir to mix, then add kumquat syrup and give it another stir. If not serving immediately, seal well, covering with plastic w
rap if needed, and refrigerate.
To serve, stir mixture well, then slowly and carefully add chilled club soda and chilled nonalcoholic beer, pouring them down side of pitcher. Give it another gentle stir. Pour shandy into ice-filled beer tulips or highball glasses and garnish each drink with a speared kumquat half.
KUMQUAT SYRUP • MAKES ABOUT ½ CUP
½ cup halved kumquats (8 to 10, depending on size)
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
Combine kumquats and sugar in a blender and process until a coarse puree forms, about 25 seconds, pausing once to scrape down sides of blender. Cover blender and let mixture sit for 15 minutes to draw out juices and let sugar dissolve. Add orange juice and blend for 15 seconds. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes more, then strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a resealable container. Refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Shake well before using.
Mulled Maroon
MAKES ABOUT 10 SERVINGS IN A 3-QUART SAUCEPAN OR ELECTRIC COOKER
I’ve mulled wine, I’ve mulled cider, but this comforting drink beats them both. Julia Momose of Chicago’s Kumiko simmers a mix of tangy pomegranate juice and ripe purple Concord grape juice with spices until the whole house smells amazing. After straining to avoid overextraction, I like to keep the mixture warm in a slow cooker or Instant Pot. (You can also return it to the pan and leave it over low heat on your stove.) Feel free to double the batch in a 6-quart cooker to serve a large crowd.
5 cups 100% Concord grape juice (such as Knudsen)
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