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Festive Cocktail Recipes from Top Mixologists
Sparkling cocktails, sophisticated punches & a non-alcoholic 'preggatini'
Entertaining at home? Sometimes it feels like it can take almost as long to pick out a recipe for the night's cocktail as it could to cook dinner. We turned to some leading mixologists for their tips on what to mix and how to mix it up while guests are mingling in your living room on New Year's Eve or any night of the year …
The Oscar Wilde
Jonathan Pogash, AKA the Cocktail Guru, creates drink menus for notable bars and restaurants in New York. The Oscar Wilde is a lightly effervescent drink he developed for Bookmarks Lounge, a posh rooftop lounge near Grand Central Station. "I feel it satisfies that New Year's Eve cocktail urge to live on the wild side," he said. "It includes absinthe and a bit of champagne, to tie in the tradition of champagne imbibing on New Year. It's sort of a cross between an Absinthe Fizz and a Death in the Afternoon."
The Oscar Wilde
1 1/4 oz. La Fee Absinthe
3/4 oz. fresh squeezed lemon juice
3/4 oz. simple syrup
1 egg white
2 oz. Moet & Chandon Champagne
1 tsp. Allspice Dram
First, dry shake the Absinthe, lemon juice and egg white. Then add ice and the simple syrup and shake very, very, very well! Strain into highball glass without ice. Top off with champagne to create a nice foam on top. Add teaspoon of Allspice Dram to finish the drink. Garnish with a lemon peel and freshly grated nutmeg.
G'vine Orchid
Cocktail consultant Junior Merino is also known as the Liquid Chef and when we asked him for his suggestion for New Year's Eve entertaining, he sent us a recipe for a stellar drink that adds a bit of botanical zing and floral beauty to traditional sparkle. The G'vine Orchid is a drink he developed for La Reve, an event held by the Michael J. Fox Parkinsons Foudation. VIP guests who enjoyed it included Matthew Perry, Maya and Ricky Lake. "This is not only an elegant cocktail, but it's also easy to enjoy," he says.
G'vine Orchid
1 & 1/2 oz G’vine Gin
1 & 1/2 oz pink grapefruit juice
1/2 oz St. Germain
1/4 oz simple syrup
1 & 1/2 oz Moet & Chandon Brut Champagne
Put the pink grapefruit juice, St. Germain, syrup and G’vine in a shaker, add ice and shake. Serve in a highball glass. Before pouring the drink into the highball, add the champagne so that it mixes with the rest of the ingredients. Garnish with an orchid.
Sparkling Pomegranate Snowflake
Hosting a cocktail party and expecting someone who's expecting? Moms-to-be, not to mention anyone driving home, won't be indulging, but that doesn't mean they have to resign themselves to drinking water or soda all night. Natalie Bovis-Nelsen, who runs the website the Liquid Muse, recently published her first book, "Preggatinis: Mixology for the Mom-to-Be." She suggested the Sparkling Pomegranate Snowflake, a bubbly, non-boozy cocktail, for a festive toast. "Nonalcoholic 'cocktails' are great for people who are pregnant, on medication, have a long drive home or simply choose not to imbibe the hard stuff," she says. "As a mixologist, I approach my nonalcoholic drinks the same way I would a regular cocktail: I use organic ingredients when possible, freshly squeezed juices, muddled fruits and herbs and strive to present a balanced flavor profile. Preggatinis such as the Sparkling Pomegranate Snowflake are also served in beautiful stemware—perfect for a holiday table!"
Sparkling Pomegranate Snowflake
Fre Brut alcohol-removed sparkling wine
1 teaspoon pomegranate seeds
Dash of Stirrings blood orange bitters (optional)
1 ounce pomegranate juice
1/2 ounce lemon juice
1 sugar cube
Rim champagne flute with sugar. Place 1 sugar cube into the bottom of a cocktail flute. Douse with bitters. Add pomegranate juice, lemon juice and top with alcohol-removed sparkling wine. Drop in pomegranate seeds.
Uncle Homere's Famous Mongoose Bite Punch
Party like it's 1699. Rum punches are as much a part of America's past as the Constitution and the Jazz Age. Ben Jones, a fourth generation decendant of Homere Clement, founder of Rhum Clement, a rum from Martinique, gives history a central role in his mixed drinks. "Historically, our forefathers would gather around the punch bowl like people get around water cooler today and just talk and trade ideas," he says. "I like to take different things that are wild and exotic ingredients. There are punch recipes that are 200 years old and other punches that are more progressive. I like it because if you're going to have six or ten people over for party, instead of try to make six different cocktails, easily set up a punch bowl. It's done in five or ten minutes and it's really easy."
Uncle Homere's Famous Mongoose Bite Punch
1 gallon of pineapple juice
1 gallon of grapefruit Juice
4 bottles of V.S.O.P. RUM
1 bottle of SHRUBB
6 cups fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons of cayenne pepper
Floating cinnamon sticks and lemon wheels
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