Thanksgiving Cocktail Recipes Of Top U.S. Mixologists
Turkey? Check. Mashed Potatoes? Check. Gravy? Check. Your Thanksgiving celebrations are ready, set, go...but wait, what to sip on? Scouring the cornucopia of the country's top mixologists, we bring you the best Thanksgiving cocktail recipes highlighting fall's bounty that will surely give your guests something to be thankful for. They will also bring the fun to any obligatory dysfunctional family gatherings that are on your holiday agenda.
King's Toddy — Jackson Cannon of Boston’s Eastern Standard
1 oz No3 gin
3 oz Fresh lemon juice
1 oz King's Ginger
1 oz Clover honey syrup
Combine ingredients into a hot mug, top with hot water and garnish with a rough orange twist.
Cocktail notes: Fresh lemon and ginger connect with the aromatics of King’s Ginger; the orange oil brings out the Spanish orange flavor notes of the gin. If you’re too tired to make the cocktail from all the niceties of conversation around the family Thanksgiving table, King’s Ginger can be sipped "naked" as well for a pleasant festive tipple ‘round the fire.
The Wife's Mother – Richard Swan of Los Angeles’ Cliff's Edge Bar
1 oz makers mark bourbon
1 oz Laird's applejack
2 dashes Peychauds bitters
2 lemon wedges
3/4 oz cranberry juice
Combine all ingredients with ice, squeezing the lemon wedges; shake and strain into chilled coupe, garnishing with orange peel. Crushed graham crackers
Cinnamon stick (garnish)
Cocktail notes: This drink could finally be something you and your mother-in-law can actually agree upon.
Seasonal Buck — Tyson Buhler of Scottsdale’s Casablanca Lounge
2oz Stoli Gala apple
1oz Apple shrub*
1/2oz Lime juice
2oz Ginger beer
Shake first three ingredients then top with Ginger Beer. Strain over hand crushed ice in a copper mug and garnish with a Mint sprig and a mist of All-Spice Dram.
Making apple shrub: Bring 1 cup apples (assorted), 1 cup sugar, 1 cup cider vinegar, 2 star anise, 4 clove, 1 cinnamon stick to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes then let cool. Remove spices and blend then strain.
Cocktail Notes: Serving it in a mug throws off all suspicions that you’re hitting the hooch too early.
Sonoma Fig Punch – Robert Lam of San Francisco’s Butterfly Restaurant
1/2 oz. aged balsamic vinegar
3 basil leaves
1 oz. FigCello di Sonoma
1.5 oz. Hooker's House Pinot Noir barrel aged bourbon
1/2 oz. Nana Mae's Gravenstein apple juice
Muddle basil and balsamic vinegar in a cocktail shaker. Add Ice and the rest of ingredients. Shake and strain into an ice filled old-fashioned glass. Garnish with a sliced fig.
Cocktail Notes: This flavorful cocktail combines some of the best Fall flavors from Sonoma's most unique artisanal producers. Be careful with this one, seems harmless, before you know it — you're "figged."
In Hiding (of those family gatherings when the photo albums emerge) – Ali Tahsini of San Fransisco’s Bourbon & Branch
2 dashes of Fee Brothers Aztec chocolate bitters
2 oz Spicebox Canadian whiskey
4 oz sweetened condensed milk
Freshly grated nutmeg
Add ingredients into a mixing glass, fill with ice and shake vigorously.
Serving Instructions:
Add ice to a teapot, strain your drink into the teapot and garnish with a cinnamon stick. Pour into tea cups and sprinkle with a touch of nutmeg.
Cocktail Notes: Tea time with grandma just won’t be the same after this one.
Lady Percy - Dave Whitton of Villains Tavern
2 oz of Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey
1/4 oz Lime
1/4 oz Honey
2 dashes of chocolate chile bitters
fill with pear cider
microplane a light dust of chocolate caramel
garnish with 2 dried apricots on pick
Cider is 10 Bartlett Pears and 2 Comice Pears, juiced, then strained through cheesecloth.. and stewed with two handfuls of dried apricots for 5hrs in a crock pot. Build ingredients in a tempered glass or mug, stir and fill with the pear cider.
Strain through cheesecloth..
Cocktail Notes: Perfect holiday mixer party drink as you could ideally make this as hot punch and put finishing touches on it as guests arrive.
Shoot A Wild Turkey - Alie & Georgia of Food 2
2 ounces Wild Turkey
1 ounce butterscotch schnapps
1/2 cup canned sweet potatoes
1 teaspoon nutmeg
Garnish/tools:
Mini marshmallows
Creme brûlée torch
Add whiskey, butterscotch schnapps, canned sweet potatoes and nutmeg to a blender and whir until smooth. Pour into two shooter glasses and top with mini marshmallows. Brown the marshmallows to your liking, from a golden brown to a charred, blackened patina. Let cool for a moment and then swallow drink in one gluttonous mouthful. Give thanks to the fact that your favorite Turkey Day side dish now comes in convenient shot glass form.
Cocktail notes: From the ladies who caused a stir in the cocktail world with their McNuggetini… enough said.
Raising our glass in gratitude for intelligent cocktails! Happy Thanksgiving.
