Best Holiday Cocktails – Peanut Malt Flip Cocktail

The Peanut Malt Flip sounds weird.

A glance at the ingredients looks weird.

And this apparent strangeness is one of its principal charms, because make one for yourself and you’ll find it doesn’t taste strange in the slightest.

The scotch gives body, cream gives richness, and as for the Peanut Butter – the peanut butter is what makes it art.

Make one yourself with the Peanut Malt Flip Cocktail recipe below.
2 oz. scotch
1 oz. cream
0.75 oz. simple syrup
1 tbsp. peanut butter
1 egg
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker, seal tight and shake without ice for about five seconds to whip and emulsify the egg.

Add ice and shake for 10 to 12 seconds, strain into a large coupe or wine glass and garnish with some freshly grated nutmeg over the top.

Hot Toddy Cocktail

The Hot Toddy is the ultimate winter drink.

Some drinks are so foundational to our understanding of mixed beverages that they’re less invented than discovered, like fire itself.

Some Hot Toddys are like Whiskey Sours (whiskey, citrus, sweetener and hot water) and some are like Old Fashioneds (whiskey, sweetness, spice and hot water).

Either way, the Hot Toddy is like whiskey chicken soup, the perfect drink to displace any physical or emotional chill.

Here’s the Hot Toddy Cocktail recipe below.

2 oz. whiskey
0.75 oz. lemon juice
0.75 oz. honey/ginger
4-6 oz. boiling water

Boil water.

Pour boiling water into a mug, to pre-warm it.

After a minute, empty water, add ingredients (see below), top with boiling water and garnish with a lemon or orange slice studded with cloves and/or a cinnamon stick.

Best Holiday Cocktails – Old Cuban

Among Champagne cocktails, the Old Cuban is in a class all its own.

Most cocktails that incorporate bubbles lean into the bright electricity of the sparkling wine, while the Old Cuban—a bunch of aged rum, some lime and mint, sugar and bitters.

Make a few after dinner according to the Old Cuban recipe below.

1.5 oz. aged rum
0.75 oz. lime juice
0.75 oz. simple syrup
6-8 mint leaves
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
2 oz. sparkling wine

Add all ingredients except wine to a cocktail shaker with ice, shake well for 10 to 12 seconds and strain into a flute or stemmed cocktail glass.

Top with wine and garnish with a mint leaf or sprig.

Boozy Hot Chocolate Cocktail

You could just add a shot of whatever’s closest in reach to microwaved Swiss Miss and it would still be pretty good.

The Boozy Hot Chocolate Cocktail recipe is below.

6 oz. milk or cream
45 g semi-sweet chocolate chips (weight is a much more accurate measure in this instance)
1 tsp. sugar
1.5 oz. reposado or añejo tequila

Pre-warm your mug with some hot water.

Add all ingredients (except alcohol) to a small saucepan over low heat and stir, taking care not to scald the milk.

Empty the hot water from your mug and add 1.5 oz. alcohol.

Once all the chocolate is dissolved and the temperature is where you want it (usually about 150 degrees—milk scalds at 170), pour hot chocolate into mug, stir briefly to combine and garnish with as many baby marshmallows as will fit.

Best Holiday Cocktails – Eggnog

Eggnog is a hard sell because most people have only had the bad kind, those boring and occasionally gross cartons that line the dairy section of the supermarket every December.

Eggnog is ounce-for-ounce, one of the most outrageously delicious things you can drink.

If you like ice cream, you’ll like eggnog.

Here’s the Eggnog recipe.

12 egg yolks
18 oz. white sugar
36 oz. whole milk
24 oz. heavy cream
12 oz. aged rum
12 oz. Cognac
8 oz. bourbon
½ tsp. salt

Separate the eggs and keep the whites to use somewhere else—like a merengue or your Whiskey Sour.

Using an immersion blender or mixer, beat the yolks with the sugar in a large mixing bowl until the mixture lightens in color.

Add dairy to a large bowl, then add the liquor and salt, then slowly beat in the egg mixture.

Pour into glass jar or bottle and store in the fridge indefinitely.

To serve, pour about 5 oz. into a small glass and garnish with some freshly grated nutmeg.

Serves 24.

Mulled Apple Cider Cocktail

Mulled Apple Cider cocktails are one of winter’s chief delights.

It’s the perfect marriage of sweetness and spice, not only served hot but also given a boost from Irish whiskey

Follow the Mulled Apple Cider Cocktail recipe below:

1.5 oz. Irish whiskey
4.5 oz. hot mulled apple cider
1 oz. unsweetened half-whipped heavy cream

Pour whiskey and cider into a pre-heated mug, leaving a little less than one inch of room from the rim.

Gently pour half-whipped unsweetened cream so it layers on top.

Garnish with a pinch of ground cinnamon.

Take a sip and reflect on how some parts of winter are actually pretty nice.

Best Holiday Cocktails – French 75

The French 75, we note, “is so deeply associated with celebrations that it’s practically intrinsic.

There are other cocktails, certainly, you could deploy—the Airmail and Old Cuban come to mind—but they’ve all studied at the feet of the French 75.

Follow the French 75 recipe below.

1 oz. Beefeater Gin
0.5 oz. lemon juice
0.5 oz. simple syrup (1:1)
3 oz. Champagne (real, French Champagne)

Shake first three ingredients over ice.

Strain into a chilled flute and top with about 3 oz. of chilled Champagne.

Brandy Alexander Cocktail

Consider the Brandy Alexander, a cocktail so old the mere mention of it invites the images of grandparents and gramophones.

The Brandy Alexander is brandy (Cognac, usually, that most celebrated type of brandy), crème de cacao, and cream.

There is, of course, a way to make it too sweet, but increase the measure of Cognac just a touch and the drink becomes locked into balance, a decadent delight, the chocolate and cream round and deeply satisfying, all driven by the Cognac’s powerful oak and fruit.

1.5 oz. Cognac or brandy
1 oz. cream
1 oz. crème de cacao

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake hard for eight to 10 seconds.

Strain off the ice into a cocktail or coupe glass, and garnish with a shave of fresh nutmeg.

Best Holiday Cocktails – Spiced Tequila Punch

In the world of tequila, it’s the raw brightness of the blancos that garners most of the attention, but when you get into the añejos—tequilas that have slumbered in oak barrels for a few years—you open up a whole new world of potential.

You could have a lovely time just drinking Manhattan variations with añejos and sherry instead of whiskey and vermouth, but add some fresh citrus and cinnamon in a large format, and introduce your guests to the deeply spiced luxuriousness of aged agave spirits.

6 oz. spiced syrup
18 oz. añejo tequila
6 oz. Amontillado sherry
6 oz. lemon juice
30 oz. chilled cinnamon tea

To make the spiced syrup take 1⁄2 cup sugar, 4 oz. water, four to six cloves, two to four allspice berries and one star anise pod, and combine in a small pot over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

Reduce to simmer, covered, for five minutes, then remove from heat and let cool.

Once the spiced syrup has been off heat for about five to 10 minutes, peel six lemons and add the peels to spiced syrup, then stir briefly.

Let cool to room temperature, then strain out solids.

Combine spiced syrup with the rest of the liquids and chill.

When it’s time to serve, pour mixture into a large serving bowl and add a very large piece of ice.

Garnish with cinnamon sticks, star anise pods and orange wheels.