Seasonal Cocktail Guide

Post Date:

17Nov, 2021

By: Sabrina Huda Sanchez

A good meal is accompanied by a good drink. As we gather this season to eat with friends and family, find this list of seasonal cocktails to indulge in for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Thanksgiving Drinks
The menu is set: turkey, stuffing, candied yams, pumpkin pie. With all this heavy food, a few complimentary light drinks are just what your Thanksgiving needs. Try these recipes out!

- Salted Caramel Martini
Caramel is a fall flavor perfect for a Thanksgiving drink and the vodka doesn’t hurt either! Actually, a true martini is made with gin and vermouth then garnished with an olive. Over the decades, vodka was swapped for gin. Now all the seasonal martinis you see are actually vodka martinis.

Ingredients:
• 1.5 oz (1 shot) vodka
• 1 oz Irish Cream syrup
• ½ oz Caramel sauce
• 2 oz. half & half
• Sea salt & turbinado sugar

Directions:
1. Dip the martini glass rim in caramel sauce then coat in a combination of sea salt & turbinado sugar.
2. In a cocktail shaker, add ice, vodka, Irish cream syrup and half and half. Shake well for 15 seconds.
3. Line the inside of the glass with more caramel sauce.
4. Pour the martini into the glass.

It’s almost like bringing a Starbucks caramel frappe from coffeehouse to bar table. This drink would be best paired with the traditional dessert: pumpkin pie.

- Cranberry Gimlet
What’s Thanksgiving dinner without a side of cranberry sauce? This next recipe is a cranberry gimlet. A gimlet is a basic drink made of gin, simple syrup and lime juice. For this drink we just swap the simple syrup for cranberry syrup and transform an adult beverage into a companion for Friendsgiving.

Ingredients:
• 1.5 oz (1 shot) gin
• ¾ oz Cranberry syrup
• ¾ oz lime juice

Directions:
1. Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well.
2. Pour into a coupe glass.
3. Garnish with a fresh cranberry.

The simplicity of this drink makes it an easy go-to during your dinner or just for a relaxing night.

Christmas Drinks
Office Christmas parties are notorious for letting loose and enjoying a few too many drinks. This year, savor the time with a couple tasty cocktails. These drink recipes are perfect for celebrating the holiday spirit!

- Peppermint White Russian
Nothing says Christmastime like peppermint! The next recipe is a delicious peppermint white Russian. This creamy drink has all the feels of a snowy white winter wonderland.

Ingredients:
• 1 oz Vodka
• 1 oz Coffee liqueur
• 1 oz Peppermint syrup
• Splash heavy cream

Directions:
1. In a glass with ice, add syrup, liqueur, vodka and heavy cream.
2. Stir with a candy cane and leave for garnish.

If you prefer a frothy drink, you can shake this in a cocktail shaker as well.

- Santa Clausmopolitan
This drink has an unfair reputation for being a “girly drink” but there no judgement if a guy wants to enjoy this tasty cocktail! The big guy in red would be happy to drink this cosmopolitan named after him.

Ingredients:
• 2 oz vodka
• 2 oz cranberry juice
• ½ oz triple sec
• ½ oz fresh lime juice

Directions:
1. In a cocktail shaker add ingredients with ice and shake well.
2. Serve with fresh cranberries.

Let these holiday drinks bring extra fun and joy to your next gathering.