The holidays are meant to be merry, but between the traffic, shopping, family baggage, rushing to get everything done before you switch on your OOO notice, and the enforced sense of happiness we're all supposed to feel, it can be a lot. Sometimes, you need a little help. Or maybe you want to try a creative new cocktail. We found a few of Good Food's best cocktail recipes with an eye toward perfect winter and party drinks.
For your ease, we've divided them into several categories:
- Classic
- Festive
- Warming
- Low-Alcohol
- Gin
- Vodka
- Mezcal
- Tequila
- Micheladas & Beer
- Rum
- Tiki
- Sherry
- Absinthe
- Amaros
- Citrus
- Fruity
- Punch
It's hard to go wrong with a classic cocktail like an Old Fashioned. Photo credit: Adam Jaime/Unsplash
CLASSIC
Old Fashioned
There are a lot of different ways to make an Old Fashioned. Jason Schiffer of 320 Main in Seal Beach chooses sugar syrup and stirs it in a mixing glass, which ensures a consistent drink from the first sip to the last. This version calls for Buffalo Trace Bourbon. Get the recipe
Manhattan
"The Manhattan has been a staple of American pre-dinner drinking for over a century," writes Dr. Nicola Nice, author of The Cocktail Parlor: How Women Brought the Cocktail Home. "Being a New York cocktail in origin, the traditional preference has been for a rye base, although any barrel-aged spirit can technically be used. Indeed, in their 1953 Cocktails and Snacks, Anne and Robert London describe at least seven different kinds of Manhattan, as well as a Manhattan canapé made with egg, capers, and caviar and served on toast." Get the recipe
Dry Martini
Cocktail historian and author David Wondrich shared this recipe for the classic drink. Get the recipe
Daiquiri No. 3
In the 1930s and '40s, the daiquiri was king at Floridita, a popular bar in Havana, Cuba, where bartenders like Constantino Ribalaigua Vert developed an extensive daiquiri menu. Vert's famed Daiquiri No. 3 was consumed in massive quantities by Ernest Hemingway, although he took his "without sugar and double the rum." It became known as the Hemingway Daiquiri or Papa Doble. Bartender and author Jeffrey Morgenthaler finds that version unappealing and prefers this recipe. Get the recipe
Perfect Daiquiri
This daiquiri recipe comes to us from Steve Livigni, formerly the General Manager of La Descarga, a rum focused bar in Hollywood. Get the recipe
The John Collins
This version of the John Collins, a cocktail that's been around since the 1860s, replaces gin with its cousin, genever. The recipe comes from David Solmonson and Lesley Jacobs Solmonson, authors of The 12 Bottle Bar. Get the recipe
Moscow Mule
Mixologist Tony Abou-Ganim shares the recipe for his Moscow Mule, a cocktail that was developed not in Russia but at the Cock ‘n Bull restaurant in Hollywood, in the 1940s. This and other vodka-based cocktail recipes are featured in Tony's book, Vodka Distilled. Get the recipe
Eggnog is a once-a-year treat for most people. Photo credit: Shutterstock
FESTIVE
Best Eggnog
Unlike most eggnog recipes, this one (which comes from Jonathan Hunt of Chow.com) calls for aging the eggnog for at least three weeks prior to consumption to allow the flavors to meld. He ages his eggnog in the refrigerator in a clean 1-gallon jug and says you can age it for up to a year. Get the recipe
Aged Eggnog
Aging eggs seems like an oxymoron but this Aged Eggnog recipe works, Darra Goldstein explains, because when you make the eggnog base, "The alcohol really serves as a preservative, so you can keep it for a long time." You simply combine them along with the spices and put it in the refrigerator to age it for three weeks, so that all of the flavors blend. Then, you can use the base to make eggnog with milk and cream whenever you want. The base will keep for up to a year, you just need to shake the jar once a month. Get the recipe
Silk Sheets
Brought to us by Lesley Jacobs Solmonson, author of Liqueur: A Global History, Silk Sheets involves alchermes, a liqueur that involves cloves, cinnamon, and other warming spices aka it tastes kind of like Christmas in a bottle. As the first company to produce an alchermes in the United States, Heirloom Liqueurs is helping revive the forgotten spirit. Of the cocktail, the crew at Heirloom explains, "The cocktail is at once a harmony of earthy, smoky, bright, fruity, floral and aromatic." Get the recipe
Spiced Apple Martini
Kim Haasarud of Liquid Architecture offers some fresh drink ideas for the holidays, like this Spiced Apple Martini, which calls for apple pie filling. Get the recipe
White Christmas
What do you get when you combine vodka, amaretto, and heavy whipping cream? A White Christmas that doesn't involve snow. Scroll down to see the recipe. Get the recipe
Santa Baby
Throw Chambord, champagne and a few pomegranate seeds and you get a festive, elegant libation that's perfect for holiday parties. Scroll down to see the recipe. Get the recipe
On a cold night, a mug of Hot Buttered Rum makes a perfect pick-me-up. Photo credit: Shutterstock
WARMING
Hot Buttered Rum and Cider
January 17 is National Hot Buttered Rum Day but we won't be mad if you start celebrating early with Joy the Baker's recipe. This recipe is a two-fer. It'll perfume your house and taste delicious. Get the recipe
Red Hot Chocolate
The "red" in the title comes from Campari, which gives the drink a very Christmasy appearance. You will need to froth milk the way you would for a cappuccino to make it happen. Get the recipe
Blitzen
Add Irish Cream liqueur, dark rum and creme de cacao to hot chocolate and you'll have a cocktail to help any reindeer (or human) power through a long night of holiday gifting. Scroll down to see the recipe. Get the recipe
Natasha David specializes in light cocktails, which means she often dilutes the alcohol with something fizzy. Photo credit: Kristin Teig
LOW-ALCOHOL
Endless Spring
Natasha David, author of Drink Lightly, specializes in low-alcohol cocktail creations. Based on classic cocktails, David's approach is to give lower proof alcohol the spotlight. The formula for an easy, low-alcohol cocktail is a bit of wine, some flavor, and bubbles. "There is always something in the fridge that you can throw together," she says. Get the recipe
A French 75 looks as good as it tastes. Photo credit: Stephen Harlan/Unsplash
GIN
French 75
Few cocktails look as classy or taste as good as the French 75, a combo of gin and champagne (or prosecco). Get the recipe
Early Grey Marteani
"This pioneering recipe set the stage for many modern tea cocktails to follow," explains Jim Meehan in The Bartender's Pantry: A Beverage Handbook for the Universal Bar. "It was created by Audrey Saunders, my mentor and former boss at the Pegu Club. 'The name is a play on that whole silly 'tini' business,' she told me, 'but the drink is a nod to traditional English tea service,' she told me, where tea is 'often served with lemon and lumps of sugar on the side. Instead of using milk, I opted for egg white, which provides not only an ethereal mouthfeel but a perfect foil for the tea’s tannins.'" Get the recipe
Gin Cocktail
Bartender Tim Loden taught us how to make the classic Gin Cocktail, which was adapted from Jerry Thomas's 1862 reprint of How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon Vivant's Companion. And if you can't decide what gin to use for all these cocktails, here are Good Food producer Laryl Garcia's four favorite gins. Get the recipe
Sloe Motion Gin Fizz
Simon Ford of Ford's Gin knows how to parse the subtle flavors of gin and recommends this as a starter cocktail recipe to try at home. Get the recipe
Ramos Gin Fizz
The recipe for this egg white and cream cocktail, which comes from Rob Chirico's Field Guide to Cocktails, is a classic brunch accompaniment, but it's delicious enough to drink on its own. Scroll down to see the recipe. Get the recipe
Lord Nelson
This drink calls for gin, orange bitters and Lillet, a citrusy, wine–based aperitif from France. Get the recipe
Lazyman Gin & Tonic
If you don't have access to quinine sulfate or a rotovap, there's Dave Arnold's "lazy" version of a G&T, or as he describes it in his book Liquid Intelligence, "The Best G&T You Can Muster If You Can't Muster Much." Get the recipe
Gin & Tonic Jigglers
In his latest book, The Great Gelatin Revival, "Jiggle Daddy" Ken Albala has figured out some ingenious ways to combine booze and Jell-O. Get the recipe
As base spirits go, vodka is the simplest and most versatile. Photo credit: Liz Weddon/Unsplash
VODKA
Horseradish Vodka
If there's one thing Russians love almost as much as vodka, it's flavored vodka. Anya von Bremzen shows us how to make a biting horseradish vodka that's perfect for winter. Get the recipe
The King
Gold legend Arnold "The King" Palmer was the inspiration for this drink, which combines Darjeeling tea-infused vodka and Marrakech limonettes from Mud Creek Ranch in Santa Paula. (You can use a regular grocery store lemon.) Get the recipe
Formosa Sour
This recipe, which was once on the menu at the Formosa Cafe, calls for homemade Midori that includes honeydew melons, lychees and orange flower water. But you can just buy a bottle of the mass-produced liqueur. Get the recipe
Harbor Reef's Buffalo Milk
At Harbor Reef Restaurant on Catalina Island, they serve this drink, which includes vodka, Kahlua, Creme de Banana and Creme de Cocoa. Film crews used to shoot westerns on the island and this drink is named after the bovine stars they left behind. Get the recipe
Distilled from agave, mezcal serves as a tasty base spirit for various cocktails. Photo credit: Shutterstock
MEZCAL
La Otra Palabra
Eric Alperin of The Varnish and author of Unvarnished created this cocktail based on The Last Word, a Prohibition-era gin cocktail that originated at the Detroit Athletic Club. Opt for a mezcal with a clean, peppery flavor. Use a giant rock of ice. Get the recipe
Petunia
Adam Flamenbaum says, "The red wine syrup, which gives the drink its color and depth of flavor, is easy to make. Simply stir together equal parts red wine and rich simple syrup. Aperol adds an orange accent and subtle bitterness," says Flamenbaum. If you use Campari instead, you can omit the orange bitters. Scroll down for the recipe. Get the recipe
Santa Ana Fruit Cart
"Street vendors were the highlight of my weekend growing up in Southern California, and this cocktail pays tribute to those memories," says Gilbert Marquez of Illegal Mezcal. Get the recipe
There are as many ways to make a margarita as there are people who like to drink it. Photo credit: Tyler Nix/Unsplash
TEQUILA
Limeless Margarita
Developed by cocktail wizard Matt Biancaniello during the Great Lime Shortage of 2014, this drink proves that not having limes doesn't have to be buzzkill for your margarita. Get the recipe
Hoja Santa Margarita
Add cucumber and the Mexican herb hoja santa to a margarita and it becomes extra refreshing. It goes perfectly with all kinds of tacos. Get the recipe
Spicy Y Flaca
The heat in this drink comes from infusing tequila blanco with poblano chile and cucumbers for 24 hours. Scroll down for the recipe. Get the recipe
The Inside of Italy
With lime juice, fresh oregano and Cara Cara oranges, this is a cocktail that takes advantage of the winter citrus at SoCal farmers markets. Scroll down for the recipe. Get the recipe
Micheladas are a fun way to kick beer up a notch. Photo credit: Shutterstock
MICHELADAS & BEER
Michelada Preparada
This savory michelada involves Maggi, soy sauce, Worcestershire or steak sauce, a few dashes of hot sauce and optional dash of fish sauce, alongside beer, orange juice and, of course, Tajin for the rim. Scroll down for the recipe. Get the recipe
Fruity Michelada
This is a much easier recipe. It's beer, fruit juice, lime juice and chile powder. Scroll down for the recipe. Get the recipe
Beer Flip
A beer flip is traditionally made by plunging a red-hot loggerhead into the cocktail, a dramatic preparation that simultaneously caramelizes the sugar and froths the beverage. Jacob Grier, author of Cocktails on Tap: The Art of Mixing Spirits and Beer, gives us this contemporary version "when you don't have an iron loggerhead and a fireplace handy." Get the recipe
The Detroiter
Dave Castillo of 320 Main in Seal Beach developed this drink, which involves apple brandy, Cynar, honey syrup, lemon juice and Stone IPA. Get the recipe
Rum is a good base for a variety of holiday-themed libations. Photo credit: Ash Edmonds
RUM
Rum Buck
One of Brian Butler's favorite cocktails is a Rum Buck, which he makes with his homemade ginger beer, Smith & Cross Rum and a hint of lime juice. Get the recipe
Between The Sheets
Ted Haigh, also known as Dr. Cocktail, wrote Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktail. His Cocktail Database offers a collection of mixed drinks from 1862 to the present. Get the recipe
The classic Three Dots And A Dash cocktail is garnished with three maraschino cherries and a wedge of pineapple. Photo credit: Shutterstock
TIKI
Mai Tai
Two kinds of rum, Orange Curacao and orgeat give Matt Robold's Mai Tai its punch. Get the recipe
Three Dots And A Dash
At Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco, Martin Cate pays tribute to Donn Beach with a twist on the tiki legend's classic Three Dots And A Dash. The name means "victory" in Morse code. The original World War II version of the drink calls for garnishing your glass with three maraschino cherries (the "dots") and a rectangular wedge of pineapple (the "dash"). Cate prefers a pineapple frond for dash. You'll find this recipe in his book Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki. Get the recipe
Zombie Punch
Matt Robold also brings us this recipe, which involves no less than three kinds of rum, Falernum, Grenadine and a few other things. Scroll down for the recipe. Get the recipe
Life's Rich Pageant
This tiki cocktail from Serena Herrick adds sherry and passion fruit cinnamon syrup to a few of the usual tiki cocktail ingredients. Get the recipe
A refreshing cocktail made with sherry, vermouth and orange. Photo via Shutterstock.
SHERRY
East India Negroni
Talia Baiocchi, editor of Punch, wrote Sherry: A Modern Guide to the Wine World's Best Kept Secret, a guide to what she thinks is an underrated wine. Try this recipe which she says "drinks like a Negroni best consumed near the equator" owing to the "interplay of the subtle funk of the rum with the raisiny woodiness of Lustau's East India sherry." If that doesn't satisfy your Negroni fix, try this recipe for a Negroni Pie. Get the recipe
Adonis
Talia Baiocchi also brings us this recipe. "Of the stirred aperitif drinks of the 19th century that involve sherry, there are really two archetypes that are riffed on ad nauseam: the Bamboo and the Adonis," she writes. Get the recipe
The anise-flavored spirit absinthe, with its green tinge, makes a festive drink ingredient. Photo credit: Volodymyr Tokar/Unsplash
ABSINTHE
Red, Hot & Bothered
Absinthe is an anise-flavored spirit made from wormwood and was once thought to be a highly addictive liquor that can cause hallucinations. In reality, it has a very high alcohol content. Traditional absinthe is 120-150 proof. Le Tourment Vert brand absinthe is 100 proof and is better suited for mixed drinks. Get the recipe
The bright red color of Campari makes it a great ingredient for festive winter holiday cocktails. Photo credit: Edward Howell/Unsplash
AMAROS
Campari Cocktails
Chef and author Faith Heller Willinger pays tribute to the friends, meals and recipes she has collected throughout her 30-year career in Adventures of an Italian Food Lover. Get the recipe
Dieci E Lode
Originally served at No. 9 Park in Boston, this Campari-based drink was created by mixologist Jon Gertsen. Get the recipe
Citrus isa key ingredient in many drinks because it brightens and lightens all kinds of liquor. Photo credit: Christine Trant/Unsplash
CITRUS
Winter in Jamaica
Matt Biancaniello shops at many area farmers markets to get fresh produce for his cocktails. This one involves five kinds of citrus: Meyer lemon, satsuma, Bearss lime, Persian lime and blood orange. Get the recipe
Lost In Laos
Unsweetened almond milk and Elijah Craig 12 Year Bourbon anchor this Matt Biancaniello concoction, which also involves makrut lime leaves and lime juice. Scroll down for the recipe. Get the recipe
A Walk In The Garden
This drink blends fennel-infused gin, lime juice, agave nectar, fresh celery juice and fleur de sel. Garnished with a thick slice of star fruit it looks like a garden party in a glass. Get the recipe
Southern California farmers markets are great places to shop for cocktail ingredients. Photo credit: Shutterstock
FRUITY
Pimm's Cup No. 10
Of course Matt Biancaniello makes his own Pimm's. You can follow his recipe, which involves Plymouth Gin, Punt de Mes, Grand Marnier, Cherry Heering liqueur and fresh rhubarb. We won't tell if you use a bottle of the premade stuff. Get the recipe
Birch's Guavatini
Mixologist Gabriela Mlynarczyk combines Manzanilla sherry, verjus and orange bitters with equal parts gin and a fruity guava consommé for her signature guavatini. She sweats the fruit in sugar water to extract the flavor. The result is a light guava-infused simple syrup. Get the recipe
Many African American libations, like this Claret Cup punch, are rooted in innovation and creativity. Photo credit: Brittany Conerly
PUNCH
Claret Cup
Award-winning food journalist and historian Toni Tipton-Martin shares this recipe from her latest book, Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs, and Juice: A Cocktail Recipe Book. Cups are wine-forward drinks decorated with fruit and herbs. Claret is a British term used to group the red-wine blends of Bordeaux into one category. Try making this recipe with your favorite Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot. Served in small tea cups, this cocktail is a good prelude to a party or a big dinner. Get the recipe
Guinness Punch
Guinness Punch is a favorite on several British-colonized islands, according to Lelani Lewis, author of Code Noir: Afro-Caribbean Stories and Recipes. "This mixture of strong stout beer, creamy, sweet condensed milk, and a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg is a delightful fusion of flavors," she explains. How did Guinness get so popular in the Caribbean? In the 17th century, the Irish were engaged as contract laborers on plantations in the Caribbean. Guinness decided to export beer there but with more alcohol and hops, ensuring it stayed good during the transatlantic journey. Get the recipe
Ponche Navideño
Wyatt Peabody's family drinks Ponche Navideño during the Christmas holiday. It's a common Mexican drink made with tejocote. Get the recipe
Philadelphia Fishhouse Punch
Mount Gay Rum, brandy and apricot brandy give this punch a fruity flavor. Get the recipe
Pancho Victoria
This punch involves tequila and a smokey single malt scotch. They're offset oro blanco grapefruit, lots of lime and ginger syrup. Scroll down for the recipe. Get the recipe
Afton Club Punch
Cocktail historian David Wondrich created this recipe while vacationing on Afton Place in Hollywood. Get the recipe