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Slideshow
Top 10 cocktails for Thanksgiving
As Thanksgiving approaches we have taken some of world’s most classic cocktails and given them a holiday twist, offering some inspiration for this year’s celebrations.
Thanksgiving is celebrated across the US on Thursday, although many people will be extending their celebrations through to the weekend. The tradition started to give thanks for good harvests with George Washington first declaring it a national holiday in 1789.
Any holiday calls for an appropriate cocktail to toast the occasion. Here, we have rounded up some of our favourite Thanksgiving-inspired cocktails to get you in the holiday mood.
Click through for some cocktail inspiration…
Appletini (Martini)
The Appletini could be considered a twist on the Martini, although strictly speaking it does not include the same combination of classic ingredients.
An Apple Martini, or Appletini as it has become known, typically contains vodka and either apple juice, apple cider, apple liqueur, or apple brandy. This drink, originally called an Adam’s Apple Martini, was created in 1996 at Lola’s West Hollywood restaurant.
For the record, a classic Martini is made with gin and sweet vermouth. A dry martini is made with gin and dry vermouth. A dry vodka martini is made with vodka and dry vermouth. Usually the drink is garnished with a twist of lemon, or an olive.
To make: Mix 40 ml (1 ⅓ oz) vodka (or gin) with 30 ml (⅔ oz) apple juice, cider, or apple brandy. Shake or stir and strain into a cocktail glass. Vermouth can also be added.
Fun fact: At Yalta, President Roosevelt complained that there were no lemons to make twists for his Martinis. Stalin had a lemon tree flown from Georgia that day, according to Jared Brown, head distiller at Sipsmith.
Root Beer Julep (Mint Julep)
The Mint Julep is inextricably linked to the Kentucky Derby, making it a classic American serve in its own right. The classic version is a simple blend of Bourbon, fresh spearmint, sugar and water, with the drink often served in a frosted pewter cup laden with ice.
The Mint Julep is thought to have originated in America’s Deep South as a medicinal remedy for stomach ache, appearing in print as early as 1784. A little later in 1803, writer John Davis described the drink as “a dram of spirituous liquor that has mint steeped in it taken by Virginians of a morning”.
This version sees the addition of a dash of Smirnoff’s root bear float – a creamy vodka and vanilla based mixer, with standard substituted for Maple syrup.
To make: Muddle 7-8 mint leaves in maple syrup, add 5oz of Bourbon, 1oz of root beer float (this could be substituted for actual root beer) and crushed ice. Stir well and serve.
Fun fact: The Mint Julep gets a mention in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, with Daisy in particular a fan.
Snowball
Ok, so a Snowball is more commonly considered a Christmas drink, but its creamy qualities are just as suited to Thanksgiving.
The Snowball is a blend of advocaat, lemonade and lime. Advocaat is a traditional Dutch alcoholic beverage made from eggs, sugar and brandy. It has a custard-like flavour and is similar to the US version egg nog, which is made with milk or cream, sugar, whipped eggs and brandy, rum or bourbon.
To make: Shake 100ml of advocaat and 50ml freshly squeeze lime juice, strain into a glass and top with lemonade or soda and some cubed ice. Top with a cinnamon stick.
Fun fact: Warninks Advocaat, one of the original producers of advocaat, has been made in Holland since 1616 when it was brought to Holland by sailors inspired by their expeditions to the Caribbean.
Boulevardier (Negroni)
A classic Negroni is made from one part gin, one part vermouth rosso and one part Campari, garnished with orange peel. The Boulevardier is a twist on the classic Negroni, replacing the gin with Bourbon or rye whiskey, making it altogether more America. The creation of the Boulevardier is attributed to Erskine Gwynne, an American-born writer who founded a monthly magazine in Paris called Boulevardier, which was published from 1927 to 1932.
The creation of the Negroni meanwhile is attributed to a rich Florentine Count Camillo Negroni who in 1919 asked his bartender, Fosco Scarselli, to add gin, rather than soda water, to his Americano cocktail. Following its success, the Negroni Family founded Negroni Distillerie in Treviso producing a ready-made version of the drink, sold as Antico Negroni in 1919.
To make: Mix one part Bourbon or rye whiskey with one part vermouth rosso and one part Campari and garnish with orange peel.
Fun fact: In 1947 writer Orson Welles said of the Negroni: “The bitters are excellent for your liver, the gin is bad for you. They balance each other.”
Hot apple pie cider (Mulled cider)
Mulled cider is a common winter warmer, but this hot apple PIE cider is perfect for Thanksgiving.
The tradition of mulling cider originated in England and was traditionally called wassail – a hot, mulled punch typically drunk from a ‘wassailing bowl’. The earliest versions were warmed mead – ale brewed with honey – into which roasted crab apples were dropped into. It was traditionally consumer as part of “wassailing”, a Medieval English drinking ritual intended to ensure a good cider apple harvest the following year.
Wassail evolved into a mulled cider made with sugar, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, topped with slices of toast as sops and drunk from a large communal bowl.
To make: This cocktail recipe comes from Martha Stewart and calls for 1 ¼ quarts of apple cider, which is just under 1.5 litres, three tablespoons of light brown sugar, one teaspoon of ground allspice, half a teaspoon of ground ginger, ground cloves, freshly grated nutmeg, salt and half a cup of Calvados, or another brandy. Gently warm all the ingredients, except the brandy, in a saucepan, whisking together until it starts to simmer. Remove from the heat, add the brandy and serve with a cinnamon stick as a garnish.
Fun fact: The word wassail comes from the Anglo-Saxon greeting Wæs þu hæl, meaning “be thou hale” – “be in good health”.
Clover Club
Typically American, the Clover Club cocktail was invented in 1896 at a Philadelphia gentleman’s club of the same name formed mainly of journalists.
Predating Prohibition, the pink drink came into being during Clover Club gatherings at the Bellevue-Stratford hotel. It’s first print mention appeared in 1897, calling for a mixture of gin, lemon juice, raspberry syrup and egg white, with the best results occurring when the egg is dry shaken before ice is added. If you dont have raspberry syrup, you can muddle together 3 or 4 fresh raspberries and 0.5 oz simple syrup (one part sugar, one part water) instead.
The drink’s popularity soon spread beyond the Clover Club to other gentleman’s clubs and oak-panelled lounges but eventually fell out of favour due to the addition of egg white.
To make: Mix gin, lemon juice, raspberry syrup and egg white, shake vigorously and strain into a glass.
Fun fact: Writer W.B. Yeats was a fan of the Clover Club cocktail and reportedly used to down them during dinner.
Salted caramel Manhattan (Manhattan)
An American classic, the exact origin of the Manhattan is the subject of various stories, but it does appear to have originated in New York in the 1860s. One popular theory claims the drink came to be at the Manhattan Club in New York in the early 1870s, with one Dr. Iain Marshall creating the drink especially for a banquet in honour of presidential candidate Samuel Tilden, hosted by Winston Churchill’s mother, Lady Randolph Churchill, at the Manhattan Club.
The drink consists of a simple mix of rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and Angostura bitters garnished with a Maraschino cherry. It is a drink that can easily be twisted and adapted, with mixologist Rich Woods, head bartender at London’s Duck and Waffle, previously serving up a bacon-infused Bourbon and salted caramel Manhattans.
To make: Combine 3/4oz of sweet vermouth with 2½oz of rye whiskey and a dash of bitters. Stir this mixture gently over ice and pour over glacé cherry. Add ¾ oz of Monin Salted Caramel Syrup for an at-home version of Woods’ twist on a Manhattan.
Fun fact: During Prohibition, Canadian whisky typically replaced Bourbon in the Manhattan as it was easier to get hold of.
Amaretto sour
Amaretto is a sweet almond-flavoured Italian liqueur, often used to create a sour cocktail.
A sour is a family of cocktails that contain a base liquor, lemon or lime juice, and a sweetener (triple sec, simple syrup, grenadine, or pineapple juice are common). Often, eggs whites are used to give sours a foam top.
Other common variations include a whiskey sour, and pisco sour – made with the traditional Peruvian white spirit – however we think the nutty-sweet Amaretto version is most suited to the Thanksgiving holiday.
To make: Mix 60ml of Amaretto, 30ml of fresh lemon juice, two dashes of Angostura bitters. Shake vigorously in a shaker with an egg white and strain into a glass. Top with a twist of lemon peel.
Fun fact: The name amaretto originates from the Italian word amaro, meaning “bitter”, however one should not confuse amaretto with amaro – a different family of Italian liqueurs that, while also sweetened, have a stronger bitter flavour deriving from herbs.
Sloe Gin Fizz)
A twist on a Gin Fizz, this version is made with Slow gin instead – a heavier, sweeter version of the spirit.
A Fizz, is actually a variation on the sours family of cocktails, made using an acidic juice (such as lemon or lime) and carbonated water. The first printed reference to “fiz” is in the 1887 edition of Jerry Thomas’s Bartender’s Guide, which contains six such recipes.
The fizz became widely popular in America between 1900 and the 1940s. Known as a hometown specialty of New Orleans. The Gin Fizz is perhaps the best known variant from this family of cocktails, containing gin, lemon juice, and sugar, which is shaken with ice, poured into a tumbler and topped with carbonated water. The drink is similar to a Tom Collins, with this cocktail typically using “Old Tom Gin”
To make: This version is altogether more wintery, and we think more suited to Thanksgiving, using Sloe gin instead of London Dry Gin. To make, pour 50ml of gin into a flute glass and top with Champagne or Prosecco.
Fun fact: The “bathtub gin” that was made in the US during Prohibition had dangerous – even lethal – physical effects due to the fact that it sometimes contained methanol. Sufferers were blinded or even poisoned.
Cranberry Old Fashioned
A humble mix of Bourbon, sugar, bitters and orange peel, the Old Fashioned is a classic American serve. The cocktail is believed to have been invented in 1881 by a bartender at the Pendennis gentleman’s club in Kentucky in honour Colonel James E. Pepper, a prominent Bourbon distiller who later brought the drink to the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York.
The recipe begins by dissolving a sugar cube with a little water in a tumbler, then adding two dashes of Angostura bitters and one jigger of Bourbon. Traditionally, it is garnished with a curl of orange peel. This version, from Martha Stewart, gives this classic serve a Thanksgiving twist, adding cranberries into the mix.
To make: Muddle cranberries, sugar, bitters, and orange zest with water in a medium glass until sugar dissolves, then add the bourbon and a dash of Angostura bitters.
Fun fact: ‘Manhattan’ refers not to the Big Apple, but the tumblers in which the drink is traditionally served, which are also called “old fashioned” glasses.