Thanksgiving is a stressful time for many people. If you are hosting your first Thanksgiving, the odds are you feel completely unprepared to handle everything. You know your turkey will never be as good as your mom makes it, but at least you can kill it with your green bean casserole and sausage-filled stuffing. The best thing about hosting Thanksgiving is that you can let off steam with as many festive cocktails as you want.
Share the following nine holiday-themed cocktails with your guests to guarantee they’ll be coming back to your house year after year.
Prickly Pear & Agave Mule
From Tequila Cazadores
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 oz. Tequila Cazadores Reposado
- 3/4 oz. Perfect Puree Prickly Pear
- 1/2 oz. Agave nectar
- 1/2 oz. Fresh lime juice
- Ginger beer
- Mint & chipotle powder
Preparation: Combine tequila, pear puree, agave, and lime juice. Top with ginger beer. Garnish with mint and chipotle powder. Serve over the rocks.
Pumpkin Pie Martini
From Pinnacle Vodka
Ingredients:
- ½ part Pinnacle® Whipped® Vodka
- ½ part DeKuyper® Buttershots™ Schnapps
- ½ part Cruzan® 9 Spiced Rum
- 2 parts Half and Half
- ½ part Pumpkin Puree
- 1 dash Pumpkin Spice
- Whipped Cream
Preparation: Add ingredients to an ice filled shaker. Shake and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with whipped cream.
Apple Pie Margarita
From Sauza Tequila
Ingredients:
- 1 part Sauza® Gold
- ½ part DeKuyper® Sour Apple Pucker Schnapps
- 3 parts apple juice
- ¼ parts lime juice
- ¼ parts simple syrup
- Apple slice
- Cinnamon
Preparation: Add all ingredients into an ice-filled shaker. Shake and strain into a glass. Garnish with an apple slice and cinnamon. Enjoy! Note: Can also be made pitcher-style for communal drinking.
Embers Only
From 901 Tequila
Ingredients:
- 2 parts 901® Tequila
- 1 part sweet vermouth
- 2 drops Angostura® bitters
- 2 drops liquid smoke
Preparation: Combine ingredients and strain over ice in rocks glass. Garnish with orange peel.
Rush on the Rocks
From Crown Royal
Ingredients:
- 2½ oz apple juice
- 1½ oz Crown Royal Maple Whisky
- 1½ oz sweet and sour mix
- ¾ oz Monin Spiced Brown Sugar
- Speared Lemon Wedge
- Cajun seasoning for rim
Preparation: Coat mason jar rim with Cajun seasoning. Mix apple juice, Crown Royal Maple Whisky, sweet and sour mix and Monin Spiced Brown Sugar in a shaker. Pour over ice and garnish with speared lemon wedge. Enjoy!
Crane’s Fiction
From Analogue, NYC
Ingredients:
- 1.5oz Rittenhouse Rye
- .25 oz Cinnamon Syrup
- 1 Bar spoon Benedictine
- 1 oz Pumpkin Cordial
- 1 whole Egg
Preparation: Shake and serve over a large ice cube in a rocks glass. Garnish with grated cinnamon.
Thunderhead
From Analogue, NYC
Ingredients:
- 0.75 oz Creme de Violette
- 1.oz Botanist Gin
- 0.75 oz Atlantico Rum
- .5 oz Cynar 70 Proof
- 2 pieces of raw ginger
Preparation: Shake and double strain. Serve in a Nick and Nora glass and garnish with candied ginger.
Drunken Pumpkin
From Green Fig, NYC
Ingredients:
- 1.5 oz Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum
- .5 Pumpkin Spice Kahlua
- .25 oz Coconut Milk
- .5 oz Lemon Juice
- .5 oz Caramel Apple Butter
- 2 drops Oaxaca Bitters
Preparation: A pumpkin lover’s delight! Combine ingredients in shaker, pour in glass and top with milk foam. Garnish with angostura bitters and cinnamon powder.
Swedish Glogg
From chef Mike Armstrong, of The Lobby Lounge at Dream Downtown, NYC
Ingredients:
- ½ Gallon of Port Wine
- ½ Gallon of Sherry Wine
- ½ Pint of Bourbon
- ½ Pint of Everclear
- 2 Cups of Sugar
- 1 Cup of Raisins
- 6 Prunes
- 16 Cardamom Seeds
- 2 Cinnamon Sticks
- 1 Teaspoon of Whole Cloves
- 1 Teaspoon of Anise Seed
- 1 Teaspoon of Caraway Seed
- 1 Sliced Lemon
Preparation: Put all spices into cheesecloth before tying tightly. Cook the fruit and spice bag in two cups of water for ten minutes. Heat the wine, but make sure not to boil it. Add the fruit and spices to the wine. Add the sugar, bourbon and everclear. Light a match to burn off alcohol for one minute. Let it simmer, then serve. Best when it’s made a few days in advance.
