22 Cocktails to Get You Through to New Year's 

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It’s that time of year again when all the family togetherness drives us to drink. So we reached out to the owners and bartenders at 10 of Brooklyn’s best cocktail bars for their recipes for drinks perfect for fall, winter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, office parties, hangovers, fancy gatherings, and wakes—pretty much any season, holiday or situation in which you might find yourself over the next two months. These are 20 ways to make the most of them.


(Illustrations by Joseph Kaplan)

BLUEPRINT BAR


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For Thanksgiving Eve:
Scarecrow
Essentially an autumnal Manhattan, with warm spice flavors and a touch of bitterness.

2 oz. bourbon
1/2 oz. Gran Classico Bitter
1/2 oz. Cocchi Vermouth di Torino
A dash of spice bitters (Blueprint makes its own. You could substitute Fee Brothers Old Fashioned bitters)

For christmas morning:
Plan B
By Jeremy DuBroff

1.5 oz. Anejo Tequila
1/2 oz. Salers Gentiane
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz. simple syrup
1 egg white
A dash of grapefruit bitters
Shake vigorously, first without ice, then with it. Strain into a chilled old-fashioned glass; add a splash of Prosecco and garnish with a grapefruit twist.t.



BROOKLYN SOCIAL


For Thanksgiving Afternoon:
Upstate
A fall variation on a perfect Manhattan

2 oz. Applejack
1/2 oz. of Dolin Dry Vermouth
1/2 oz. of Carpano Antica Vermouth
A dash of aromatic bitters
Stir over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass; garnish with apple slice.


For a wake:
Quietus
"It's dark purple and it lifts the spirits." By Isaiah Greenwald.

2 oz. Hornitos Reposado tequila
1/4 oz. simple syrup
1/2 oz. fresh lime
3 luxardo maraschino cherries 
3-5 mint leaves
Muddle the cherries, mint, simple syrup. Add the lime and tequila and shake with ice. Pour over ice into a collins glass, and top with a splash of club soda. Garnish with a sprig of mint and a cherry.


For a hangover:
Brandy Cassandra
By Ivan Martin

1 oz. Averna
1 oz. St. Germain elderflower cordial
1 oz. fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1/2 oz. cognac
Combine Averna, St. Germain and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously. Pour over a rocks glass filled with ice. Float Cognac on top using the back of spoon. Garnish with spiral lemon twist. 



CLOVER CLUB


1

For A Christmas Party:
Table Talk

1.5 oz. Pecan-infused Bacardi 8 rum
1/2 oz. Flor de Cana 7 rum
1/2 oz. Nocello Walnut Liqueur 
1 brsp Cinnabark Syrup
Stirred and served in a coupe glass. Shake some cream with crushed ice, use bar spoon to float onto drink. Garnish with nutmeg.


For New Year's Morning
Hocus Smoke Us 
Variation on a Manhattan
2 oz. Roasted and Smoked Pepper-Infused Bulleit Bourbon
1 brsp Honey Syrup
1 brsp Lemon Juice
Scant 1/2 oz. Brooklyn Brine Co. Whiskey Sour pickle brine
15 drops Bittermans Hellfire Habanero shrub
4 Brooklyn Brine Co. Whiskey Sour discs, muddled
Stir and strain over fresh ice. Garnish with pickled shishito pepper.



HUCKLEBERRY BAR


For Winter Solstice's Eve:
The Lewis and Clark

2 oz. Zu vodka
1 oz. apple puree
1/2 oz. honey syrup
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
Topped with Lagunitas Pale Ale
Shaken, served on the rocks in a highball.


For an office party:
The Hit Man

1 oz. Smith and Cross Rum
1 oz. Averna Amaro
1/2 oz. Benedictine
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
3 dashes of orange bitters
Shaken, served on a large-format ice cube, garnished with an orange twist. 



MAISON PREMIERE


1

For New Year's Eve:
Hurricane
By Maxwell Britten

1/2 oz. Appleton V/X
1/2 oz. Rhum JM
1/2 oz. passion fruit
1/2 oz. fresh lemon
Shake and strain. Top with Dellamotte champagne, serve in a flute, garnish with an orange twist.


For a fancy gathering:
The Polo Club
A dessert cocktail by William Elliot

1/4 oz. Bache VSOP
1/4 oz. Lolita
1/4 oz. Crème de Menthe
3/4 oz. Montenegro
3/4 oz. Nardini Mandorla Grappa
3/4 oz. cream
  Build ingredients in tin and shake with ice. Strain into coupe, garnish with a cherry.



HOTEL DELMANO


For Winter Solstice:
The Warwick Sour
A super fall-forward, apple-spiced dream

3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice 3/4 oz. house cinnamon-vanilla syrup 2 oz. Lairds Bonded Apple Brandy Shaken and served in an Allspice Dram rinsed coupe. Garnished with an apple slice and fresh grated cinnamon.


For Hanukkah:
The Resurrected Bastard
A modern iteration of The Suffering Bastard; a light and refreshing, super-crushable, low-alcohol tiki bubbler

1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
1/4 oz. house ginger syrup
1/2 oz. Clement Creole shrubb (a rum-based liqueur that has been infused with creole spices and bitter orange peels)
1/2 oz. Byrrh Gran Quinquina (a vermouth variation that is made with quinine bark and port mistelles)
1 oz. gin
Shaken and topped with soda in a collins glass; garnished with a speared orange quarter.



DICK & JANE'S BAR

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For Christmas Night:
Candlebox

2 oz. Michael Collins Irish Whiskey
1/2 oz. Barenjager
1/2 oz. Fruitations Rio Red Grapefruit (all-natural fruit concentrate)
1/4 oz. fresh lemon juice
Shaken with ice and double strained into a chilled coupe. Garnish with twists of grapefruit.


For a fancy gathering:
Autonno Con Mio Nonno
Recipe originally made for La Dolce Vita, the Fratelli Portfolio party, recently held at 5ninth in Manhattan.

1 oz. Candolini Grappa Bianca
1 oz. Combier Cassis
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
1/4 oz. Cynar
A dash of orange bitters
A dash of plum bitters
Shaken with three blackberries and double strained over fresh ice into a rocks glass. Or, shaken with 3 blackberries and double strained into a champagne flute and topped with Prosecco. Optional: garnish with a lemon twist.



THE SHANTY


Seasonal:
The Last Waltz
By Nate Dumas

1 oz. Carpano Antica Formula Vermouth
3/4 oz. Perry’s Tot Navy Strength Gin
1/4 oz. Dry Curacao
Scant tsp Branca Menta
Pour ingredients in a Pony glass. Top with hot water, leaving a half inch from the rim. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.


Perry’s Glass Bottomed Boat
By Katie Stipe

1 oz. Perry's Tot - Navy Strength Gin
3/4 oz. Lillet Blond
3/4 oz. Aveze
1/4 oz. Yellow Chartreuse
2 dashes orange bitters
Stir ingredients over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with essential oil of a lemon twist. Discard the peel.

For a Hangover:
Cannibal Corpse Reviver #2
By Nate Dumas and Sam Owens

1/2 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. simple syrup
1.5 oz. Perry's Tot Navy Strength Gin
1 tsp Fernet Branca 
1/2 tsp Pear eau de vie
Shake, pour into a high ball glass with fresh ice, top with Prosecco. Garnish with half lemon wheel; add a straw.



BELOVED



For a Holiday Party:
Mi Cumare Sbagliato

2 oz. Averna
3/4 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. simple syrup
3 dashes Angostura bitters
Top with sparkling wine; serve on the rocks with a grapefruit twist.


For a wake:
Cobra Cub

Variation on a Manhattan

1.5 oz. Highland Scotch
1 oz. Islay Scotch
0.5 oz. Pedro Ximenez Sherry
8 dashes Amaro dell'Erborista
Serve on the rocks with a lemon twist.



WEATHER UP


1

For Thanksgiving Night:
Grandfather
Variation on a Manhattan

1 oz. bourbon
1 oz. Applejack
1 oz. sweet vermouth
2 dashes Angostura
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
Stir, serve in a coupe with a cherry garnish.


For an office party:
Black Swan
Variation on a daquiri

1 oz. Cruzan Blackstrap rum
1 oz. light rum
1 oz. lime juice
3/4 oz. simple syrup
Shake, serve in a coupe, garnish with a lime wedge.



HENRY PUBLIC


For Christmas Eve:
Henry Public's Egg Nog

1 oz. brandy

1 oz. amber rum

1 dash allspice dram

2 oz. heavy cream

1 organic egg

3 brsp sugar

fresh nutmeg
Separate egg; shake egg white and sugar vigorously. Add yolk, brandy, rum, cream, small scoop of ice cubes, shake vigorously again. Strain into punch glass. Float a dash of allspice dram and grate a little fresh nutmeg on top.


For the morning after an office party:
“That he may have stolen from Fergus Henderson and that Mike says tastes like toothpaste”

2 oz. Fernet Branca
1 oz. Creme de menthe
Shake together pour over crushed ice. Drink with a straw.



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