Thanksgiving presents a lot of traditional reasons to drink: Catching up with old friends spending time with family, getting annoyed at old frenemies, and being forced to spend time with certain family members. TheLUSHiouslife has come up with a few, less obvious-but-still-completely-valid reasons to bend your elbow this weekend, plus a few suggestions on just what you should be sipping.
Because you’re sick of pumpkin spice…it’s cranberry’s time to shine.
The Cranberry Gobbler
from Erin Ward, Beverage Director at Virgil’s Real Barbecue in NYC
Ingredients:
2 oz Wild Turkey Bourbon
1 oz cranberry sauce pureed
¼ oz of simple syrup (splash)
3 oz fresh lemonade
Shake with ice. Serve in a glass jar or mug. Garnish with an orange slice.
Cranberry sauce
Ingredients (Serves 12):
½ cup Deep Eddy Cranberry Vodka
6 oz. cranberries
Orange zest
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
2 tbs. triple sec
In a saucepan, add cranberries, sugar and water over moderate heat. Stir frequently for sugar to dissolve. Reduce heat to moderately low; stir, until thickened and reduced to about 3 cups. Pour mixture in a bowl and stir until lukewarm. Pour in vodka and triple sec and add orange zest. Transfer to serving bowl, cover, and refrigerate until chilled and set. (At least 2 hours.)
Spiked Cranberry Brew
1½ oz. DeLeón Platinum Tequila6 oz. hot cranberry batch (1 part fresh unsweetened cranberry juice, ¾ part fresh lemon juice, ¾ part simple syrup, cinnamon clove and nutmeg to taste)
Simmer together ingredients for hot cranberry batch. Combine hot cranberry batch with DeLeón Platinum Tequila in glass mug. Garnish with a thin pear slice dusted with cinnamon.
The Captain Cider
1 oz. Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum
1½ oz Cranberry Juice
1½ oz Hard Cider
Combine all ingredients in a rocks glass filled with ice, garnish with apple wedges and cranberry.
Because your parents have had a mystery bottle of Midori in their liquor cabinet since you were in high school but no one ever knew what to do with it.
Midori Cider
Ingredients:
1 part Midori Melon Liqueur
2 parts Apple Cider
1 Wedge of Lemon
1 Apple for garnish (optional)
Method: Fill the glass with ice and pour in Midori. Squeeze 1 wedge of lemon and drop in the glass. Add apple cider, stir gently, and garnish with an apple slice (optional).
Because even though your family still insists on calling you Junebug, you’re a grown-ass woman with sophisticated tastes.
Laphroaig Montgomerie Smoked Cider
1½ parts Laphroaig 10 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky
3 parts Apple Cider
1 part Fresh Lemon Sour
Build over ice in order. Garnish with a lemon wedge.
Vodka Alexander
1½ oz Cîroc Vodka
1 oz Dark Crème de Cacao
1 oz cream
Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg and serve in a round rocks glass.
Because, during the holidays, your favorite flavor is “sparkling.”
Cruzan Sparkling Honey Diamond
1½ parts Cruzan Estate Diamond Dark Rum
¾ part Lime Juice
¾ part Honey Syrup
Sparkling Wine
Combine rum, juice and syrup over ice and shake for 15 seconds. Fine strain into a chilled champagne flute. Top with sparking wine.
Because if you’re going to get through spending a day with your extended family, you’re gonna need draanks stat. The suggestion: Flavored spirits that only need soda or one or 2 mixers to be sip-ready.
Piehole Apple Cider
1 oz Piehole Apple Pie
½ oz Sweet Vermouth
3 oz Cider
¾ oz Lemon Juice
3 dashes of Angostura Bitters
Cherry Fizz
1½ oz. Piehole Cherry Pie
Top with Soda Water
Cherry garnish
Crannon Blast
1½ oz. Captain Morgan Cannon Blast
½ oz. Cranberry Juice
Shake with ice and strain into a shot glass.
Blasted Apple
1¼ oz. Captain Morgan Cannon Blast
¼ oz. Crown Royal Regal Apple
