Since my hit counter is spinning from the number of people looking for holiday drink ideas, I thought I’d put together a list of links to a few seasonal refreshers I’ve written about over the past few years.

Christmas Rum Punch — it’s boozy and it burns! What more could you be looking for in a Yuletide tipple?

Farmer’s Bishop — Variation on the above; put some Americana in your holiday with some Laird’s apple brandy.

Tom & Jerry — the Christmas drink goes old school.

Eggnog — do I really need to explain why this is a good choice?

General Harrison’s Eggnog — Made with hard cider instead of the stronger stuff; an inviting variation.

Reveillon — Chuck Taggart’s contribution to the world of holiday drinking. I absolutely love these; on Christmas Eve (and tonight, for that matter), this’ll be what I’m mixing.

Stinger — okay, not technically a Christmas drink, but brandy and mint? C’mon! That’s Christmas!

Good Night Irene — Audrey Saunder’s take on the Stinger; my current seasonal favorite.

Colleen Bawn — okay, not a Christmas drink either, but it’s got a raw egg in there, along with some other really intriguing tasting things. A holiday cocktail for the adventurous guest.

Northern Spy — yeah, I know I said it was a Thanksgiving drink, but that fruity, boozy cinnamon thing is equally worthwhile in December.

In case I don’t get back here before the big day — Happy Holidays everyone!

Tags: Drinks by Paul
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Congratulations to Anita & Cameron over at Married…with Dinner, for taking the top slot in the Drinks category at the Well Fed Network’s 2007 Food Blog Awards. I couldn’t have been bested by a nicer couple — and, as I’d hoped, it does feel damn nice to have a “drinks” award slip into the spirituous side of things for a change.

And I’ll just say this before moving on: I blame Jimmy.

But move on I shall, and part of that is the announcement of the next two Mixology Mondays. Christmas is right in front of us and New Year’s is on the radar, but once the tumult of the holidays has died down, drink bloggers from all over will congregate on the Internets to raise a glass to the new year. In that glass will be Brandy, the topic for the first Mixology Monday of 2008, hosted by Marleigh at SLOSHED! on Monday, January 14. Grab a bottle of spirits from the grape — or the apple, or the pear, or the cherry, or the…you get the drift — put a drink on the web by the end of January 14, let Marleigh know about it, and keep an eye out for her wrapup soon afterward.

Then, on February 11, we’re going with Variations over at Jimmy’s Cocktail Hour. Jimmy’s been busy with lots of things recently — finishing Jeffrey’s roundup for the last MxMo, voting for Anita and Cameron for assorted blog awards — so I’ll help him out by explaining, with his own words, what’s in mind: “Maybe it’s something where you take a classic recipe, or someone else’s recipe and give it your own twist. Or maybe you could explore the history of a cocktail through its variations etc. etc.” In other words, post how you’ve found yourself tweaking an existing recipe for one reason or another — though if we called the theme “Tweakers” we’re just asking for a disaster — or how subtle changes to a drink’s recipe creates new and wonderful things. Hard to explain, but I like it.

Congrats once again to Anita and Cameron, and here’s to another couple of rounds of MxMo.

Tags: Mixology Monday by Paul
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Just a reminder: VOTE! The balloting for Well Fed Network’s 2007 Food Blog Awards ends TONIGHT, just before midnight Eastern time, and for the first time cocktail sites are making a strong showing in the “Drinks” category. Let’s take this award away from the wine folks for a year, and put it in the hands of a cocktail blogger.

And by “a cocktail blogger,” I mean me, of course – what, you didn’t think I was talking about Jeffrey, did you? The guy puts tomatoes in his daiquiris and makes “gin” in a Brita — c’mon! Though that Nacional is pretty tasty, and there’s that whole Repeal Day thing… And Anita and Cameron? Well, okay, they’re actually pretty cool, and their photos are much prettier than mine, but anyway… ah hell, just vote!

[While you’re voting, skip on over to the Group category, where my other blog home, Serious Eats, is nominated.]

To the ballot box!

Tags: General by Paul
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Last Christmas — and the one before that, too, as a matter of fact — I was all about getting into the festive holiday spirit by torching up big bowls of punch. I’m not sure if I’ll get to that this year: I have some aged eggnog that should be ready Christmas Eve, and if that doesn’t put me in the hospital then I’ve kind of been jonesing for Reveillon Cocktails and Tom & Jerry on Christmas Day and at other festive events (I even started on the Reveillons early, as should you, after reading Chuck’s recent post revisiting his extraordinary contribution to holiday mixology). But should things change, I plan to have some oranges, cloves and cider handy, along with a box of matches. And maybe this year I’ll try to lay in some extra apple brandy, just in case.

Here’s a little novelty I found in an old Peter Pauper Press holiday drink guide I recently picked up on eBay: the Farmer’s Bishop (I’m sure it’s out there in other books, I just haven’t gone looking yet). It’s related to the Christmas Rum Punch (aka English Bishop) I wrote about last year, with the only difference between the two being the use of apple brandy instead of rum. I have no gripe with the rum version — damn tasty, that — but I’m really intrigued by how this could turn out. I’d imagine you’d want something like Laird’s bonded apple brandy, or possibly something from Laird’s line of aged brandies or a Calvados or even Clear Creek’s young apple brandy, instead of the Laird’s applejack, which won’t provide as much of a fruit flavor as this punch might require. If anybody goes for it, please post a note in the comments section.

Farmer’s Bishop adapted from The Holiday Drink Book, Peter Pauper Press, 1951

• 6 oranges
• around 4 dozen whole cloves
• 1 bottle apple brandy
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 gallon cider
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• and if you have any pimento dram kicking around, an ounce or so would work wonders here

Stick each orange with 8 cloves, and bake them whole in a slow oven (300F, I’m guessing) for 1 hour. Place them in a heated punch bowl and prick them well with a fork. Heat the apple brandy in a saucepan until warm — CAREFUL, especially if you’re using a gas stove — and pour over the oranges; sprinkle with the sugar. While warming the brandy, heat the cider to almost boiling. Take 1/2 cup of the cider and mix the remaining spices in it, then set it aside. Carefully light the brandy — I like to use a sugar cube soaked with a bit of the brandy, place it in the bowl of a long-handled spoon, light it and then stand back while placing the burning cube in the boozy punch. Let it burn for a few seconds, then add the hot cider to extinguish the flames; stir in the cup of spiced cider. You can keep it warm in a chafing dish or on the stove (I’d imagine a crockpot would work, if somewhat lacking in pizzazz). Serves 24.

Tags: Applejack, Brandy, Calvados, Drinks by Paul
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While others may have already broken out their Tom & Jerry bowls and eggnog mugs in preparation for the holidays — assuming they change their drinking habits at all this time of year — I’m still relishing a few drinks I picked up this autumn while reading IMBIBE!

Of the many drinks I’ve now tried from Mr. Wondrich’s new book, the absinthe cocktail is undoubtedly one of my very favorites. Of course, it helps that I love absinthe, not to mention the messing about with dashes from assorted bottles and the rat-tat-tat of ice in the shaker, but really, this is a fine little potion. Not too different from an absinthe frappe, the absinthe cocktail salts up a few of the spirit’s distinctive notes with bitters and a little anisette, leavens it with water and chills it in the shaker.

Pretty much an absinthe drip after a trip to the beauty parlor, the absinthe cocktail can’t, and shouldn’t, replace the purity and simplicity of a glass of absinthe that’s been lovingly louched, but it’s a nice little variation on the theme. And, considering that genuine absinthe is becoming cheaper and more available in the U.S., you don’t have to feel like you’re squandering your hard-earned contraband when you toss an ounce or two into your shaker.

Absinthe Cocktail adapted from IMBIBE!, by David Wondrich

• 1 ounce absinthe
• 2 dashes anisette
• 1 dash angostura bitters [I prefer 2 dashes of Peychaud’s instead]
• 2 ounces water [if using a lower-proof absinthe such as Kubler or Francois Guy, drop this to 1 1/2 or even just 1 ounce]
• [not in Wondrich’s recipe, but in mine: a dash or two of simple syrup]
  

Shake well with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The Angostura makes for an interesting drink, but Peychaud’s just works better with absinthe, in my opinion — plus, it gives the drink an alluring, bubblegum-pink color that will likely lead to an order that’s guaranteed to shock the hell out of some inexperienced Cosmo drinker should these things ever appear in bars. I also like to use club soda for at least some of the water — and yes, this makes shaking the cocktail without breaking the seal on the Boston shaker challenging — just to give it a little effervescent pizzazz. Anisette may seem redundant, given the anise flavor of true absinthe (as opposed to the lime-green, wormwood-spiked crapulescent forgeries that are out there), but it spikes up the points of the drink in a very pleasing way (if you’re using Lucid, the anise could well use some spiking). And do pay attention to the water: if mixing with something higher octane like Marteau, you’ll want the full measure, but Francois Guy is about the same potency as most whiskies and gins on the market, so 2 ounces of water would just wash out the flavor.

With any luck, by this time next year there’ll be another half-dozen or more brands of absinthe available in the U.S., and I’ll really be able to go to town on mixing up these suckers.

Tags: Absinthe, Drinks by Paul
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