Drink up the holiday spirit with these festive cocktails: Jasmine Mangalaseril
From cocktails to mocktails, these local restaurants are serving up seasonal beverages to quench your thirst
It doesn't matter if you keep your drinks simple or if you're a cocktail enthusiast whose bar tricks rival Tom Cruise in Cocktail, this year's drink trends and tips will help you keep things merry and bright.
The holidays can be a nostalgic time, so it's not surprising seasonal classics like port and sparkling wine are popular, as are scotches and bourbons.
And whether we're grating nutmeg over our eggnog, adding a crushed cinnamon stick to our mulled cider or wine, or dropping a whole star anise into our Old Fashioned, those rounded, warm spices, essential to holiday baking also punctuate our holiday drinks.
If you're the fiery sort, sharper heat is also an option, as found in one of The Cambridge Mill's more popular holiday cocktails.
"We have a cocktail on the menu right now called The Fireplace Channel," said Cassandra Dumouchel, one of The Cambridge Mill's managers. "It has three ingredients: scotch, Frangelico, and then a house-made chili honey syrup. That's been quite the hit this season."
Warming up to the season
While those baking spices are popular, Blaze Welling, a bartender at uptown Waterloo's White Rabbit, sees a shift away from traditional autumnal flavours.
"One thing that we are noticing is we're moving away from the pumpkin spice latte era and moving into a lot of other uniquely seasonal flavours [like] apple," said Welling.
For an apple-infused drink, The Midnight Mischief (something Welling's team is currently perfecting), combines non-alcoholic port and bourbon tinctures, lime, simple syrup, and pumpkin-apple butter, topped by an egg white duvet. This sober cocktail has a rounded flavour reminiscent of a luscious cinnamon bun
Coffee is another familiar flavour coming to the forefront, Dumouchel explained.
"Espresso martinis and specialty drinks like after-dinner drinks with coffee. A B-52 or Spanish Coffee, whatever it may be, have also been a fun alternative to dessert."
At White Rabbit, another drink Welling's team is putting the final touches on is the Slow Drip. It combines whisky, herbal and citrus liqueurs and espresso. Poured over ice, it's rounded and balanced and garnished with coffee beans.
WATCH | Watch White Rabbit's Blaze Welling make 2 holiday cocktails:
Putting on the glitz
With food, you eat with your eyes first. The same is true with drinks.
Dumouchel and Welling suggest fresh herbs as garnishes, but make sure the flavours complement the drink. As a bonus, slap the herb just before adding them to the glass, to release their oils and scent your drink.
And while dehydrated citrus wheels may not lend much scent or taste, they lend a beautiful visual element.
"Dehydrated citrus really does add a bit of a seasonal spark to a cocktail, whether it be cranberries or a lemon wheel or an orange wheel," said Dumouchel.
Dressing the glass with edible gold leaf or lustre, edible glitter, or sugared cranberries will add literal sparkle to your sipping.
And, as Welling says, smoke adds stunning and flavourful elements to your holiday glass.
"We are playing around with smoking more of our cocktails," said Welling. "This can obviously be done at home…it adds that kind of wow factor and a really complex rich, woody flavour to your cocktails."
Keep it simple
If you're having friends and family around, our drinks specialists recommend keeping it simple, planning ahead, and keeping it organized.
If your drinks need them, fresh squeezed or pressed juices will add a brightness that processed juices won't.
And, to keep you circulating and enjoying your own party, instead of mixing individual drinks all night, pre-batch your cocktails. Just avoid ingredients that can go bad, like egg or dairy, or will lose their effervescence, like soda or tonic.
"Assuming the ingredients won't go bad by the time you're planning to host, you can pre-batch all of them, to make it so much easier and more enjoyable the day of your event." suggested Welling. "[Then], it's about pouring it, shaking it, or just adding one more element."
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