Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated in many places around the globe on various dates throughout the year. But it's nowhere as important a holiday as it is in North America. There, families and friends gather to share a fine dinner and celebrate together. It's also the start of the festive season.
We all know the idea of Thanksgiving is to be thankful. And it is also about getting together with loved ones.
Now, what better way could there be to upgrade such an evening than with some delicious, extravagant cocktails? If you're like us, there isn't much that could be better. So let us show you our favorite Thanksgiving Cocktail to start the festive season.
1. After Dinner Negroni
As the name suggests, this drink from cocktailpete is a good one to enjoy after a lavish Thanksgiving dinner. The characteristic bitterness of a regular Negroni gets balanced out by the sweetness from the Tiramisu liqueur and the chocolate bitters.
Ingredients
30ml (1oz) Gin
30ml (1oz) Sweet Vermouth
25ml (0.85oz) coffee-infused Campari
15ml (0.5oz) tiramisu liqueur
one dash of chocolate bitters
one dehydrated orange slice
coffee beans
Cool your glass by putting ice cubes in it before starting to mix your Thanksgiving Negroni.
Put all ingredients in a mixing glass, add plenty of ice, and stir until the contents are well-chilled.
Then remove the ice from the previously prepared glass, and strain your drink into it. Add a large ice cube and garnish with the dehydrated orange wheel and some coffee beans.
2. Grouse Rampant
I am a big fan of Sours. They are always such crowd-pleasers. And this recipe from Death and Company (New York), interpreted by Alan, is just the perfect way to turn a traditional Whiskey Sour into a beautiful Thanksgiving Cocktail.
Ingredients
60ml (2oz) Johnny Walker Scotch 12 Years infused with Fuji Apple
25ml (0.85oz) lime juice
10ml (0.35oz) homemade acacia honey syrup
10ml (0.35oz) homemade cinnamon bark syrup
one egg white
Edible prints for garnish
Add all ingredients except for the edible prints in your cocktail shaker. Don't add ice yet. Cocktails containing egg white should be dry-shaken first.
After the dry shake, add ice to your shaker and shake again. Carefully strain your drink into a chilled glass.
If you don't know how to make your own honey syrup, you can check it out here. And if you don't want to go through the trouble of getting edible leaf prints, a bit of cinnamon power on top works nicely, too.
However, should you want those prints (because they are pretty cool, honestly), you can best get them online.
3. Coffee Banoffee
A boozy, sweet delight by the.hometender that works brilliantly as a substitute for a dessert after your Thanksgiving dinner. The Coffee Banoffee is perfect for all who are not much of a classic dessert person but still have no objection to something sweet at the end of a meal.
Ingredients
30ml (1oz) Aged Dark Rum
15ml (0.5oz) Coffee Liqueur
30ml (15ml) brewed Coffee
25ml (0.85oz) banana syrup
15ml (0.5oz) caramel syrup
one egg white
Spun sugar toffee for garnish
Add all the ingredients (not the toffee) into your cocktail shaker. To make the egg white float nice and foamy, perform a dry shake first. -That means you don't add ice yet.
Then give it a good shake for about 15 seconds before adding ice and shaking again until everything is well chilled.
Strain everything into your pre-chilled glass and garnish it with a spun toffee nest.
4. Winter Rita
The Margarita is among the most popular summer cocktails and a must when vacationing in Mexico. But with a few small tweaks to the recipe by thebitterfairy, this summer classic becomes winterproof.
Ingredients
50ml (1.75oz) Tequila Blanco
10ml (0.25oz) Campari
20ml (0.75oz) lime juice
15ml (0.5oz) fresh blood orange juice
15ml (0.5oz) rosemary syrup
coarse-grained salt for the rim
Prepare your glass and moisten the rim with the juice from a lime wedge. Then apply a bit of coarse-grained salt. -For example, Fleur-de-Sel. It has a better taste and mouthfeel than regular salt.
Also, add some ice cubes to the glass before mixing the cocktail. That will chill it down nicely.
Now, add all ingredients and lots of ice to your shaker, shake until the content is well-chilled, and then strain it into your glass.
5. Marzipaneca
Marzipan is a flavor closely tied to this time of the year when the days get shorter and colder. And by combining Disaronno Originale and Maraschino liqueur with a few drops of rose water, spiritedla created a flavor that resembles marzipan so well.
The thing about marzipan is you either hate it or you absolutely love it. If you belong to the second group, the Marzipaneca is a fabulous Thanksgiving cocktail to kick off the festive season.
Ingredients
60ml (2oz) Armagnac
25ml (0.85oz) Amaretto (recommendation: Disaronno Liqueur)
10ml (0.25oz) Maraschino Liqueur
3 dashes of orange bitters
2 drops of rose water
Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass, add plenty of ice and stir for a little while until the contents are well-chilled. Then strain over ice into a glass and add some small branches of flowers as a garnish, if you like.
6. Hazelnut Sour
This Thanksgiving drink has a heavenly balance of sweet and sour notes that's also relatively low in ABV. The famous Italian hazelnut liqueur, Frangelico, gives the classy and elegant cocktail a nutty aroma without making it too rich and heavy.
Ingredients
40ml (1.35oz) freshly squeezed lemon juice
60ml (2oz) Frangelico
15ml (0.5oz) gingerbread syrup
15ml (0.5oz) dry red wine
1 egg white or Aquafaba
1 or 2 pinches of ground hazelnuts
Put all ingredients into your shaker and perform a dry shake first. Then, add ice and shake again until the shaker feels chilled and icy. Then slowly strain over ice into your glass.
For the red wine, use a bar spoon and carefully float it on top. Garnish with ground hazelnuts. - They won't get into your cocktail, as they sit nicely on top of the egg-white foam.
If you think about using another hazelnut liqueur, be aware that Frangelico has a unique and distinct taste, and the drink will likely turn out very differently.