it is weekend for the big celebrations – ring out the old and ring in the new! Men, and especially women, will imbibe with a little something special over the weekend. Champagne is the drink of choice for a practical historical reason. When bubbles started being bottled and sold to the masses in the 1880s, it was marketed as an aspirational beverage. Most non-nobles could only afford champagne on special occasions, and chose New Year’s Eve as the night to get it to manifest riches and fulfilled aspirations in the year to come. This year, celebrate with these simple classic cocktails which use your favorite alcohol and add a little extra to the occasion.
Find a good bottle and be prepared to have a good time!
Ingredients
3ouncesbrandy
4ouncesof Triple Sec, Cointreau or Grand Marnier
1bottlechampagne or prosecco
Create
Set out four champagne flutes
Pour ¾ ounce of brandy into the bottom of each glass.
Pour an ounce of Triple Sec or Cointreau into each glass over the brandy. Do not stir.
Top up with champagne.
Use the leftover bubbles to make another round!
Rose Kennedy
This cocktail is names after the Jackie Kennedy’s mother in law. The family matriarch was a fan. This cocktail is also the grandmother of the New England highballs family of drinks that includes the Cape Codand the Cosmopolitan.
Ingredients
2 parts vodka
3 part sparkling water
1 splash cranberry juice
Create
Create in a tall or short glass over ice, stir and garnish with a lime wedge
Nothing says old school sophistication like a Manhattan. Emerging in the 1860s-1870s, the Manhattan is regarded as the first “modern cocktail” due to the inclusion of an aromatised and fortified wine in the shape of vermouth
ingredients
2 ounces rye whiskey
¾ ounce sweet red vermouth
2 dashes Angostura aromatic bitters
Create
Stir all ingredients until chilled, strain, and serve straight up in a martini glass.
Tequila Sunrise
The original tequila sunrise contained tequila, crème de cassis, lime juice, and soda water, and was served at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel where it was created 1930s. It has been ragingly popular ever since. Try this simplified classic.
Ingredients
3 ounces orange juice
1 ½ ounces your favorite tequila
½ ounce grenadine
Create
Pour tequila and orange juice in a tall glass over ice, stir briefly to combine. Add grenadine and watch as it sinks.
As you end one year and bring in a new one, may you enjoy yourself and celebrate.