Cocktails Worthy of Thanks

I have introduced cocktails to Thanksgiving.  Maybe your family’s Thanksgiving was already familiar with them, but mine was not.  My family, I regret to say, fit the stereotype of a sitcom family Thanksgiving: two people cook for days, twenty people eat three plate-fulls during halftime and barely pause to notice the cook with a second-degree gravy burn.

I have tried to slow the pace by bringing something to nibble on while doing the last of the cooking, along with something to wash it down.  I was asked for suggestions for this very thing (Jenny Robin wants to get her family drunk this year (I think it’s cute that she has to make an effort to do so)), so here are a few of my favorites.

Maybe this sounds odd or maybe it makes perfect sense, but I think of whiskey, bourbon and rye when I think of fall cocktails.  I regard them as the stews and soups of the liquor world—warming, comforting, and not too assertive, so my suggestions for Thanksgiving drinks are mostly whiskey-based.

By the way, I like smallish drinks so that I am done with them before they become warmed from my holding them.

The Sazerac
I read that this very old drink, which is now popular again, is one of the trendiest drinks around.  Despite that, it is one of my favorites and I will continue drink it long after it has ceased to be fashionable. The Peychaud bitters give it a bittersweet flavor and a pink-ish, orange-ish hue that I enjoy gazing at.

 

2 ounces Wild Turkey 101 rye whiskey (the high alcohol content keeps the sweetness in check)
1/2 ounce simple syrup, recipe follows
5 to 7 dashes Peychaud bitters, or orange bitters, Angostura bitters, as per availability
Herbsaint liqueur, Absinthe, or other liqueur with anise as it’s dominant flavor
Piece of lemon zest
A champagne saucer or coup

Put first three ingredients in an ice-filled glass and stir for 30 seconds. In a chilled coup glass, add 3 dashes of the Herbsaint and spin around to coat the glass, dump excess. Strain rye mixture into glass and twist the lemon rind over the glass and drop in.

Simple syrup- combine 2 parts water to 1 part sugar in a saucepan (or a bowl in the microwave) and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 5 minutes. The syrup will keep in the refrigerator for months.

Plymouth Rocks
I invented this, but never took notes so the quantities are kind of loose. This will make 6 cocktails.

3/4 cup Wild Turkey rye whiskey or Maker’s Mark bourbon
1/4 cup Cointreau or Grand Mariner
The juice of half an orange
A few dashes of bitters
Sparkling apple cider

Combine the first four ingredients over ice and stir for 30 seconds. Strain into champagne saucers or martini glasses and top each with the sparkling cider, to taste. Some people liked just a splash while others used almost equal parts making it a drink they could enjoy several times over.

Whiskey Sour
This always-appropriate drink is more often than not made with bottled sweet and sour mix. Squeezing a lemon is not nearly as taxing as some would have you believe, so do that instead. It used to be made with an egg white but for a single drink I omit it since it’s hard to measure a teaspoon of egg white. If you are making four or more drinks at once much it’s easier and it creates a nice froth on top.

The above photo came from this website where a recipe for whiskey sour better sounding than mine can be found.

2 ounces whiskey, bourbon, etc.
1 ounce each (or to taste) lemon juice and simple syrup
1 teaspoon egg white

Shake the ingredients over ice and strain into a highball glass.

If you use the egg, shake it for 30 seconds without the ice, add the ice and shake again—this results in the best froth on top since the ice makes it harder to dissolve the egg.

And finally, for those who like vodka . . .

Cape Cod

Combine 4 ounces cranberry juice with 2 ounces vodka over ice in a glass and garnish with a lime wedge.

You can vary this drink by using an infused vodka or a splash of ginger syrup (recipe found on my food blog) with some lime juice to balance the sweetness. 

That mention of ginger made me think of another drink: the Daedalus.  Stir Irish whiskey, some ginger syrup and several dashes bitters over ice, strain into cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.  It was invented by a man who got hit by a Guinness truck making its morning delivery.