Happy Thanksgiving! As you're gearing up for a day of gratitude and great food with your friends and family, check out the Business & Bourbon team's favorite Thanksgiving cocktail recipes and drink recommendations. These drinks will make impressing your guests or hosts a breeze this season, and they'll have everyone at the table asking for another round.
The Oak King — Sailor Guevara
Survive The Holidays. Drink This.
Why do so many traditions and habits circulate around sharing a meal or a drink with loved ones? Breaking bread can be a strong catalyst for bonding with each other. And the same goes for sharing spirits, wine, or beer.
In a recent study, participants drinking alcohol smiled more, talked more, and had fewer negative facial expressions when observed. At the group level, the drinkers had more “golden moments” and “triadic sequential-speech events,”—meaning that each member spoke in succession.
As we approach the holidays, you may be looking for a way to express your love for whiskey to share with your friends and family. Or perhaps you’re looking for a great unifier to serve to colleagues; cocktails, forgive the pun, are the perfect addition to the mix.
I believe that holiday cocktails should be a little ‘extra’ as the kids say. This season is a great time to add a bit of oomph to your drink repertoire. I am particularly passionate about coffee liqueurs this season. What was once a flat, often too bitter or much too sweet cocktail additive has become a true liquid artform with the boom of craft distilleries in the US. Many distilleries are crafting liqueurs and bitters to accompany their spirits to give the consumer the same level of quality in their cocktails.
I’ve been working on a twist on the old-fashioned as it is one of the most requested cocktails for whiskey lovers. This cocktail brings a depth of flavor with a robust four-grain bourbon hailing from Evanston, Illinois, with its bourbon barrels resting minutes from Lake Michigan. This bourbon is a knockout with big, beautiful notes of baking spices, roasted nuts, and a killer finish.
I have also included a phenomenal, complex coffee liqueur made by Brother Justus Whiskey Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This coffee liqueur is a delicious elixir on its own over ice and a great cocktail companion. With flavors of hazelnuts, coffee, dark chocolate, and a nice balance of sweetness, this liqueur provides everything I expect from a well-made coffee liqueur and more.
To bring some decadence to this cocktail, I pulled out my jar of Luxardo cherries. If you know, you know. Often called the best cherries in the world, you can’t go wrong with a bit of Luxardo cherry syrup in a cocktail. And what would an Old Fashioned be without bitters? To continue showcasing the complexity of FEW’s four-grain bourbon, I went with Fee Brother’s Aztec bitters, bringing in more chocolate with a bit of spicy heat to create the piste de resistance!
The final touches make this cocktail truly holiday-ready with a double garnish. A spear of Luxardo cherries and a dehydrated orange slice topped with a sprinkle of cinnamon make this cocktail the King!
Cheers to the holidays. May they be spirited.
THE OAK KING
2 ounces of FEW Four Grain Bourbon
1 ounce of Coffee Liqueur
1 teaspoon of Luxardo cherry syrup
4 dashes of Fee Brother’s Aztec Bitters
Stir well with cubed ice in a large glass. Stir until the glass is cold to the touch. Strain the cocktail into an Old Fashioned glass over fresh cubed ice and garnish.
Smoked Sage Old Fashioned — Home Bar Network
Haleigh and Cody Brown of the Home Bar Network crafted a cocktail perfectly tailored to complement your Thanksgiving meal. Smoky bourbon adds a touch of complexity, while the sage pairs naturally with the spices and seasonings of each dish.
SMOKED SAGE OLD FASHIONED
by Home Bar Network
2 oz Rye
1/4 oz Sage Syrup*
3-4 dash Fee Brothers Turkish Tobacco Bitters
Smoked Sage Garnish
Optional: atomize some Islay scotch on top for additional hit of smoke
DIRECTIONS: muddle one orange peel, sage syrup and bitters. Add ice, add whiskey, stir until well chilled. Strain over one large cube, garnish with smoked sage.
*SAGE SYRUP: Heat one cup of turbinado sugar and 1/2 cup of filtered water until sugar dissolves. Add 10 large leaves of sage and turn off heat. Cover and steep for 3-4 hours or overnight. Strain into air-tight container. Will last two weeks refrigerated.
Ronnell Recommends — A Midwinter Night's Dram® by High West Distillery
"Are you sure That we are awake? It seems to me That yet we sleep, we dream." - Demetrius, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 4, Scene 1 - Wm. Shakespeare
If you're on the hunt for a rich and dreamy whiskey to set the stage for the night, look no further than A Midwinter Night's Dram® by High West Distillery. With notes of fig, cranberry, cherry, and nutmeg, the flavor profile is the perfect pairing to complement your Thanksgiving spread, adding a touch of complexity while matching the rich and cozy atmosphere of the day.
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