Holiday Take-Out: Easy Holiday Drinks

Fizzy
A bubbly cocktail kicks off any celebration with flair. There’s the classic Champagne cocktail: a sugar cube dashed with angostura bitters, over which sparkling wine is poured. Or the kir royale: cassis (black currant liqueur) topped with bubbly. Both are delicious. But to add a little more dazzle, try the Thyme to Sparkle, which is served at Copperleaf in the Cedarbrook Lodge in SeaTac (cedarbrooklodge.com) and made with local spirits.

For more bubbly options, visit seattlemag.com/holidaydrinks

Muddle three lemon slices with two healthy sprigs of fresh thyme in a cocktail shaker.
Add to shaker:  
1 ½ ounces Ebb + Flow gin
1 tablespoon simple syrup*
½ ounce Finnriver black currant liqueur
Fill the shaker with ice and shake well, then pour through a fine strainer into a flute or wine glass. Top with Treveri Brut Blanc de Blancs from Washington and serve.
Warm
Most hot buttered rum batter recipes and premade mixes overcomplicate a drink that should be the essence of simplicity and let great rum shine. Take your cue from Sun Liquor’s head distiller Erik Chapman with this recipe, which harks back to the drink’s origins.
Put 1 ½ ounces of rum (such as the Sun Liquor barrel-aged rum), ½ ounce demerara sugar simple syrup* and a cinnamon stick in a small mug or other heatproof cup. Slowly pour 4 ounces boiling hot water into the cup and top with a 1-tablespoon pat of butter. Wait for a minute or two, then stir and enjoy.

The Ultimate Cheat: Easy
You don’t have to be a slave to the shaker to serve your pals a delicious and intriguing cocktail. If you’ve got a couple of bottles of Georgetown-made Addition Cocktail Spices (drinkaddition.com), it’s a snap. Whether a few drops or a stopper full (known as a “blast”), these liquid, bitters-like cocktail spices instantly add savory character to a cocktail. The tinctures come in a couple of dozen flavors—from chipotle to tarragon—but at this time of year, it’s easy to gravitate toward selections like allspice, clove, cinnamon and cardamom.

Try this Holiday Bourbon recipe shared by Addition’s founder/co-owner Matt Hemeyer.
Pour 2 ounces of bourbon (rye works great, too) over ice in a rocks glass.
Add one full blast of Addition cinnamon cocktail spice and one half blast of Addition clove cocktail spice.
Stir gently to mix, then top with a splash of sparkling water.
Garnish with a brandied cherry or twist of orange zest.

The Ultimate Cheat: Creamy
Speaking of Sun Liquor, here’s a heads-up about its wildly popular eggnog: The release date for this year’s batch of the 45-day-aged nog is set for December 11, with release festivities planned for December 10. It will be available in limited quantities ($32/750 ml) at the distillery (Capitol Hill, 512 E Pike St.; 206.720.1600; sunliquor.com) and the four Seattle-area locations of Total Wine (totalwine.com). For the latest details, which were still in the works at press time, check the Sun Liquor website.
*Simple syrup is made by stirring together equal parts water and sugar in a small saucepan and bringing to a gentle boil.

Go back to the main Ultimate Holiday Take-Out Feast article.