Thanksgiving Drinks, Bourbon and Otherwise

[guajolote]

the last 3 years i've served:

whiskey sours

manhattans

old fashioneds

any ideas for this year?

[KatieLoeb]

the last 3 years i've served:

whiskey sours

manhattans

old fashioneds

any ideas for this year?

Dean:

Slippery Slopes!!!! Recipe is in the eGullet archives. Ginger Ale will work instead of Bitter Lemon, but it's better the orginal way. Besides, I recall you putting a dent in a couple of them at the Pig Pickin'

ETA The Slippery Slope recipe -- CA

Edited November 19, 2006 by chrisamirault (log)

[guajolote]

Dean:

Slippery Slopes!!!! Recipe is in the eGullet archives. Ginger Ale will work instead of Bitter Lemon, but it's better the orginal way. Besides, I recall you putting a dent in a couple of them at the Pig Pickin'

i dented everything

[MatthewB]

Old Pal

Edit: I'm going to make one (or two) of these tonight.

Edited November 17, 2003 by MatthewB (log)

[vengroff]

Later in the meal, consider a rich vanilla-bourbon milkshake alongside your pumpkin pie instead of whipped cream on top.

[guajolote]

Later in the meal, consider a rich vanilla-bourbon milkshake alongside your pumpkin pie instead of whipped cream on top.

damn, that's inspired. Maggie, what do you think?

[MatthewB]

Perhaps vengroff's suggestion as a bourbon-based digestif?

I'm taking one for the team & I'm drinking an Old Pal right now.

I'd recommend it as an aperitif.

[beans]

What about a classic as a Sazerac?

Here are a few others:

Bourbon Swizzle

1 1/2 oz Lime juice

1 tsp superfine Sugar

2 oz Bourbon

1 dash Bitters

crushed Ice

3 oz Club soda

Mixing instructions:

In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine the lime juice, sugar, bourbon, and bitters. Shake well. Almost fill a collins glass with crushed ice. Stir until glass is frosted. Strain the mixture in the shaker into the glass and add the club soda.

Narragansett

2 oz Bourbon

1 oz Sweet Vermouth

1/2 tsp Anisette

1 twist of Lemon peel

Mixing instructions:

In an old-fashioned glass almost filled with ice cubes, combine the bourbon, vermouth, and anisette. Stir well and garnish with the lemon twist.

Pendennis

1/2 tsp superfine Sugar

crushed Ice

2 oz Bourbon

1 twist of Lemon peel

Mixing instructions:

In an old-fashioned glass, dissolve the sugar in a few drops of water. Almost fill the glass with crushed ice. Add the bourbon. Stir well and garnish wth the lemon slice

Cheers!

[MatthewB]

I gotta try a Narragansett but, alas, my anisette is at "the other house."

[guajolote]

I gotta try a Narragansett but, alas, my anisette is at "the other house."

along with 298 other bottles of liquor

[tryska]

how about a punch? either milk-based or fruit and soda based.

[maggiethecat]

Later in the meal, consider a rich vanilla-bourbon milkshake alongside your pumpkin pie instead of whipped cream on top.

damn, that's inspired. Maggie, what do you think?

Yes, it's inspired, as long as I can have whipped cream too. Thing is:has anyone ever had success making a milkshake without one of those cool milkshake- making mahines? I've tried in the past, and I was mildly disappointed.

But if anyone can give me a helpful hint as to its manufacture, I want to try this.

[badthings]

Whichever you choose, try to wait a few hours after you put in the bird before you get started. I've found that starting on the Wild Turkey first thing is not conducive to a good carving job. Among other things.

[guajolote]

Whichever you choose, try to wait a few hours after you put in the bird before you get started. I've found that starting on the Wild Turkey first thing is not conducive to a good carving job. Among other things.

The whole point of the drink is to "promote family unity". It has worked well in the past.

[MatthewB]

Punch is a great idea.

I've always wanted an excuse--and the inspiration--to make Fish House Punch (supposedly the first documented American punch).

Edit: I quaffed an Old Pal a bit too quickly.

Edited November 17, 2003 by MatthewB (log)

[beans]

Bourbon Milk Punch

2 oz Bourbon

3 oz Half-and-half

1 tsp superfine Sugar

1/4 tsp Vanilla extract

1/4 tsp grated Nutmeg

In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine the bourbon, half-and half, sugar, and vanilla extract. Shake well. Strain into a highball glass and garnish with the nutmeg.

[MatthewB]

Pendennis

1/2 tsp superfine Sugar

crushed Ice

2 oz Bourbon

1 twist of Lemon peel

Mixing instructions:

In an old-fashioned glass, dissolve the sugar in a few drops of water. Almost fill the glass with crushed ice. Add the bourbon. Stir well and garnish wth the lemon slice

Cheers!

I think I'll make this for my SO & myself when she gets home.

(After that fast Old Pal, I better drink water till she's here. )

[Varmint]

A bourbon based egg nog?

[tryska]

"Without fail, we heed the red flag of Charles H. Baker's Gentleman's Companion of 1934: "Warning: there are a horde of so-called 'Fish House punch' receipts that include Benedictine, curaçao, bourbon, and God knows what else. Eschew them. There is but one recipe, unwavering, invariable.... "

other than that, fish-house punch sounds like a nice way to wait out a blizzard.

maggie - a milkshake thingie? what was wrong with your milkshakes? not thick and frothy enough? if so, more ice, and a little agar powder if you have it on hand. strangley enough i do, but it does do wonders - it's basically just vegetable gelatin - you can get it at healthfood stores.

[trillium]

What about a classic as a Sazerac?

Then he's going to need to buy a bottle of rye, but it's a great suggestion.

In general we get kinda soused cooking and eating and drinking all day on Thanksgiving. Our tradition is champagne or French 75s with California sparkling wine depending on budget while cooking and old fashioneds afterwards. I can't imagine wanting anything with milk in it, dinner and dessert is rich enough!

regards,

trillium

[DrinkBoy]

What about a classic as a Sazerac?

Then he's going to need to buy a bottle of rye, but it's a great suggestion.

Technically he'd need that rye for an Old Fashioned or Manhattan too :->

Although I suppose that since a Sazerac is a fairly uncommon cocktail it has retained it's "ryeness" long after the Old Fashioned and Manhattan have be re-cast to use bourbon. (And I won't even mention that the Sazerac was originally made with Brandy... oops, I guess I just did. :-)

And speaking of the Sazerac, I notice a fairly wide variety of recipes and construction styles being used for this. Myself, the method that I've settled in on is as follows:

Pre-chill a rocks glass with ice.

Dump the ice.

Coat glass with Pernod/Absinthe (I use Absinthe in an atomizer, works wonderfully)

Add a scant teaspoon of simple syrup

Add about 5 dashes of Peychaud's bitters

Add 2 ounces of Rye (or Bourbon) whiskey

Garnish with a lemon twist

Note that I don't use ice at all in the drink itself, nor do I shake the rye with ice. Part of my thought here is that this drink pre-dates mechanical refridgeration, and so I expect that ice would have been a bit precious, and would therefore be nowhere near as pervasive of an ingredient as we see it today.

Also, while I know most of you know this already, when the above recipe calls for "Rye" this does -not- mean (nor does it ever mean) Canadian Whisky.

And for another suggestion for a bourbon based cocktail that you might want to try, here is a new one, the "Chas" [chaz]:

1 1/4 oz Bourbon

1/8 oz Amaretto

1/8 oz Cointreau

1/8 oz Benedictine

1/8 oz Orange Curacao

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass.

Garnish with an orange twist.

-Robert

www.DrinkBoy.com

[Chris Amirault]

Before dinner yesterday, while serving some Chinese five spice roasted nuts, I handed out some Applecarts using Dave Scantland's recipe (2 oz applejack -- used Laird's 7 1/2 -- 1 oz Cointreau, 3/4 oz lemon juice), with rims dusted with vanilla cinnamon sugar. They were a big hit and earned their place in our family's regular routine.

What did y'all serve?

[KatieLoeb]

Sounds good Chris! I perfected my latest autumn cocktail and dubbed it:

The Spicy Pilgrim (with credit to Dish and her friend that loaned me the name!)

2 oz. Ten Cane Rum

1 oz. apple cider

.75 oz. fresh lemon juice

.5 oz. Marie Brizard Poire William liqueur

.5 oz. Pama pomegranate liqueur

.5 oz. Spiced Dark Simple Syrup*

one dash Fee Brother's Old Fashioned Bitters

Lemon rind

Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a flamed lemon peel.

* Spiced Dark Simple Syrup

1.5 cups water

3 cinnamon sticks, broken up

4 star anise

10 whole cloves

1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes

1 cup demerara sugar (I use Trader Joe's organic)

Bring water to a boil and add spices. Allow to boil for three minutes. Add sugar, stir to dissolve and allow to simmer for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off heat and allow to cool. Strain before using.

[thirtyoneknots]

Wouldn't the appropriate Thanksgiving cocktail be based on gin?

Plymouth, of course ;-)

-Andy

[ada]

We have a large group, close to thirty people, for Thanksgiving every year. Usually someone will make a short toast just before dinner. This year, I would like to give out shots for the toast. Maybe even something artistic looking. Since I'm a novice at this, I am looking for suggestions. I don't want anything with mint liquer, or after-dinnerish. Most of the group is between twenty and forty years old, with a handful on either side of that age range.

My father would always have a shot of whiskey before dinner. I remember this with affection. Any help would be appreciated.