Ah, the holidays — that joyful time of year when bread is broken and glasses are raised with family and friends. Of course, with all this increase in business comes the paradox of cocktail service. You want to feature seasonal cocktails, but you also want to avoid burdening the bar staff with complex creations that take valuable time to prepare. And so the question becomes one of how to balance simplicity with festivity.
The answer: Memory.
It is virtually impossible to overstate the role that memory plays during the holiday season. We respond to the crackling sounds of a fire because it takes us back to youthful evenings spent relaxing by the fireplace; we love the taste of cranberry, because it reminds us of so many Christmas dinners; and we like creamy, rich drinks because, well, they’re one of the indulgences we have always allowed ourselves during the holidays.
Holiday cocktails don’t need to be complicated to pull on these emotional triggers. Just stir a memory and you’ll be well on your way to tickling palates around the bar.
Abig believer in this philosophy is “The Modern Mixologist,” Tony Abou-Ganim, who says of his Hot Buttered Rum: “The enchanting aroma always reminds me of my father, who was a baker, and the many childhood excursions to our family’s bakery, where I would be sure to sample anything within reach.”
It’s not exclusively a holiday memory, true, but still one that can be appreciated by anyone who finds comfort in the aroma of fresh-baked bread, which is to say pretty much all of us.
Of course, comfort is not rooted purely in nostalgia, and for those of us residing in colder winter climates, a little heat can prove pretty comforting, which is why warmth — in both temperature and alcoholic strength — figures so prominently in so many holiday drinks.
“Just like the hearty foods we all crave in the winter, with holiday cocktails I look to create items which are more filling and warming, using base spirits such as bourbon, rye, cognac and dark rums,” says Peter Vestinos of Sepia in Chicago.
And sometimes the oddest ingredients can go a long way toward providing “comfort and joy,” as LeNell Smothers, the proprietor of LeNell’s, a Wine and Spirit Boutique in Brooklyn, N.Y. Smothers uses peanut-flavored rum liqueur to create her Peanut Papa.
“Ialways think of roasted peanuts as a holiday treat, and the spices are perfect cold weather additions,” she says.
The key to creating a successful holiday cocktail program, then, lies not in featuring drinks with ingredient lists as long as your right arm, but in offering your customers a compelling mix of comfort and memory, and doing so with elegant simplicity.
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Recipes
Peanut Papa - Adapted from a recipe by LeNell Smothers, proprietor of LeNell’s in Brooklyn, N.Y.
- Prebatch two parts peanut rum liqueur to one part high-proof bourbon — at least 90 proof. Heat until very warm but not boiling, and decant to a thermal carafe.
Into a heated mug, pour the bourbon-rum liqueur mix and top with boiling water — about 4 parts bourbon-rum to one-and-a-half parts water. Garnish with three to four miniature marshmallows and a sprinkling of cinnamon and nutmeg. Serve steaming hot.
The Age of Enlightenment - Adapted from a recipe by Peter Vestinos of Sepia in Chicago
1ounce aged rum, at least 15 years old
1 ounce walnut liqueur
1/2 ounce Benedictine
1egg
- Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker without ice and shake for 10 seconds.
- Add ice cubes and continue shaking for 15 more seconds. Strain into a cordial glass and top with grated orange zest.
