Brighten Up Your Holidays With A Cocktail

Now that the holiday season has come around again, I reassembled my cocktail testers from the summer and got them ready to judge a whole new set of drinks. The setup remained the same. I mixed the cocktails and set them out without telling anyone what was in them. We all took a sip, then discussed the drinks and then when we had tried them all, we rated them. The biggest difference this time around was that I was at home rather than at the cottage so I had nice glasses and different garnishes to add to the drinks. As with the last time, the only organic liquor I could get was Square One Vodka.

My intrepid judges tasted ten cocktails, so that you wouldn't have to. As with the summer cocktails, I looked for recipes that didn't require a lot of mixing, or ingredients that you would never use again. We tried three whisky based, three gin based and three vodka based and one tequila based drinks. With all due respect to my colleague Sara, one taste of the Pumpkin cocktail had all six of us quickly covering our mouths in horror. To be fair, it was a different recipe, but no one liked the pumpkin itself. It was our winter version of the Yin Yang Martini, now affectionately known in the group as Muskoka Mud. Here are the results of the test.

Best Overall Drink

This was a bit of a surprise to me. I thought The Fireside Martini would appeal more to the women in the group, although I wasn't really expecting to like it much myself because I don't have a sweet tooth. Everybody liked this drink. It had a very smooth taste and a much more sophisticated taste than one might have thought.

1. In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add 3/4 oz vodka, 3/4 oz Baileys Irish Cream and 1/2 oz white crème de cacao.

2. Shake until frothy and strain into a Martini glass rimmed with crushed chocolate.

Best Apres Ski Drink

The Winter Warmer had a lovely, mellow taste that most of us enjoyed. The addition of a piece of star anise added a little je ne sais quois that was quite wonderful. This drink would certainly warm you up in a hurry. It's too bad I don't ski.

1. Place 1 oz. Absolut Vodka with 1 slice of orange and lemon in a heatproof glass.

2. Bring 5 oz. red wine, 2 tsp honey and 1 star anise to a boil.

3. Pour into a glass and add 1 oz. Canadian Club Classic.

Best Girl's Afternoon Christmas Party Drink

I actually added this The Pear Tree to the list because I had just bought some pears at the farmers' market that morning. What could be better than fresh, local, seasonal garnish. The men were okay with this drink, but the women all liked it better. This was light and different tasting than most cocktails and we quite enjoyed it.

1. In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add 1 oz citrus vodka, ½ oz Cointreau, ¼ oz lemon juice and 3 oz pear juice.

2. Shake and strain into a Martini glass. Garnish with a pear slice.

Best After Dinner Drink

Hands down everyone liked the classic Rusty Nail in this category. This is a very simple drink that is a nice follow up to dinner. You could have one before dinner too, if you really wanted to.

1. Pour scotch over ice in an old-fashioned glass. Float the Drambuie on top; do not stir. Garnish with lemon twist.

Best Drink to Look At

We all agreed that the Sweater Martini was a silly name for this drink, and one of my guests renamed it the Black Pearl, which was altogether more fitting. This drink had a beautiful, midnight blue colour and was actually very good. I should say that I left out the Sour Puss Raspberry liqueur, not wanting to have it in my liquor cabinet forever, but I can't say we missed it.

1. In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add oz gin, ½ oz blue curacao, ¼ oz Sour Puss Raspberry liqueur and 3 oz cranberry juice.

2. Stir until well chilled and strain into a Martini glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

All of these recipes are from the LCBO Magazine Food and Drink.

As a bonus, here is the recipe for homemade gin which I made for my husband's birthday party. It was a huge hit, and I'll definitely make it again.

Easy Homemade Gin

Ingredients: 1 bottle (750 mL) inexpensive vodka 2 Tbsp juniper berries 3/4 tsp coriander seed 1/4 tsp allspice 1/4 tsp fennel seed 3 green cardamom pods 2 black peppercorns 1 bay leaf, torn into pieces 1 (3-inch) sprig fresh rosemary 1 (2-inch-long) fresh lemon or lime peel 1 (1-inch) sprig fresh lavender

1. Before going to bed, infuse the juniper in the vodka and let it sit overnight.

2. In the morning, add the remaining spices and herbs, and let it infuse all day.

3. At the end of the day, strain out the botanicals, grab your cocktail shaker or favorite glass, mix your favorite gin cocktails

From Gourmet.com

For more information on green cocktails check out the Go Green Guide—Cocktails.