Drinks - quick and easy recipes - page 15

A combination of sugar, water, and strawberries cooked together, cooled, and strained. Use this sweet, fruity syrup in cocktails, desserts, or bubbly sodas.

This light and fruity cocktail was created for the CHOW launch party by master mixologist Jacques Bezuidenhout. The sweet combination of sliced strawberries, strawberry syrup, and rosé wine is balanced by the herbal complexity.

Rosa Mexicano’s perfectly balanced La Pinela cocktail is made with pineapple juice, cinnamon syrup, lime juice, and tequila. What to buy: Licor 43 Cuarenta y Tres is a Spanish liqueur with great spiced notes and a vanilla flavor that’s often served on the rocks. It can be found at high-end liquor stores and online.

This recipe from author and former Gramercy Tavern managing partner Nick Mautone is a blend of Grand Marnier and iced tea that makes a perfect summer-afternoon cooler. Game plan: We like this Basic Iced Tea recipe for this cooler. Make the tea and refrigerate it up to 8 hours in advance.

During his glory days, golfer Arnold Palmer drank a blend of iced tea and lemonade, a drink that became known, aptly, as the Arnold Palmer. This spiked version given to us by author and former Gramercy Tavern managing partner Nick Mautone substitutes citrus-flavored rum and limoncello, an Italian lemon liqueur, for the lemonade. What to buy: If you don’t have citrus-flavored rum, you can use unflavored light rum, add freshly squeezed lemon juice and lime juice as desired.

This punch uses the flavors of pears, cinnamon, and brandy to create a cocktail that screams autumn. It’s slightly fizzy from the pear cider, has a touch of sweet spice from the cinnamon schnapps, and has a gentle bite from the Courvoisier. Serve it up or enjoy over ice at a Thanksgiving gathering or Christmas party.

This elegant, floral, blush-tinged cocktail is a great way to use up a bunch of grapes. Muddle fresh red grapes with pisco—a brandy actually made from grapes—shake with ice, and strain before topping with champagne and a lemon twist. What to buy: Pisco is a brandy distilled from South American white Muscat grapes. It can be found at well-stocked liquor stores or online.

Abigail Gullo, head bar chef at SoBou restaurant in New Orleans, celebrates the flavor of ripe figs by muddling them with elderflower liqueur and shaking them in a cocktail shaker with vodka, lots of lemon juice, and agave nectar. This floral, sweet-tart drink is a refreshing way to enjoy fresh figs.

Apples and warm spice have pretty much cornered the market as far as mulled ciders go, but swapping in pear is a pleasant change. Warm the hard cider in a big pot and steep it with ginger chunks, orange peel, and vanilla. Before serving, stir in some honey and a hefty dose of brandy. What to buy: There are varying qualities of hard pear cider on the market; look for one that has a distinct pear flavor and isn’t too sweet.

This make-at-home version of a coffee-shop pumpkin spice latte gets bonus points for using actual pumpkin, plus it’s spiked with rum. Plan ahead and make a batch of Homemade Pumpkin Spice Liqueur. When it’s ready, brew some coffee, add the liqueur, and top with a dollop of brown-sugar whipped cream and freshly grated nutmeg. Serve steaming in mugs with Spiced Pumpkin-Pecan Pancakes to reach pumpkin brunch critical mass.

Instead of whisking the ingredients by hand or hauling out the heavy stand mixer, let the blender do all the work in this easy eggnog recipe. Blend eggs, egg yolks, and sugar together until the sugar has dissolved, then add milk, rum, and bourbon. Finish by blending in heavy cream, and then let the eggnog chill in the refrigerator for an hour so the flavors come together. Serve with ice and freshly grated nutmeg on top.

Herbal Yellow Chartreuse is shaken with orange liqueur, orange juice, and heavy cream in this frothy after-dinner drink. If you can’t find Yellow Chartreuse, you can use Galliano instead.

This classic after-dinner drink is said to be an adaptation of a gin-based cocktail named the Alexander. While both are shaken with crème de cacao and heavy cream, this version has brandy swapped in for the gin. Sip this creamy tipple after the holiday feast as you chat on the couch with friends and family.

This light, delicate cocktail combines the dry, salty flavor of manzanilla sherry with herbaceous gin and floral elderflower liqueur. Stir together a few of these for guests as an elegant after-dinner drink. What to buy: Manzanilla sherry, made in the coastal town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda in southern Spain, is a very dry sherry with a touch of saltiness from the sea. You can find it in the wine section of well-stocked grocery or liquor stores or online.

This fortified wine cocktail with deep caramel flavors is a twist on the Adonis cocktail, which usually uses fino sherry and sweet vermouth. Here, we stir together rich cream sherry, both dry and sweet vermouths, and some orange bitters, then garnish with an orange twist.

In this mulled cider recipe, apple cider is simmered with orange, honey, cloves, and cinnamon, then given a mild boozy kick from amontillado sherry added just before serving. Keep this sweet-smelling punch warm in a slow cooker at a holiday party or winter cocktail party, or let it simmer while you throw together our classic Pumpkin Pie recipe. What to buy: Amontillado sherry, made in the town of Jerez in southwestern Spain, is aged longer than fino (or dry) sherries.