Thanksgiving, harvest time, autumn, the change of the seasons when, for most of the country leaves fall, the temperature drops more and more and we could use a little cozy comfort. How about getting at least some of that comfort from cocktails? Call some adult beverages into service to numb your body and mind. Here are some drinks for Thanksgiving that will get you through that holiday in grand Things Men Buy style!
You can go just about any direction you want for Thanksgiving mixed drinks. Fruity tropical cocktails would seem a little out of place for me. So, I recommend a couple classic cocktails that embrace the flavors and feel of the season. They’ll go good with your Thanksgiving meal too.
Whether your goal is getting a celebration attitude going, steeling yourself for a friendly debate with relatives or even lusting after your soon to be devoured turkey dinner, I can tell you this: One or more of these booze filled drinks for Thanksgiving in your hand and down your throat will contribute to your successful Thanksgiving.
Enjoy These Attitude Enhancing Drinks For Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Mixed Drinks for Four, Please
I dig Manhattans. It is on my short list of perfect cocktails. It’s mostly bourbon. You can’t go wrong with that. Use this recipe to make 4 Manhattans at once. Drink them all yourself or be a mensch and share.
Start with 1 cup of your favorite bourbon in your mixing glass or shaker, add two-thirds cup of sweet vermouth, put in four dashes of Angostura bitters and stir. Even if you are mixing in a shaker, stir, don’t shake. Oh, and do not have any ice in your mixing glass or shaker.
Have your rocks glasses handy and filled with cubed ice. Pour your delicious Manhattan and garnish that classic cocktail with an orange twist that you have wrapped around either a bourbon soaked or maraschino cherry. Drink those cares away.
My next Thanksgiving mixed drink is the venerable Old Fashioned. People, for whatever reason, tend to play fast and loose with this cocktail recipe. Screw that. Keep it traditional for the best tasting and most ass-kicking Old Fashion cocktail.
This is another bourbon drink. You can also use rye.
Sidebar: When you mix your drinks, use quality hooch. For these drink recipes, do not use bargain bin gut rot. I’m not saying use super premium sipping booze because you don’t use those in cocktails. Use quality ingredients all the way around when not only mixing drinks for Thanksgiving, but anytime. Quality begets quality.
An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving…Cocktail. Literally.
Back to the easy to make and damn tasty Old Fashioned. These are quick to make one by one or you can mix up a bottle batch. I’ll also include a bottle batch mixing recipe to make it easy for you.
In addition to a quality bourbon or rye, you need fine sugar, bitters, a little water, old fashion glasses and cubed ice. If you want to garnish it, have some orange slices or cherries handy.
For a single cocktail, add one teaspoon of sugar to an empty old fashion glass. Add two or three dashes of bitters and a few drops of water. Pour in 2 ounces of bourbon or rye. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Fill your glass with cubed ice and vigorously stir to chill your drink. To pretty it up, garnish with an orange slice or a cherry.
That is it. That is the time-honored, classic Old Fashioned recipe. No muddling involved. Just a delicious drink for Thanksgiving.
The More, The Merrier
Now, here’s the promised mega-quantity party recipe for Old Fashioneds.
In a clean 1 liter bottle add a fifth (that’s a 750ml bottle) of bourbon or rye, 1 ounce of fine sugar, about a dozen dashes of bitters and approximately 3-4 ounces of water. Cap the bottle and mix. Don’t go crazy shaking the mix filled bottle. Just shake enough to dissolve the sugar and thoroughly mix the ingredients.
Serve as I recommended above.
Put these Thanksgiving mixed drinks into play and I’m convinced you’ll have a happy holiday. Cheers and fuzzy memories to you.