Aw, the holiday season: a time gather with family to share memories, exchange gifts and celebrate the season. Let’s be honest though, for many of us, a fair amount of alcohol is required to get through this time of year. In my opinion, that is OK. You can atone after January 1.
My approach to holiday drinking is broken into four categories: something traditional, something with holiday spices, something for day drinking and something warm. I’ve already written here about my love for eggnog—it’s about as traditional a holiday drink as you can get. For something with holiday spices, the folks at Crater Lake Distillery in Bend, Oregon have a variation on a lemon drop made with their ginger vodka that is as good with ham as it is with fruitcake. Ginger adds a zing to cocktails without being overtly spicy or Christmasy. It’s the perfect amount of festive flavor.
Ginger Lemon Drop, courtesy Crater Lake Distillery
Ingredients:
2 ounces Crater Lake Sweet Ginger vodka
2 ounces lemon juice
1 ½ ounces simple syrup
Directions:
Mix ingredients over ice in cocktail shaker. Shake and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a lemon wedge.
For day drinking, I have been on a Michelada kick since autumn. This variation of “red beer” is spicy, salty, tangy and just low octane enough to justify drinking at noon. It’s also savory enough to satisfy your appetite between meals. That’s not to say that it doesn’t go great with Chex Mix. I’ve been using the bloody Mary mixes from Seattle-based Dimitri’s to season my Micheladas. Combined with tomato juice, hot sauce, a little lime and a can of cold lager, it is perfectly numbing.
Michelada, by Sonja Groset
Ingredients:
½ ounce Dimitri’s classic recipe Bloody Mary mix
1 ounce V-8 tomato juice
12 ounces lager, like Full Sail Session lager
6-10 dashes hot sauce (I use a combo of Cholulu and Tapatio)
Squeeze of fresh lime
Directions:
Combine ingredients in a pint glass and enjoy cold. Ice optional.
And for something warm, I always return to my ancestral homeland of Sweden. Many Northern European countries enjoy a form of mulled wine in the winter months, and Sweden is no exception. Glögg is the name of their variation of mulled wine served in small cups with raisins and slivered almonds in the bottom of the glass. It’s made by simmering red wine, some strong spirits (like brandy, vodka or rum), with sugar, orange peels, cinnamon sticks and cloves until warm. I like to throw in some cardamom pods too. A pot of Glögg on your stove will make your house smell amazing, and keep your blood pressure low.
Swedish Christmas Glögg, adapted from Allrecipes
Ingredients:
2 bottles fruit-forward red wine, like Kiona Estate Red Mountain Lemberger
4 cinnamon sticks
14 whole cloves
1 orange, peeled and sliced into thin strips
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup rum, like Bull Run Distilling Pacific rum
1/4 cup brandy, like Brandy Peak Distillery Single Barrel brandy
Garnish: 1 cup raisins, 1 cup slivered almonds
Directions:
Over medium-low heat, simmer the red wine, port, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves and orange peel in a large pot. Stir in the sugar, rum and brandy. Continue simmering for another 5 minutes, stirring to completely dissolve the sugar. Serve hot in mugs or tea cups and garnish with raisins and almonds.
