Recommendations for Crafting Exceptional Holiday Cocktails and Four Exquisite Recipes

32

If you aspire to elevate your home bartending skills and create an atmosphere of winter opulence during this holiday season, take heed of advice from London’s foremost cocktail artisans. Salvatore Calabrese, an esteemed Italian-born drinks expert with over four decades of experience crafting cocktails in prestigious hotels, bars, and private clubs, imparts his wisdom as “The Maestro” at the Velvet cocktail bar within London’s illustrious Corinthia hotel.

First and foremost, Calabrese emphasizes the pivotal role of glassware. According to him, the glass serves as the canvas for your cocktail creation, and its elegance sets the tone for a festive experience.

Furthermore, consider the quality of your ice, as it significantly impacts the drink. Calabrese likens ice to the heat for a chef, and its importance cannot be understated. Avoid using cracked ice cubes that disintegrate or crushed ice, as these do not befit the elegance of a holiday cocktail. If possible, craft your own homemade ice to ensure perfection.

Planning ahead is another key piece of advice. Calabrese suggests preparing your cocktail in advance, especially if it’s a complex concoction. By chilling it in the freezer or fridge, you simplify the final steps of mixing or shaking.

Jake Burger, co-owner of The Distillery, offers insights into the art of shaking and stirring. While shaking is fun and often associated with cocktail making, it’s essential to use it judiciously. Save shaking for cocktails with ingredients like fruit juices, egg whites, or cream. For alcoholic ingredients, stirring is the preferred method. In contrast to popular belief, a martini should be stirred, not shaken, as James Bond famously declared.

Liana Oster, bar director at The NoMad Hotel London, suggests adding a touch of seasonal extravagance to your cocktails through glass decoration. Her technique involves creating a peppermint-bark paint by melting equal parts cacao butter and white chocolate, infused with a few drops of peppermint essence. This paint, when applied in a swirl on a chilled glass and adorned with crushed candy cane, enhances the experience, especially with richer, more substantial cocktails.

Alex Girvan, brand ambassador for Masons of Yorkshire, offers ideas for garnishes. For a chocolate orange martini, he crafts delectable dipped-chocolate candied fruits. First, dehydrate orange slices with a sprinkle of brown or fine granulated sugar and then dip them in melted dark chocolate, refrigerating them until solid. These slices can be elegantly balanced on the glass rim, adding both flavor and visual appeal.

Girvan goes a step further by suggesting a garnish sharing platter akin to a charcuterie board. By presenting rosemary, orange peel, and lemon zest on sticks, guests can customize their drinks and savor novel flavor combinations.

In closing, as Calabrese aptly summarizes, crafting an exceptional cocktail is a journey that begins with attention to detail. By embracing these tips, you can ensure that your holiday cocktails not only taste exquisite but also make the world seem like a better place.

Now, to inspire your mixology endeavors, here are four exquisite cocktail recipes:

WINTERTIME NEGRONI, from The Distillery

• 1 ounce London Dry Gin
• 1 ounce Campari
• 0.5 ounces sweet vermouth
• 0.5 ounces sloe gin

Mix the ingredients over ice and stir. Serve over fresh ice and garnish with an orange wedge studded with cloves.

SCROOGE SOUR, from Common Decency, at The NoMad Hotel London

• 1 egg white
• 0.75 ounces simple syrup
• 0.75 ounces lemon juice
• 2 ounces Irish whiskey
• 0.75 ounces of mulled wine

Pour the egg white into the larger tin of your shaker, and the simple syrup, Irish whiskey, and lemon juice into the smaller tin. Dry shake together in the shaker to emulsify the egg and the alcohol. Then hard shake with ice and pour over a strainer into your glass. Slowly add 0.75 ounces of mulled wine into the corner of the glass and sprinkle edible gold dust over half of the surface to cover and garnish.

TRUFFLE SAZERAC, from Velvet, at Corinthia London

• 0.8 ounces Bourbon
• 1 ounce Cognac
• Homemade truffle syrup (you can make your own by heating a few drops of truffle oil with a teaspoon of sugar)
• A few drops of orange bitters

Mix the ingredients over ice and stir. Serve over fresh ice and garnish with a slice of fresh truffle.

MASON’S CHOCOLATE ORANGE MARTINI

• 2 ounces chocolate vodka
• 1 ounce triple sec

Mix the ingredients over ice and stir. Serve in a martini glass and garnish with a chocolate-dipped, candied orange segment.

For more delightful food and drink stories, visit [link to the source].

This article was originally published on Dec. 19, 2022, and was updated on Dec. 21, 2022, to correct the ingredients list and steps for making the Scrooge Sour cocktail.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Cocktail Mastery

• London Dry Gin
• Campari
• Sweet vermouth
• Sloe gin

SCROOGE SOUR