Recipe courtesy of Bodega on Main
• 0.75 oz Tanqueray No. Ten Gin
• 0.75 oz Appleton Estate Reserve Blend
• 0.5 oz Aperol
• 0.5 oz Lime
• 0.5 oz Honey Ginger Syrup
• 2 dashes of Lavender Bitters
• 2 oz Cava
• Grapefruit Peel
La Colmena
Lamento
Recipe courtesy of Bodega on Main
• 2 oz Rum Blend
• 1 oz Coconut Syrup
• 0.5 oz Lime
• 0.5 oz Passionfruit Purée
• 0.5 oz Pineapple Juice
Last minute gift guide: Spirited presents
Need something to tuck under the tree? From vodka to bitters, we’ve got you covered with these holiday bottles
Need something special for your dinner party host, your boss or your impossible-to-buy-for brother-in-law. Here are the spirits we’d like to find under our own Christmas trees. (For whiskies, see Last minute gift guide part 1: Warming whiskeys.)
Coconut Milk Punch
The tropical vibes of this updated classic come from Adam Domet of Pourhouse.
• 1.5 oz coconut milk
• 1 oz Buffalo Trace Bourbon
• 1 oz Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva Rum
• 2 tsp simple syrup (see note)
• 1 drop vanilla extract
Empress
• 2 oz Mount Gay XO rum
• 0.75 oz lemon juice
• 0.75 oz turmeric honey
• 1 oz aquafaba
• 2 dashes Bittered Sling Arabica Coffee bitters
Cuban Blues (including a zero-proof version)
REGULAR VERSION:
• 1.5 oz Havana Club 3 rum
• 0.5 oz Cointreau
• 0.25 oz Green Chartreuse
• 0.75 oz blueberry, banana, basil orgeat (see note)
• 0.75 oz lime juice
ZERO-PROOF VERSION:
• 2 oz Seedlip Grove
• 0.25 oz Seedlip Garden
• 2 dashes non-alcoholic orange bitters
• 2 drops saline solution
• 0.75 oz blueberry, banana, basil orgeat (see note)
• 0.75 oz lime juice
Rum island
In Barbados, rum defines a well-balanced thirst quencher
It won’t take long, once you’ve landed in Barbados, before someone presses a glass, sparkling with condensation and filled with an amber elixir, into your hand. Welcome to the famous Barbados rum punch and the taste of island life.
In Barbados, rum punch is enjoyed by everyone from farm workers to property tycoons to pallid newcomers from wintry climes. And it’s enjoyed everywhere from the verandas of grand plantation houses to the tailgate of a jeep in the jungle.
How rum punch came to be the national drink is unknown, but not exactly surprising.
Barbados Rum Punch
The classic the way it is made on the island.
• 0.5 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 oz simple syrup (see note)
• 1.5 oz dark rum (such as Barbados’ own Mount Gay Eclipse, or older)
• 2 oz water
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• Freshly grated nutmeg
Mi Luz
• 2 oz Bacardi Añejo Cuatro rum
• 0.75 oz Martini Bianco vermouth
• 0.25 oz rich apple demerara syrup (see note)
• 2 dashes Scrappy’s Seville Orange Bitters
• 2 to 3 spritzes of salted caraway solution (see note)
Painkiller
This tiki-style cocktail is Earls restaurants’ version of the classic originally created by Pusser’s Rum. It uses two different styles of ice—regular cubes and crushed.
• 0.75 oz coconut milk
• 0.75 oz passion fruit syrup
• 1 oz Bacardi Superior white rum
• 1 oz Mount Gay Eclipse Rum
• 1 oz pineapple juice
• 1 oz orange juice
• 0.25 oz lime juice
• Dash Bittered Sling Kensington bitters