Adventures in Lockdown: 25 Days of Drinkmas 2020

2020 called for a very special tree.

I got this one from Knotted Sage. Tell your family you want Etsy gift cards for the holidays and order one in January so you have it for next year.

I have no idea how involved these recipes are going to get. Like any good advent calendar or month-long drinking binge, the fun is in not knowing what you might wake up to the next day.

Day the First – MERRY MELONBERRY MARTINI

2 oz watermelon vodka
1 1/2 oz dry vermouth
2 oz sweet & sour strawberry schnapps
1/4 cup ice
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker, shake until ice is melted, serve in martini glasses. Makes one very generous or two far more reasonable cocktails.

Day the Second – JINGLE BELLS, JINGLE BELLS, JINGBOULEVARDIER

2 oz bourbon
1 oz Aperol
1 oz sweet vermouth
1/4 oz grenadine
Stir with ice in an Old Fashioned glass, garnish with maraschino cherries

Day the Third – GOD REST YE MERRY GINTLEWOMEN

2 oz gin
1 oz orange juice
1/2 oz elderflower liqueur
3 1/2 oz tonic
Stir and serve over ice in a highball glass, garnish with orange slice if you’re not as tired as I was

Day the Fourth – DON’T EAT YELLOW SNOW

3 oz coconut rum
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz simple syrup
1/2 oz cocktail onion brine
3-4 dashes Scrappy’s Firewater
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake & serve in a martini glass with cocktail onions. This sounds terrible but tastes like savory sweet spicy lemonade and is amazing. Also I have ordered actual cocktail picks now.

Day the Fifth – KRAMPUSNACHT FIRE BOWL

3 oz hot apple cider
1 1/2 oz Fireball
1/2 oz Everclear
3-4 dashes orange bitters
1/8ish tsp liquid smoke
Place all ingredients but cider in a small glass or ceramic mug (I used Tom & Jerry cups). Slowly add cider & stir to combine. Vodka will work if you don’t have Everclear. Also measure light on the liquid smoke at first and add more after the cider if needed.

Day the Sixth – RUDOLPH THE RED KENTUCKY MULE DEER

2 oz Jim Beam Red Stag
1 oz kirsch
1/4 oz lime juice
3 oz ginger beer
Stir all ingredients with ice in a copper mug, garnish with maraschino cherries & lime slice if you have limes which I didn’t but I will next time.

Day the Seventh – DANCE OF THE SUGAR PLUM FAIRY

2 oz plum wine
1 oz vodka
1/2 honey liqueur
3 oz raspberry seltzer
Mix all ingredients with ice in a highball glass, garnish with boozy plums if your plum wine has them and if not consider buying different plum wine because boozy plums are delicious.

Day the Eighth – COOKIES FOR SANTA (SINCE THE GROWNUPS EAT THEM ANYWAY)

2 oz Dorda Sea Salt Caramel
2* oz bourbon
1/4 oz Faretti biscotti liqueur**
3-4 dashes chocolate bitters
Mix all ingredients & serve over ice in an Old Fashioned glass, garnish with chocolate shavings/chips which I didn’t think of until after the fact so learn from my mistake because this tastes like a literal glass of cookie and pieces of actual chocolate will be amazing in it.
(*I initially mixed this with 1 1/2 oz bourbon and it was just a touch sweet for our tastes but if you prefer a sweeter drink then do that.
**This liqueur has become rather difficult to find, so amaretto will work as a substitute & still be delicious.)

Day the Ninth – SMASHED APPLE PIE

10 oz Caramel Apple Dream tea
2 oz Jack Daniel’s Apple
1 oz cinnamon schnapps
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 – 1/2 oz simple syrup
Combine first 4 ingredients in a large mug, then add simple syrup to taste. 1/4 oz takes the edge off the booze without adding much discernible sweetness, 1/2 oz makes it sweet.
(Caramel Apple Dream is an herbal blend from Celestial Seasonings, you can usually find it at Target during the winter, or online year round)

Day the Tenth – CHANUKAH HONEY

2 oz vodka
2 oz Barenjager honey liqueur
1 oz amaretto
1/2 oz lemon juice
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake & serve in a martini glass garnished with lemon. Drink while listening to Rachel Bloom’s ‘Suck It Christmas!’ album, available here.

Day the Eleventh – BRING US SOME SWIGGY PUDDING

2 oz brandy
1 1/2 oz Glogg concentrate
1 oz orange juice
Mix with ice & serve in an Old Fashioned glass garnished with dried fruit. I used raisins, dried cherries, and a pitted date because I thought I had figs but I didn’t.

Day the Twelfth – MERRY CHRISTMAS, COOKIE

2 oz Jim Beam Honey
1/4 limoncello
3 oz lemon-lime soda
Mix & serve over ice in a highball glass, garnish with maraschino cherry

The Merry Christmas Cookie is a recipe from the 1963 Betty Crocker Cooky Book, a honey lemon cutout cookie that my mom baked for the holidays when I was a kid. This drink tastes exactly like it. Also my mom’s nickname was Cookie when she was a kid, hence the comma in the name.

Day the Thirteenth – ORANGE YOU GLAD I DIDN’T SAY BANANOG

4 oz eggnog
1 1/2 oz Grand Marnier
1/2 oz banana schnapps
Stir all ingredients until completely mixed (takes a minute with eggnog) and serve in an Old Fashioned glass or those cute little glass cups that came with the punchbowl that you remembered you have 12 hours after you made this. Sprinkle with nutmeg.

Day the Fourteenth – I’LL HAVE A BLUE CHRISTMAS

1 1/2 oz coconut rum
1/2 oz peppermint schnapps
3 oz blue cream soda
3-4 dashes Scrappy’s Firewater
Stir with ice & serve in an Old Fashioned glass, garnish with those tiny candy canes ISTG I HAD SOMEWHERE so please enjoy this dramatic reenactment of what that would have looked like.

Day the Fifteenth – OLIVE, THE OTHER REINDEER

2 oz gin
1 oz dry vermouth
1 oz Barenjager honey liqueur
1/2 oz olive brine
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake & serve in a martini glass with olives

Day the Sixteenth – IT’S A WHIPPED CREAM DAY

2 oz Pinnacle Whipped vodka
1/2 oz cherry schnapps
2 oz coconut milk
3 oz lemon-lime soda
Mix all ingredients & serve over ice in a highball glass, garnish with maraschino cherry

Day the Seventeenth – SUNSET ON CHRISTMAS ISLAND

2 oz silver tequila
4 oz pineapple juice
1/2 oz lime juice
1/4 oz pomegranate molasses
1/4 oz grenadine
1/4 oz blackberry brandy
Fill a Collins or Hurricane glass halfway with ice, add tequila, pineapple juice, and lime juice, stir well. In a separate container, combine molasses, grenadine, and brandy, stir until thoroughly mixed, and pour slowly into the center of the drink. I poured a little too carefully down the side of the glass and didn’t get the full sunset effect so learn from my mistake. Garnish with maraschino cherry and a chunk of pineapple if you have it which I didn’t but I will next time and there absolutely will be a next time because this is stupid delicious.

Day the Eighteenth – GRANDMA GOT RUN OVER BY A REINDEER & SHE’S A ZOMBIE NOW

2 oz vodka
1 oz Hpnotiq
1 oz dry vermouth
1/2 oz simple syrup
1/4 tsp orange blossom water
1/4 tsp rose water
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake & serve in a martini glass. Garnish with rose petals. It’s like Grandma’s living room as a martini. A 60 proof Precious Moments figurine. A glass of doily. This frankly has no right to be as good as it is and I can only conclude I’ve become some sort of mad mixologenius.

Day the Nineteenth – HOLIDEATH BY HOT CHOCOLATE

2 oz chocolate cream liqueur
1 oz Canadian whisky
1/4 oz amaretto
1/2 oz chocolate syrup
1/4 oz simple syrup
Warm all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Serve in small mugs garnished with whipped cream & sprinkles.
I used Vermeer chocolate liqueur because Grocery Outlet had it for $5 a bottle. It’s more chocolatey than sweet, so different liqueurs may need adjustments to the chocolate & simple syrup amounts. You know what you like. Adjust accordingly.

Day the Twentieth – W-T-ELF

1 oz Skrewball peanut butter whiskey
1 oz banana schnapps
1/2 oz honey liqueur
1/2 tsp natural peanut butter
2 oz club soda
Combine all ingredients except soda in a cocktail shaker with an ice cube, shake until ice has melted. Pour soda over ice in an Old Fashioned glass, add peanut butter mixture, garnish with banana chips. Yes, it’s a glass of peanut butter, honey & banana sandwich. Fight me.
Also you could use sweetened peanut butter but this is pretty sweet already so try to use natural if you can unless you want a reeeally sweet drink.

Day the Twenty First – IT LOOKS LIKE A DERANGED EASTER BUNNY

1 oz apple schnapps
1 oz cinnamon schnapps
1/2 oz grenadine
3 oz coconut milk
Shown here: all ingredients over ice in an Old Fashioned glass.
What occurred to me after the fact and how I will do it next time: Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake & serve in a martini glass. Garnish with fresh or dried apple slice.

Day the Twenty Second – THE 3 WORDS THAT BEST DESCRIBE IT ARE AS FOLLOWS, AND I QUOTE: DRINK DRANK DRUNK

2 oz bourbon
2 oz sweet & sour mix
1/2 oz blue curaçao
1/2 oz simple syrup
3-4 dashes Scrappy’s firewater
2 oz club soda
Mix & serve over ice in a highball glass garnished with lime

Day the Twenty Third – WE WISH KAHLUA MERRY CHRISTMAS

1 1/2 oz Kahlua Hazelnut
1 oz cherry liqueur
1 oz vodka
1 1/2 oz coconut milk
1/2 oz grenadine (optional)
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake & serve in a martini glass. Garnish with maraschino cherry.
I didn’t realize until I pulled this bottle that I had grabbed Kahlua Hazelnut rather than original. The hazelnut flavor is subtle but enjoyable. This tastes like a glass of chocolate fruit & nut chews. When I say the grenadine is optional, this is a sweet drink, not cloyingly so but if you prefer something less sweet then leave that out, but the color won’t be quite as rich.

Day the Twenty Fourth – AND MY WASTED LIVER WILL LOVE YOU

2 oz Irish whiskey
1/2 oz absinthe
1/2 oz honey liqueur
1 oz water
Serve over ice in an Old Fashioned glass garnished with lime

UNTIL YOU LOOK LIKE THIS

It was a good month. We’ll definitely be doing this again.
 
 
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