Acceptably festive (mostly) wine cocktails to (mostly) survive Thanksgiving
Editor’s note: I am still on hiatus due to the tidal wave of exams that is grad school. My spouse/guest writer, Sam Barbaro, is filling in with original cocktail recipes. I recommend pouring them directly onto the naked scalp of your most homophobic uncle. But save some throwing cocktails to drink, because these ones are delicious.
Because Thanksgiving is a holiday for quietly drinking in the corner while your family members fight, here are three cocktails for every part of the day, from apps to pie.
Appetizers: Spiced Sangria With Apple Compote
Recovering from a turkey trot requires the hydration and electrolytes that this sangria probably provides. It also requires dips, pigs in blankets, and one or two of the more disappointing appetizers that come in the same frozen variety pack (I’m looking at you, mouth-scalding probably-potato puff).
I recommend putting the Macy’s parade on and taking your drinks and apps into the shower after you finish running.
For the sangria:
1 apple
1 orange
1 750 ml bottle of Rioja
Juice of ½ lemon
1 cup apple cider
1 cup ginger beer
½ cup bourbon
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Handful of star anise
2 cinnamon sticks
For the apple compote:
1½ lbs apples (about 3–4 apples)
1 cup sugar
Squeeze of lemon
Choice of festive spices (I used 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon ginger)
Pinch of salt
Instructions
Make the sangria:
Chop the apple into bite-sized pieces. Cut the orange into eighths.
Add the fruit to a two-liter (or larger) pitcher, squeezing or mashing the oranges slightly to express some of the juices.
Add the Rioja, lemon juice, ginger beer, apple cider, cinnamon sticks, sugar, and star anise to the pitcher. Give everything a stir and let it sit in the fridge overnight.
Make the apple compote:
Core and chop the apples into quarters, then pulverize in the food processor (if you have a larger, more powerful food processor, feel free to do less chopping).
Add the apples, sugar, lemon, and spices to a pot or Dutch oven and cook over medium heat, uncovered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Chill in the fridge—no one wants warm sangria. That is mulled wine and it is for a different holiday.
To serve, scoop a few tablespoons of apple compote into a wine glass. Pour in the sangria. Garnish gratuitously with a cinnamon stick, wedge of your favorite fall fruit, or both. This one is sweet, so I recommend starting with less compote and adding more to taste.
Dinner: The Maple Pancake
This cocktail will remind you of better times: Friendsgiving when you got a little tipsy having turkey and waffles and nobody threw any Hummels at the wall, raged at vegans though none were present, or called their six-year-old a dud to his face.
Thanksgiving dinner is a time to be judicious about stomach real estate, and the maple pancake deserves a spot. Plus, you can pretend you’re celebrating Thanksgiving on Downton Abbey—a thing British people definitely celebrated in 1920—because this drink has Sherry in it. Oh, Shrimpy!
ingredients
1.5 oz bourbon
½ oz Skrewball
½ oz Oloroso Sherry
1 tablespoon maple syrup
3 dashes molasses bitters
Star anise (as garnish)
Sprinkle of flaky sea salt
instructions
To a rocks glass (or mug or whatever glass isn’t currently being thrown) add bourbon, Skrewball, sherry, maple syrup, and bitters.
Stir to combine, garnish with star anise, and sprinkle a little flaky sea salt on top.
Dessert: decadent Peanut butter pumpkin coffee
I normally think alcohol ruins the perfection that is coffee, a drink I enjoy every day even though it continues to ruin my mornings, digestive tract, and use of whitening toothpaste. Many have tried before it, but this drink finally changed my mind about adding booze to coffee.
The peanut butter pumpkin coffee is Thanksgiving’s answer to the espresso martini (experts previously thought was that was the pumpkin spice espresso martini, but they got together and admitted they were wrong and super embarrassed about how wrong and basic they were). Plus, some guy who talks a lot about wine [Editor’s note: I do not] told me that when you pair wine with dessert, the wine should be sweeter. The same is probably true for cocktails. So there you go.
For the pumpkin coffee:
½ cup chilled coffee or cold brew
2 ozs pumpkin spice RumChata
1 oz Skrewball
For the maple cold foam:
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 ½ teaspoons milk
1 teaspoon maple butter or maple syrup
Dash of cinnamon
Pinch of flaky sea salt
Instructions
Make the maple cold foam:
Add heavy cream, milk, and maple product of your choice to a mug or measuring cup.
Aerate with a latte frother until the mix is thick and foamy.
To assemble your cocktail (yes, we are using the word assemble):
To a glass mug (or to your grandpa’s favorite mug, which, for obvious and exhausting reasons, is shaped like a toilet), add ice, coffee, RumChata, and Skrewball. Stir.
Pour the maple cold foam on top. Sprinkle with cinnamon like it’s a cappuccino and add a dash of flaky sea salt.
