Cups of Cheer

The holiday season offers a lot of opportunities to do a little drinking...which means it also offers my inbox a lot of PR emails including cocktail recipes. This makes me happy. It also makes me feel like sharing.

So, here are three of my favorite drink recipes that landed in my inbox this season. If you're still looking for a specialty cocktail for this week or next...here you go:

The Mariah Sherry from Wit + Wisdom

The name alone is enough to make me want to order this drink every day. It's adorable - but it also sounds delicious, which is no surprise, since the W+W bar is really, really good at making drinks. Here's the recipe:

1 ounce Dry Sack Sherry
1 ounce Hardy VS Cognac
1/2 ounce Domaine de Canton
1/2 ounce Amaro Ramazotti
1/2 ounce cinnamon syrup
2 dashes Fee Brothers Old Fashioned bitters
1 ounce half and half
1 whole egg

Combine everything in a cocktail shaker and dry shake hard, then add ice and shake thoroughly. Double strain into a snifter and garnish with grated nutmeg.

Fun Fact: W+W has a million things happening this season, including special Christmas Day brunch and dinner, a nine-course New Year's Eve tasting menu and a New Year's Day brunch. It's a lot.

*****

The Gratitude

Moonshine has come a long way from its backwoods roots. In some ways, it's a little sad that it's lost some of it's dangerousness. However, it's also nice that people aren't going blind from it, either.

This recipe, from the folks at Sugarlands Distilling Co., is definitely a far cry from drinking unrefined white lightning out of dirty jars in the woods.

1 ounce Silver Cloud Moonshine
2 ounces cranberry juice
2 ounces apple juice
2 ounces ginger beer

Pour over ice and stir.

Fun Fact: Sugarlands is located in Gatlinburg, TN - also the home base for my sorority's philanthropic efforts. There's even a Pi Beta Phi Elementary School in the town. Which is kind of funny to me, really, because it's hard to imagine going to Pi Phi Elementary. But still, Pi Phi's commitment to education and expanding literacy is solid. 

*****

PAMA Whiskey Sour

People complain about the mess that goes along with de-seeding a pomegranate, but I think it's worth it. Not only are the little seeds tart and crunchy and so pretty, there's also something incredibly satisfying about whacking the hard shell of the fruit to dislodge all the seeds. Just wear an apron.

Then make this simple, tart spin on the classic whiskey sour, which came to me courtesy of PAMA:

1 ounce fresh lemon juice
1 ounce PAMA pomegranate liqueur
1 1/2 ounces bourbon
Pomegranate seeds for garnish

Add all ingredients to a shaker and fill with ice. Shake and strain into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice.

Fun Fact: The first time I ever had a PAMA drink was at Can Can in Richmond, where there used to be a champagne and PAMA drink on the menu - and it was named after my sister-in-law Cail. Because she has good taste, too, bien sur.

Photos courtesy of Wit + Wisdom, Sugarlands and PAMA.