Making Cocktails at Home for the Holidays: Drink Recipes, Needed Provisions and the Perfect Tunes

As my follow-up to The 12 Days of Cocktailing I thought, what if the merry mood strikes while out drinking one mischievous evening to have some ne’er-do-wells back to your home for some late-night revelry? Remember, January is the month to go cold turkey and cleanse your body of remnants of booze-induced December, so consider staying up until the wee hours this holiday season.

One needs to be prepared just in case your home ends up being filled with couples snogging under the mistletoe.

I’ll probably make a run to the liquor store before the 12 days begins. It’s always good to have a fully-stocked bar at home. Be sure to stock up on the staples: Tito’s vodka, Zephyr gin and some Stella Artois beer (which always seems tastier during the holidays).

Also, I’ve been gathering intriguing cocktail recipes to try-out on unknowing and likely pliable guests for the holidays.

Honey Sparkle (a refreshing riff on the classic Air Mail cocktail)

1.5 oz. Tequila Casa Dragones Blanco

0.5 oz. Lime Juice

0.25 oz. Honey Syrup (2-1)

¼ tsp. Suze Aperitif

Shake with ice and fine strain into a chilled coupe. Top with 1 oz. Pierre Peters Champagne. No garnish.

Cranberry in Season

2 oz Zephyr gin

1 oz Cranberry Juice

.25 oz Chambord Liqueur

One bar spoon of Fresh Lemon Juice

Dash of Agave Nectar

Fresh Cranberries

In a cocktail shaker, mix Zephyr gin, cranberry juice, Chambord, lemon juice and agave over ice and shake well. Pour into a cocktail glass and garnish with cranberries.

For nibbles pull out some Petrossian Royal Ossetra Caviar and a bag of tortilla chips and call it a day. If your impromptu guests had forgotten to eat dinner, their fault not yours. Maybe the fresh cranberries from the above recipe will actually suffice.

In addition, some other items to have on hand for a spontaneous house party include scented candles. I adore Lafco’s Winter Balsam. It’s a vibrant green earthy fragrance that captures the enchanting aromatics of a winter forest with notes of mint-infused eucalyptus, balsam fir needle, and oud wood.

I generally have Niven Morgan candles burning year-round, but for the holidays I like his Winter Fig. Also, there is a strong chance of bumping into dear Niven somewhere about town and him ending up as one of the late night party guests.

Be sure to have a playlist ready for some late night dancing. I adored the list that DJ Lucy Wrubel sent the team here at PaperCity and we included in our December print edition. Some of my other favorite party inducing favorites include Noonday Underground’s “London,” Run DMC’s “Jason Nevins – It’s Like That,” Brownstone’s “If You Love Me,” and Lauryn Hill’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You.”

Perhaps also have some inflatable mattresses on the ready with Frette 1000 thread count cotton sateen sheets and some monogrammed pajamas (consider TIP — short for tipsy) from Ellis Hill in case it turns in to a full-blown slumber party.