The holiday season is officially in full swing, and that means mixing and mingling is high on everybody’s to-do list. As hosting duties kick into full gear, providing a “house drink” at the ready is among the latest holiday trends this year.
“I think you’re going to see a lot of signature cocktails and some people may even have that as part of their home decor, like a Christmas cocktail bar,” said Baton Rouge designer Christina Carville.
Carville says some people are setting up a DIY bar with all the fixings.
Hayride Scandal signature holiday drinks, from left, feature a Baba Yama, Hot Toddy, and Sherry Flip, Thursday, November 17, 2022, in Baton Rouge, La.
Whether it’s shaken or stirred, flavor is the name of the game, according to Brian Landry, general manager of Hayride Scandal, a craft-cocktail bar in Baton Rouge. He said at this time of year, drinks are infused with the flavors of fall and winter, which includes “warming spices.”
“So you’ll have your cinnamon, clove, nutmeg — those are going to be those dry, really earthy, warming sort of flavors also called mulling spices,” Landry said.
Landry said other “off-the-wall” spices, including fresh citrus and fruits like the peel of an orange or red and green apples or figs will also make an appearance in home bars this holiday season.
Hayride Scandal general manager Brian Landry mixes up a Hot Toddy, one of the bar’s signature holiday drinks, Thursday, November 17, 2022, in Baton Rouge, La.
Landry suggested using spices as garnishes “so they’re just hitting your nose,” such as shavings of nutmeg on top for “aromatic richness.”
Cinnamon and cloves, he said, can be infused with spirits or turned into a simple syrup, which is equal parts sugar and water simmered on the stove. Orange peels and their oils make for great garnishes and figs make nice infusions as well, he said. But if you’re looking for something easy, there’s plenty to choose from on store shelves. He recommends trying specialty liquor stores.
“There are also a lot of fine products that are available out there,” said Landry. “Things such as allspice dram, also known as pimento dram, are a really quick and easy way to get these flavors that you’re looking for. It’s a rum liqueur flavored with allspice, which is called a pimento because it comes from the pimento tree.”
Hayride Scandal general manager Brian Landry mixes up a Sherry Flip, one of the bar’s signature holiday drinks, Thursday, November 17, 2022, in Baton Rouge, La.
Want the festive drinks without the alcohol? No worries! There are plenty of options out there when it comes to spirits with no spirit, according to Landry.
“There’s a very fine wide selection of bottled spirits that are designed to be used in cocktails and cocktail applications that are nonproof, zeroproof,’ he said. “So, there’s gins, there’s whiskeys, there’s tequilas and even crazy stuff like amaros and aperitivos, vermouths, that are all nonalcoholic.”
There are also options of juices that work well on bar set-up such as apple juice, apple cider and orange juice and hot teas, which consist of hot water, lemon, honey and tea. Substitute a spirit for the tea and you have a hot toddy.
Hayride Scandal general manager Brian Landry adds freshly torched orange oil to the top of a freshly poured Baba Yama, one of the bar’s signature holiday drinks, Thursday, November 17, 2022, in Baton Rouge, La.
“Winter’s a really good time for the application of eggs in cocktails … when you’re making a whiskey sour, which is the traditional way of doing it, use an egg white in there, it’s going to give it this light airy foamy texture,” he said. “If we were to utilize a whole egg in a drink such as a flip, which is just some spirit, sugar and a whole egg all shaken up, then it’s going to add this cream-like texture. People are familiar with eggnog, which is essentially what we’re going for here, except cold instead of hot.”
So what is the signature drink for Carville this season? Definitely something to match her decor.
“I’ve seen a winter white martini with a cranberry in them,” she said. “I do a lot of white, and I use silver and gold and I usually do a little bit of red in there.”
