leaves of 1 fresh mint sprig

1 tbsp sugar syrup

6-8 crushed ice cubes

3 oz bourbon

fresh mint sprig, as garnish

Directions: Put the mint leaves and sugar syrup into a small, chilled glass and mash with a teaspoon, Add the crushed ice to fill the glass, then add the bourbon. Decorate with the mint sprig.

Made it this time with dehydrated mint, as there is currently snow on the ground and the mood struck me to have this after I was fairly committed to stay house-bound for the evening. It wasn’t nearly as good as with fresh mint, but was surprisingly passable. An excellent cocktail, one of the only positive cultural contributions of the seersucker-wearing class.

4-6 cracked ice cunes

1.5 oz brandy

1 tsp grenadine

0.5 tsp Pernod

0.5 fresh peach, peeled and mashed

sparkling wine, to top off

fresh peach wedge, to decorate

Directions: Pour brandy, grenadine, and Pernod over the ice in a shaker, add the peaches, and shake. Strain into a chilled wine goblet and top off with sparkling wine. Stir gently, then garnish with the peach wedge.

Solid cocktail to be sure, but I’m not sure that the juice is worth the squeeze with this one. Not to mention, a good peach is often hard to come by in Minnesota, and I’m reticent to use it in a form that doesn’t let it completely shine.

1 packet hot cocoa mix

8 oz. hot water

1 oz. good-quality bourbon

Directions: Combine in a cup, stir well, enjoy.

Enjoyed!

1.25 oz. Fino Sherry

1.25 oz. Cynar

0.75 oz. Gin

Orange Twist

Directions: Combine all the ingredients except the orange twist in a glass with ice. Stir until chilled, about 30 seconds. Express orange twist over the drink and drop into the glass.

Very spirit-forward (obviously), and you have to really like cynar to enjoy it (I do).

1.75 oz. Brandy

0.5 oz. Creme de Cacao

0.5 oz. Cream

Grated nutmeg, to garnish

Directions: Pour all the ingredients into a shaker with some ice. Shake, then strain into a frosted martini glass. Garnish with a sprinkling of grated nutmeg.

Might be a bit brandy-heavy with these ratios for my liking. Part of my enjoyment of these kinds of cocktails (in most cases) comes from not actually feeling the burn of alcohol in it. Otherwise a nice beverage still.

1.5 cups Kahlua

4 cups milk

Directions: Pour the Kahlua and milk into a pitcher, add some ice cubes and mix well. Alternatively, pour the Kahlua into individual glasses, then top up with milk and ice.

I scaled this down to an individual cocktail with the same ratio. Not much to say, tastes great if you’re into the White Russian glass of beverage.

0.75 oz. Kahlua

0.5 oz. Bailey’s

0.5 oz. Grand Marnier

Directions: Layer the ingredients on top of one another by pouring over a barspoon into a shot glass.

Nasty-ass gimmick shot. Glad these kinds of drinks have mostly fallen out of fashion.

1 tbsp. Elderflower Cordial (subbed with St. Germain)

Juice of 0.5 lemon

0.25 oz. vanilla extract

Sparkling water

Simple syrup

Lemon slice

Ingredients: Add a few ice cubes to a highball glass. Pour the St. Germain onto the ice along with the lemon juice and vanilla. Fill glass with sparkling water and stir well. Add simple syrup to taste and stir again. Garnish with lemon slice.

Delightful! Refreshing! We had some St. Germain and wanted to use it for a drink, so we repurposed this recipe to replace the elderflower cordial with a punchier version. St. Germain is such a great flavor and it’s not overpowering here. I would definitely make the mocktail version of this if I ever were to come across elderflower cordial in my life.

This bad boy is actually a mocktail book, though it includes recommendations for how to incorporate booze into most of the recipes. I’ll note where I go with the zero-proof options and where I include alcohol. We bought this when we were in a particularly ambitious mood regarding our garden, but it’s still a great resource.

Elderflower Collins

0.5 oz. French dry vermouth

0.5 oz. Italian sweet vermouth

0.25 oz. Creme de Violette

Directions: shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Very violet-forward drink. My first cocktail with Creme de Violette, and I think it will take a few more for me to decide how much that flavor is for me.