December is a season of contrasts. The weather calls for a sinfully decadent cup of hot chocolate by a roaring fire and yet, you cannot help but be enticed by a glass of red wine, or even better, a cocktail over ice that tastes like Christmas cake. As you host cosy gatherings, we ask four mixologists about a beverage that brings memories of this merry season. So, take notes on prepping up your bar for those party cocktails.
Jit Pandit, Grid 78, Hilton Hyderabad Genome Valley Resort & Spa, Hyderabad
“The cocktail that most evokes the holiday season is gingerbread Old Fashioned. It is a blend of molasses, warm spices and subtle ginger notes that creates an aroma and flavour which signals the comforts of December,” says Jit. The key to making holiday cocktails truly festive, he says, is always having these few essentials handy. “I always recommend warm spiced syrups, fresh citrus, ginger liqueur and a selection of aromatic garnishes. With just those ingredients, even simple drinks take on the unmistakable flavor and fragrance of the season,” he adds.
Jit’s cocktail creation for the season is Autumn Reverie, a Christmas-themed cocktail which blends nostalgic winter spices with modern craft techniques. The drink has a velvety richness of spiced pumpkin pie, layered with the aromatic comfort of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. A gentle lift of ginger wine adds festive brightness, while a smooth whisky base grounds the cocktail with depth and warmth. “The cocktail feels like the first breath of winter evenings and the soft glow of holiday lights; comforting, aromatic, and beautifully seasonal,” he adds.
Jit’s Autumn Reverie
Portion: 1
Total Volume: 135 ml (approx)
Glassware: Tossa Old-Fashioned Glass
Ingredients
• 60 ml Whisk
• 10 ml Ginger Wine
• 45 ml Spiced Pumpkin Pie Mix
• 10 ml Lime Juice
Method
1. Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker.
2. Shake well with ice for 10–15 seconds.
3. Fine strain into a Tossa old-fashioned glass.
4. Finish with freshly grated nutmeg on top.
Fay Barretto, Scarlett House, Mumbai
Fay says a rum cake Manhattan, always takes him back to memories of his grandmother. “My grandmother Louie, always throwing a party for the village, and inviting everyone to collect fruit in rum for a year. And then make the cake after a year,” he says. Nostalgia, from the Scarlett House menu is a drink Fay says, that reminds him of everything festive and December.
He says that around this time of the year, people are always looking for drinks that bring out Christmas cheer. “Ingredients such as berries, chocolates, spices, raisins, ginger, Christmas sweets like kal kals and marzipans are great to play around with,” Fay says. He recommends having on hand, figs, chocolate, Baileys and port spices as well, to mix up drinks this season.
Fay’s recipe for a holiday cocktail, a fig and walnut Old Fashioned involves mixing up some walnut butter, whiskey, spiced fig syrup and aromatic bitters, and topping up the drink with a poached fig chip.
Anisha Biswas, Head Bartender, NĀVU, Bengaluru
“A festive drink that reminds me of Christmas is eggnog, a rich, creamy cocktail made with eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla, and often mixed with brandy, rum, or bourbon,” says Anisha. For the season, Anisha has a detailed list of ingredients she thinks people should have on hand for drinks at their holiday parties to make it more festive. “Sparkling wine or prosecco, for holiday spritzes, mimosas, or anything toast-ready,spiced rums like Kraken, Five Rivers Indian Spiced Rum, or Bacardi Spiced Rum, Irish cream (Baileys) and Port or sherry, for rich and warming for holiday-style desserts and cocktails,” she says, for the alcohol.
Other ingredients to elevate any holiday drink or make a cosy holiday beverage, Anisha says, include fresh citrus such as oranges, lemons, limes, fresh herbs such as rosemary, mint and basil, marshmallows and whipped cream for fun add-ons, and cinnamon sticks and nutmeg for festive garnishes and finishing touches.
A favourite holiday drink, Anisha shares her recipe for eggnog, which has everything cosy and wholesome going for it, this festive season.
Anisha’s eggnog recipe:
Prep time: 5 minutes.
Cooking time: 10-15 minutes.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
• 3 cups (710 ml) whole milk
• 6 egg yolks
• 1 cup (220 g) granulated sugar
• 1/2 vanilla bean or 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp (3 g) cinnamon
• Heaping 1/4 tsp (1 g) ground cloves
• 1 Tbsp + 2 tsp (7 g) ginger powder
• 1.5 tsp (4 g) ground nutmeg (freshly ground is ideal)
Method
1. Bring the milk to a simmer and keep your egg yolks and sugar ready in a separate bowl. Using an electric mixer, whip them until light in colour.
2. Slowly temper the warm milk into the egg yolk mixture, adding a little at a time until fully combined.
3. Add the vanilla bean.
4. Cook on low heat, stirring consistently with a spatula for 10-15 minutes to prevent curdling. Do not let it boil.
5. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a metal bowl.
6. Add the cinnamon, clove, ginger powder, and nutmeg.
7. Set the bowl over an ice bath and mix until the eggnog cools completely.
8. Store and serve as needed.
Manoj Padmanabhan, Pandan Club, Chennai and Cherrypond Garden Cafe and Bar, Puducherry
A self-professed ‘Chennai boy’, Manoj Padmanabhan says while he hates the snow and ‘depressing’ cold, it is hard not to be charmed by the holiday season in cities like New York, Chicago and Berlin. “Years ago, at a christmas market in Berlin, I was freezing, minding my own business, and quietly missing Chennai’s 24°C sweater weather. Someone suddenly handed me a cup of Glühwein, their hot spiced wine. A hot cocktail? My brain hit a pause,” he recalls. “That Glühwein though, a red wine warmed with cinnamon, orange peel and clove, just hits different. Warm drink in hand, cold air on your face… it weirdly works,” he says. Christmas since then, Manoj says, has been all about that memory of Glühwein in a Berlin Christmas market.
Holiday cocktails, Manoj says, do not need Michelin-level prep, only good intentions, good leftovers, and something stiff. “In December, every home has the same hero ingredient;half-finished bottles of red wine from the night before, and plum cake that everyone is constantly getting gifted. Use, respect, and upgrade these ingredients,” he says, of whipping up festive specials, with some fruit brandy or XO for that extra punch.
As an Old Fashioned and a Manhattan guy, Manoj says his holiday drink creation is a simple, straight, flavour-forward plum cake-inspired cocktail with a clean Manhattan structure. “This is easy to mix, clean, and festive,” he adds.
Manoj’s Plum cake inspired cocktail
Ingredients
• 45 ml Brandy / XO
• 10–15 ml Sweet vermouth
• 45 ml Red wine soaked with plum cake overnight
• A coffee filter
Method
1. Stir your ingredients over ice
2. Strain into a chilled martini glass using the coffee filter
3. Garnish with a tutti-frutti cherry on an olive pick.
(With inputs from Prabalika M Borah, Barry Rodgers, Anagha Maareesha, and S Poorvaja )