Three Quick, 3-Ingredient Cocktails for the Holidays, Courtesy of Total Wine
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The holidays are known for being a few things at once: hectic, joyous, and filled with booze. The “Drink” in “Eat, Drink, and Be Merry” isn’t referring to Diet Coke, despite its outlandish presence in holiday decor, it’s a more intoxicating libation. Drinking and holiday gatherings go hand-in-hand, but that doesn’t mean you need to open a full-service bar whenever you host. Holiday cocktails don’t need to be elaborate to be tasty. In fact, according to the liquor experts at Total Wine, they only need to include a few key ingredients to get the job done.
Total Wine is a one-stop shop for holiday drink prep. They’ve got plenty of ingredients for cocktails with every major spirit and type of wine, as well as recipes for fast, delicious drinks that can be thrown together minutes before the guests arrive.
The library of simple cocktail recipes is extensive, so today we’re going to focus on three crowd-pleasers: the Espresso Martini, a holiday Spritz, and a holiday Margarita. Any single or combination of these three will satisfy a crowd, and pair excellently with bottles of wine at dinner.
Shop Ingredients for Easy Holiday Cocktails at Total Wine
Espresso Martini
This drink is not just the $25 fodder for zillennials celebrating in the East Village, it’s a delicious drink that normalizes consuming coffee well after the workday is done. The ingredients are a shaken combination of vodka, coffee liqueur, and Irish cream.
Combine the following into a cocktail shaker with ice, and shake:
2 Parts Veil Double Espresso Vodka
3 Parts Cafe Granita Coffee Liqueur
1 Part Kavanagh Irish Cream
Fine strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with three coffee beans (optional, but encouraged).
Cafe Granita Coffee Liqueur
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Cafe Granita is made from lightly roasted Mexican coffee beans fermented with sugar for a semi-sweet flavor.
Italian Spritz
A Spritz is a drink made for (and by) the Italian coastline. During the summer, the motivation to mix more than a few ingredients together before strolling to the beach is low, and this drink reflects the beauty in simple flavors. The bitter licorice in the Aperix is curbed by Prosecco’s comforting bubbles, and a splash of club soda waters down and melds both flavors. It’s a refreshing companion for holiday party small talk, and is easy to make in large batches.
Fill a large wine glass with ice and add the following ingredients:
Stir gently, letting the ice melt slightly, and then top off with club soda and garnish with an orange slice. Total Wine is always having sales on best-selling liquors, including Aperol.
Aperix Apperitivo
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This aperitif is produced by a small, family-owned brand in Tuscany and has a light, bitter-sweet, and citrusy, with a mix of herbs and spices like rhubarb and gentian that pair excellently with bubbles.
Sparkling Cranberry Margarita
Add a dash of cranberry and anything tastes more like the holidays, including the margarita. This drink doesn’t mess with the standard recipe for success, including tequila, some type of orange liqueur and lime juice. But it adds tart cranberries and a little prosecco for bubbles that build on the margarita’s tangy, sour, and citrusy flavor profile. Plus, you can order most of the ingredients directly from Total Wine and get them shipped right to you.
Salt the rim of your glass, and combine the following into a cocktail shaker:
2 ½ ounces of Don Roberto Plata Tequila (or any favorite white tequila)
1 ounce of Grand Garonne Liqueur
½ ounce cranberry juice
½ ounce lime juice
Shake well with ice, strain into a glass and top with Prosecco and a slice of lime.
Grand Garonne Liqueur
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This cognac-based orange liqueur is rich, and full-bodied and infuses the bare-bones mix of tequila and lime with something richer and fruity with a hint of sweet chocolate.
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