Entertainment

How to drink like a rockstar on Thanksgiving (and after)

Christopher Bedford Former Editor in Chief, The Daily Caller News Foundation
Font Size:

Look, Thanksgiving is just not that great. It seriously isn’t. It’s an entire feast built around the diet available to Indians and starving white people. But that doesn’t mean there ain’t reason to celebrate: We’re with family and old friends; some of us have the day off from work; and even if folks don’t have the day off (and we don’t), the boss does, so it’s drinking time. And here are three delicious ways to do just that.

But don’t worry if your inlaws are Evangelicals or recovering alcoholics Catholics, because these cocktails are good all season and will be a hit at any Christmas or New Years party.

UP HIGH: Satan’s Whiskers

No matter the party, when one of our bratty little relations runs up and yells, “What are you drinking?” in front of grandma, our favorite response is “Satan’s whiskers, kid, now beat it.” And if we mix this delicious fall cocktail, we don’t even have to make that up.

The key to a good Satan’s Whiskers is in the juice. Orange juice is cool and all, but really undeserving of the bad-ass name. The trick is blood orange juice. And while it can be bought in the carton, don’t do that — squeeze the blood oranges yourself. Or once, when we had a chef who told us to figure it out without fresh oranges, we melted frozen blood orange pulp and it tasted great.

And while using orange curacao makes the drink a Curled Satan’s Whiskers — which sounds tempting — don’t let the devil play a trick. Because a second important bit is using Grand Mariner, which has a brandy base and is, simply, a liqueur superior to most. This is called a Straight Satan’s Whiskers, and if any gender studies majors object to the name, you’re mixing drinks at the wrong party.

Finally, two more things before we give away the secret: 1) Don’t skimp on the bitters — Angostura Bitters are not a substitute for orange bitters; and 2) Don’t let anyone say they don’t like gin so they won’t like this. They will like this.

Combine together in a cocktail shaker:

1/2 oz. gin (we like D.C.’s own Green Hat)

1/2 oz. sweet vermouth (our favorite is Vya)

1/2 oz. dry vermouth

1/2 oz. blood orange juice

1 dash of orange bitters (we like Fee Brothers)

Add ice and stir until cold, then strain into a martini glass and serve with a twist of blood orange peal.

ON THE ROCKS: The Boulevardier

If you’re a man of style, substance and courage, you probably make a lot of old fashioneds — and drink them, too. Likely a few Manhattans as well. And we’re not here to tell anyone to drop those staples of a good diet; nor are we here to preach the gospel of diversity. But when it comes to whiskey, the more choices in a gentleman’s cocktail portfolio, the more gentlemanly he is. Enter: The Boulevardier.

Don’t be fooled by the name. This incredible cocktail is as American as Prohibition, which is why it was born a refugee in Paris.

When the Ku Klux Klan, progressives, Sufragettes and Communists joined forces and brought Prohibition crashing down on the country, Harry McElhone, the New York Plaza Hotel’s larger-than-life bartender, was just one American who didn’t care to stick around for the fuzz to bust up the fun. He journeyed to Europe, ending up in Paris where his Harry’s New York Bar became a hub of ex-pats and new creations. One of those was the Boulevardier — a spicy whiskey cocktail that used ingredients then unknown to the poor folks in New York.

One of the coolest parts about the Boulevardier is its versatility. Want it stronger? (We do.) Add more whiskey. More bitter? Add more Campari. Sweeter? (Ew.) Pump up the vermouth. While ol’ Harry like to mix this cocktail with equal parts, the modern go-to is as follows:

Combine together in a cocktail shaker:

 2 oz. spicy bourbon or rye (we like to go with Buffalo Trace or Jim Beam Rye)

1 oz. Campari

1 oz. sweet vermouth

Stir over ice, and strain into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with a twist of lemon.

IN A BOWL: Apple Pie Punch

While the above cocktails are true masterpieces, there’s something to be said for enjoying ones own party. And while there’s no place we’d rather be than mixing a new cocktail for a pretty girl, there are a lot of places we’d rather be than sweating at the end point of a 20-person line of thirsty revelers. But that’s not to say that we don’t want to be with those very same revelers — we’d just like to have the work done. And nothing says work-done and drunken-revelry faster than punch. A big, boozy bowl of punch.

We tweaked this recipe for Apple Pie Punch in time for our Christmas party last year, and if the amount of broken glass and budding romances were any indication, it was a hit. And boy does it go down well: The Daily Caller’s own Taylor Bigler thought it was so smooth, we caught her sneaking a little extra hooch into each glass.

Oh, and cut as many apples as ya feel, add them right before the party starts, and float them skin up (so they don’t visibly brown). That stuff is just for decoration.

Ideally made for large groups, plan to have a big bowl. And if one plans ahead, they can even get a fountain to put in the middle of the bowl. Multiply the recipe, of course, depending on how cool your friends are.

Combine together in a bowl:

2 cups of apple cider

4 oz. Captains Morgan spiced rum

2 oz. Fireball spiced whiskey

Slices of red apple to decorate.

Now get to it.

Follow Bedford on Twitter and Facebook

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel