Brighten up your guests’ holiday spirit with these cocktails | Entertainment / Living

The holidays are officially in full swing, which means mixing and mixing is on everyone’s to-do list. With hospitality duties in full swing, ready-made “drinks at home” are one of this year’s newest holiday trends.

“I think you’ll see a lot of signature cocktails, and some might even have it as part of their home decor, like a Christmas cocktail bar,” says Baton Rouge designer Christina Carville.

Carville says some people are setting up a DIY bar with all the fixtures.

Whether shaken or stirred, flavor is the name of the game, says Brian Landry, general manager of Hayride Scandal, a craft cocktail bar in Baton Rouge. This time of year, drinks are full of fall and winter flavors that include “warm spices,” he said.

“So you’d have cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg—those are dry, really earthy, warm flavors, also known as spices,” Landry said.

Other “on-the-shelf” spices, including fresh citrus and fruit such as orange zest, red apple or fig peel, will also be showing up in home bars this holiday season, Landry said.

Landry recommends using spices as a garnish “so they hit your nose,” like sprinkling nutmeg on top to “increase the aroma.”

The cinnamon and cloves can be infused into spirits or turned into a simple syrup, which is equal parts sugar and water simmered on the stove, he said. Orange peels and their oil make great garnishes, and figs can also be used in soups, he said. But if you’re looking for something simple, there are plenty to choose from on store shelves. He suggests trying a store that specializes in liquor.

“There’s a lot of quality stuff out there, too,” Landry said. “Something like pimento (also known as pimento) is a really quick and easy way to get those flavors you’re looking for. It’s a rum liqueur flavored with allspice, allspice The fruit is called allspice because it comes from the allspice tree.”

Want a non-alcoholic festive drink? do not worry! According to Landry, when it comes to spirits without spirits, there are plenty of options.

“There is a very wide range of bottled spirits available that are designed for cocktails and cocktail applications, right and wrong proof, zero proof,” he said. “So, there’s gin, whiskey, tequila, and even some crazy stuff like amaros and aperitifs, vermouth, and it’s all non-alcoholic.”

There are also juice options such as apple cider, cider and orange, as well as hot tea consisting of hot water, lemon, honey and tea, which work well in a bar setting. Substitute the spirits for the tea and you have yourself a mulled toddy.

“Winter is a great time to add eggs to cocktails … when you make a whiskey sour, which is traditional, you add egg whites to it and it gives it a light and airy frothy texture,” he said . “If we use a whole egg in a drink like flip, which is just some spirits, sugar, and a whole egg, all shaken up, then it adds this creamy texture. People are familiar with eggnog , which is basically what we want here, just cold instead of hot.”

So what’s Carville’s signature drink this season? Definitely fits her decor.

“I’ve seen a winter white martini with cranberries in it,” she says. “I do a lot of white, I use silver and gold, and I usually do a little bit of red in there.”