4 Holiday Drinks For The Gentleman

A nice cold holiday is about as good of a time as any to break out the liquors and mix yourself up something other than the regular whisky neat. Are those liqueurs and bitters a little out of your comfort zone? We're here to help.  

Here are 4 drinks you can whip up around the family so it looks like you know exactly what you're doing! 

1. Irish Coffee

We aren’t talking about your tacky coffee and Bailey’s, here. Do it right, do it nice - like the Irish first intended - with real whiskey, cream, and coffee. Here’s what you’ll need:

1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 jigger Irish whiskey (1 1/2 ounces or 3 tablespoons)
Heavy cream, slightly whipped

Pour your piping hot coffee into a mug, mix in the brown sugar and stir until it's dissolved, add your whiskey, and top it with fresh cream poured over a spoon.That's an Irish Coffee.

2. Belgian Winter Fizz

While the Coffee is a bit heavier for those cold mornings, the Belgian Fizz provides a perfect light taste for those early sundowns. Here's what you need:

2 oz. Tanqueray gin
1 tsp. Maraschino liqueur
1 heaping tsp. orange marmalade
.25. oz. fresh lemon juice
1 small egg white
3 oz. Belgian golden ale
Cinnamon stick

Shake all of your ingredients together - except for the beer and cinnamon - rigorously without ice. Once done, add the ice and shake again for another 10 seconds before pouring into a glass. Add your Belgian Ale, swirl it around, and top the cocktail with with beer (foam included). Grate your fresh cinnamon on top, and voila - you've got one bad ass cocktail to finish.

3. The Rob Roy

Named after the famous Scott hero himself, this drink gives you plenty of much needed warmth with the addition of scotch in your traditional Manhattan. Here's what you need:

2 ounces good-quality blended Scotch whisky
1 ounce sweet vermouth
Dash of angostura bitters
Maraschino cherry

This one's pretty simple - add your Scotch, vermouth, and bitters into a mixing glass with ice. Stir it, strain it into a chilled glass, then top it with a Maraschino. Warmth, class, and everything bad ass. Gotta wonder if the real Rob Roy ever thought he'd have a cocktail named after him, though.

4. Eggnog

Come on, you know we had to do it. It's the holidays, you've gotta have some eggnog… Just don't be that one relative who gets completely sloshed and tries to climb the Christmas Tree. Here's what you need for a large batch:

12 large egg yolks
2 cups sugar
4 cups cold milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups bourbon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Freshly grated nutmeg, for garnish

Get yourself a large bowl and start whisking the yolks and sugar together until it's frothed up. Now whisk in the milk, cream, vanilla extract, and bourbon. Boom. Just garnish each glass with some grated nutmeg, and everyone’ll down them in bliss. Just be ready for the finger pointing when they wake up the next morning with a hangover.

The holidays only happen once a year. So, drink heartily, have a riot, and enjoy your time with the family. Just uh… be safe and all that.