Your holiday dinner is the inspiration for your next cocktail

This all started with Lexie Lou’s Pot Liquor Martini where you take the pot liquor or the juice from your collard greens and use it to make the most delectable dirty martini ever. Since a big pot of greens tend to be one of those dishes made on special occasions in my household, and a staple at holiday meals, it got me thinking, what else on the table was a cocktail waiting to happen? 

Enter cranberry sauce. Do you like yours made from fresh cranberries, all nice and chunky? Prefer it to be shaped like a can with helpful slicing rings? Doesn’t matter - not only does cranberry sauce make a festive version of the Cosmopolitan you can also use it in New Dawn’s Ruby Revelry. You can also shake up the Revelry with some Grand Marnier and a muddle of rosemary for some extra spiced holiday vibes. 

Leftover pomegranate arils from a citrus salad my family enjoys find their way into French 95s for a bit of holiday cheer and of course the Holiday Mule. Speaking of citrus and perhaps that errant egg white you don’t know what to do with - may I suggest the Satsuma Bourbon Fizz? Subbing in of course whatever citrus you have on hand to make sure nothing from your holiday gatherings goes to waste.

The piece de resistance this year will be the Sweet Potato Pie Martini. In the most epic “reduce, reuse, recycle,” I’m adding a tablespoon of sweet potato casserole to a shaker with New Dawn and chai spiced syrup for a drink that transforms into my favorite dessert in seconds. No sweet potato casserole because someone ate the last bite? (Looking at you Dionne.) No worries, you can recreate this dessert drink year round by whipping up a batch of sweet potato butter (think pumpkin butter but easier and more delicious because sweet potatoes are drier and more concentrated in their flavor). Check out this Friday’s Cocktail Post on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube for the full recipe. 

I’m having so much fun turning my holiday meal into holiday cocktails; I’m even playing around with savory beverages for the New Year. Bourbon washed with porcini mushrooms anyone? Hasn’t quite yet come together for an unforgettable pour but I won’t lie the umami back note from the mushrooms is definitely intriguing. 

Hit us up on our socials and let us know how you’re transforming your holiday dinner into cocktails that are sure to enter family lore.

In the meantime, Happy Holidays from the New Dawn Distilling family!