Pitcher Drink

Think of this cocktail recipe as a more boozy, more delicious, and just as pretty Aperol spritz.

Combining favorite fall fruits and spices with sparkling cider, rum, and wine gives sangria a refreshing new spin.

Rose water is the little something that makes this cocktail recipe special.

Make your own fizzy refresher using grapefruit peel for tons of floral flavor and grapefruit juice for just a hint of sweetness.

Spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, this cozy drink is a festive jumpstart to the quickly-approaching holiday season.

Slightly bruised or wrinkled stone fruit is ideal for making the infused syrup; peaches and nectarines work too.

Drink pink!

There are multiple stories around about who created the original bacon Bloody Mary. The battles about who was first or what drink is best have been contentious and slightly sordid. This version is a total bacon bust that includes bacon vodka, Bacon Salt™, and a bacon twist garnish. IT is so flavorful, you theoretically don't even need to add the booze—but in all honesty, the booze-less variety has yet to be tested. J&D's Bacon Salt is available online or at specialty food stores. If necessary, bacon flavored vodka, such as Bakon™ can be special ordered at your local liquor store.

Rompope is served chilled, often over ice, but it can be served warm, which is how I prefer it when cold weather sets in. Either way, it's rich, velvety, fragrant, and certainly full of cheer.

Ginger and green tea have each been credited with multiple health benefits. Here they come together deliciously in a refreshing summer drink.

On a really hot day, freeze fruit for an hour or two prior to serving—it acts like sweet ice cubes.

Moroccans love fresh juices, and the combinations they make are eclectic and highly seasonal. This is one of my favorites. Although it is commonly prepared as a juice, it can also be a drinkable dessert, especially on warm summer days. I once had it as a "salad" served with a spoon in late fall in the eastern High Atlas. Oranges hadn't yet ripened, and instead the cook used small clementines from down the valley. Served before a communal platter of Berber Barley Couscous with Vegetables, the drink seemed closer to a light, sophisticated, vibrant green gazpacho than a rustic salad.

A simple chunk of ice, such as one frozen in a loaf pan or bowl will suffice, but for a special, decorative touch, consider freezing orange wheels inside the ice.

Looking for an excuse to chase away the late-January blahs? Celebrate Burns Night on January 25. This drink—perfect for Scotch lovers—is named for the famed Scottish poet Robert Burns, who wrote "Auld Lang Syne." Since this drink is essentially all spirits (with no juice or mixers), traditionally it would be stirred rather than shaken. The method here, for making a bottled version, deviates from that rule, but it's effective for serving large group. It's also rather strong!

The recipe for this tiki party crowd-pleaser (and I do mean a crowd!) is courtesy of Martin Cate, owner of Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco. This can be served in several bowls placed throughout a party area or one enormous vessel.

A blend of rums, exotic juices, liqueurs, aromatic spices, absinthe, and trepidation. One from the Soulshakers' greatest hits collection, this drink has been honed to a lethal edge over the past eight years at Gaz's Rocking Blues at London's Notting Hill Carnival and the Glastonbury Festival in southwest England.

Bartender's Notes: As you read through this recipe, you'll notice that it mirrors pretty classic margarita proportions … with the addition of orange bitters. Bitters work their magic here, as they do in many drinks, by adding depth, complexity and balance to otherwise pretty simple ingredients. And when you're mixing a drink with mezcal, that depth, complexity and balance are the hardest parts to achieve.

Sugary mixes turn classic margs into calorie bombs. Limeade gives this boozy bev some sweetness without the sugar overload.

This recipe is a peek inside the magic hat of cookbook author and New York City caterer Serena Bass. There’s nary a tea leaf in sight of this spicy and refreshing “tea”—rather, it’s made from a fragrant combination of apples and cardamom spice. Be sure to use high-quality juice, not from concentrate, such as Adam and Eve apple juice or cloudy, fresh-pressed apple juice.

St. John Frizell of Fort Defiance in Red Hook, Brooklyn, created this recipe for a Fourth of July drinks feature—this is the red option in a special red, white, and blue Sangria series. Dubonnet takes center stage in Frizell's Sangria but is a supporting player in many classic cocktail recipes, including the gin-based Dubonnet cocktail (also known as the Zaza). It's an aperitif wine that Frizell says is similar to vermouth and has been popular in French cafés since the 19th century.

St. John Frizell of Fort Defiance in Red Hook, Brooklyn, created this recipe for a Fourth of July drinks feature—this is the white option in a special red, white, and blue Sangria series. For this Caribbean-inspired pitcher drink, Frizell recommends using good white rum or, even better, a mix of white rum and aged rum. "A funky aged Jamaican rum, like Smith & Cross, will add a profound depth of flavor to the mix," he notes. For the wine, Frizell says to use a young unoaked white, such as a Sauvignon Blanc or a dry Riesling.

St. John Frizell of Fort Defiance in Red Hook, Brooklyn, created this recipe for a Fourth of July drinks feature—this is the blue option in a special red, white, and blue Sangria series. The drink gets its oceanlike hue from just 1 ounce of blue curaçao, but if color isn't important to you, feel free to use regular (clear) curaçao instead. Frizell warns against using cheap vermouth: "An excellent dry vermouth, like Dolin, is necessary for this recipe." The drizzle of Maraschino liqueur, Frizell explains, "adds a nutty, bittersweet note."