Thanksgiving Cocktails that Pair Well with Your Meal

By Natasha Lovato

Whether you are enjoying cranberry sauce or green bean casserole, we’ve come up with some Colorado-crafted cocktails that pair well with all of the Thanksgiving fixings. Plus, with the inevitable fired-up political rants and another year of losing the Turkey Day football pool, you’ll be grateful to have a tasty drink in your hand. Here are a few fall-centric, boozy recipes to try out during this season of thanks.

Velvet Vanilla Buzz

Created by 240 Union bar manager Joseph Koncel, The Velvet Vanilla Buzz is rightfully named for the notable and literal mouth buzz Tingala provides. This cocktail is certain to re-direct your family’s questions about your recent breakup when they take one sip and realize their mouth is tingling from the Amazonian flower-based liquor Tingala is made from. Add ingredients to an ice-filled cocktail glass, stir and garnish with a lemon twist.

2 oz vanilla vodka
½ oz Tingala Liqueur
½ oz Velvet Falernum
1 lemon twist garnish

Crisp Harvest

This beverage will give you the chance to show off your culinary skills to your family and friends, all while making them ooh and aah at the Pinterest-worthy creation before them. Add ingredients to a shaker, shake and serve over an ice-filled cocktail glass and garnish with cranberries and apples. To enhance the flavor, create a homemade shrub by adding ingredients* to a small pot over medium heat, stir until dissolved and let cool.

COCKTAIL

1-1/2 oz Breckenridge Pear Vodka
1 oz fig, pear and apple shrub
4 oz pear or apple juice
1 oz cranberry juice
Garnish with as many as desired, cranberries and apples

*FIG, PEAR & APPLE SHRUB (Prepare first)

3 oz fig jam
4 oz unfiltered apple cider
3 oz pear juice
2 oz of apple cider vinegar
6 oz brown sugar

Dark and Stormy

After a filling Thanksgiving dinner, and before you fall into a turkey coma, you’ll want to mix up a nice Dark and Stormy cocktail recommended by Cowboy Country Distilling. Fill a glass with ice, pour in the ingredients, stir and drink-up.

2 oz Cowboy Country Rum
3 oz Kure’s Ginger Beer
½ oz lime juice

High Plains Drifter

This cozy cocktail from Whistling Hare Distillery is the perfect accompaniment for curling up on the La-Z-Boy in your Snuggie and watching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. To make the chamomile simple syrup, steep three bags of chamomile tea and the fresh peel of half of an orange in 12 ounces of hot water for five minutes. Remove the tea bags and orange peel and then stir in 12 ounces of sugar. For your cherry simple syrup, Whistling Hare suggests simply draining the syrup from store-bought cocktail cherries and diluting it with a small amount of water. Add all of the ingredients in a shaker with ice, shake and strain into a martini glass and garnish.

1½ oz Blue Corn Bourbon
3/4 oz chamomile simple syrup
1/4 oz cherry simple syrup
1/2 oz lemon
2 shakes rhubarb bitters
1 pinch of chamomile flowers for garnish

Moonshine Orange Mule

Although they’ve garnered notoriety for their whiskies, Steamboat Whiskey Co. has numerous satiating cocktail concoctions they suggest as well. For example, The Moonshine Orange Mule will be just the kick you need to get through an evening with the in-laws. Add Steamboat Springs Territorial Moonshine, orange juice, cream and triple sec to a shaker. Shake vigorously, add ice to a copper mug, pour shaker contents over ice, add a dash of orange bitters and garnish the beverage with an orange slice.

1 oz Steamboat Springs Territorial Moonshine
½ oz orange juice
1 oz Triple Sec
½ oz cream
1 dash of orange bitters
1 orange slice for garnish