This year we are going skiing during Easter weekend so Easter cocktails will be mandatory! What could be better than a fun bloody mary just before hitting the slops? The hill we go to has an amazing tradition of costumes while skiing, so I can’t wait to see who comes down the hill as the Easter Bunny!

A regular Bloody Mary is great but I love a good pun so a Bunny Mary seemed hilarious to me. The kids all rolled their eyes. When it’s made with carrot juice - it becomes the perfect Easter cocktail!

Bunny Mary

makes 2

8 ounces carrot juice

4 ounces vodka

2 tablespoons Bloody Mary seasoning

2 tablespoons Bloody Mary mix

garnishes like carrots, bacon, pickled asparagus, pickled beans, celery, and lime wedges

In a small pitcher, stir together the juice, vodka and seasoning until well combined. Sometimes the seasoning sinks to the bottom, so stir to totally integrate! Run a lime wedge around the edge of two glasses and dip them into the Bloody Mary mix. Pour the vodka mixture into the glasses filled with ice. Add your favorite garnish!

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How about a traditional Bloody Mary?

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What about one made with tomatillo?

I cannot believe I didn’t think of this before. It’s so simple. And so delicious! It tastes just like a boat drink, but without the booze. My kids love this one - and depending on your kids - you can you spicy ginger beer or the version that’s a little more sugary. I choose the spicy one because we like the zip of it all!

This would make an amazing pitcher cocktail too! Fill all of the ingredients in a pitcher, pop it on the counter (do not add ice) and let guests pour their own. I highly recommend this for Easter.

Pineapple Ginger Mocktail

serves 4

4 ounces pineapple juice

8 ounces ginger beer

lime wedge garnish

fresh ginger root

Divide the juice and ginger beer across four glasses filled with ice. Top with a garnish of fresh ginger and a squeeze of lime!

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A few nights a week we decide we aren’t drinking. Not for any big reason, just because we don’t need to/want to/feel like it. But sometimes, it’s nice to have something a little more special than bubbly water. This is that.

I’ve also found it’s kind of nice to go through the process of “mixing a drink,” with the muddling, and the shaking and the straining, this is that.

The flavors are perfect for right now, it’s light and refreshing. The coconut water adds a depth that is so delish. If you don’t have it, you can always muddle the cucumber and mint and just top it with bubbly water - it’s also good, but not AS good.

Coconut Cucumber Mocktail

makes two

12 slices of cucumber

3 sprigs of mint

1 lime

2 cups coconut water

mint, cucumber slices and lime wedges for garnish

STEP 1

Drop the cucumbers and mint into a cocktail shaker. With a muddler or the handle end of a table knife, muddle together the cucumber and mint until it’s completely smashed.

STEP 2

Pour in the coconut water and squeeze half a lime - add ice. Shake well.

STEP 3

Strain into glasses filled with fresh ice. Garnish with cucumbers, limes and a spring of mint.

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Thanks to our friend Taylor Swift, this classic cocktail made a return to the scene last year. Some of us are old enough to have had the cocktail the first time around when Sex and the City made it a hit. Some of us lamented the demise of it when we decided that Sex and the City was passè. Thank goodness it was made cool again.

And made cool in time for Valentine’s Day! It’s the perfect drink to shake up this holiday. Especially if you can garnish it with a heart shaped strawberry. I mean, can you even?

Classic Cosmopolitan

makes 2

4 ounces vodka

2 ounces cranberry juice

1/2 ounce cointreau

juice of 1/2 lime

STEP 1

In a cocktail shaker, combine vodka, juice, cointreau and lime. Add ice and shake well.

STEP 2

Strain into a coupe and serve immediately.

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Does anything scream “New Orleans” more than a hurricane cocktail? They are a classic - invented in the 1940’s. There are several stories. My favorite is that the cocktail began at a speakeasy in New Orleans. The year was 1941. The code to get into the speakeasy was “Storm’s a brewin’” - which clearly led to the thematically appropriately named drink. Whether the glass that’s shaped like a hurricane lamp actually inspired the name of the drink OR was chosen to compliment the name, I prefer to think that someone with impeccable thematic skills made it all happen.

Mr Hedin and I had a classic hurricane at Pat O’Brien’s when we were in New Orleans last year. It was good. It wasn’t “the best thing ever” but it was good. Part of what turns me off is when a cocktail is preprepared and poured out of a jug. Not a fan. I like a drink made to order. I always think it tastes better.

I started researching how to make this drink. There are literally one zillion recipes. Every one of them had a different combination of ingredients, totally different rums, and none could agree on lemon vs. lime.

So I started mixing. And it was hard work. I landed on a recipe that feels like what we had at Pat O’Brien’s but made with real ingredients at home. I also simplified the rum situation. My favorite tiki bar, Smuggler’s Cove, did all the work on finding the perfect rum options for this cocktail - you can use one! Hooray! It’s annoying to have a pantry full of booze that only works for one recipe.

Classic Hurricane Cocktail

makes two drinks

2 ounces passion fruit syrup (see below)

4 ounces black blended rum (I use Blackwell Black Gold)

the juice of one lime

STEP 1

In a sauce pan, pour one cup passion fruit juice and reduce to 1/4 cup. Simmer it on low and just let it cook down. Remove from heat and let cool.

STEP 2

Pour the passion fruit syrup, rum and lime juice over ice in a cocktail shaker and shake it up well.

STEP 3

Pour all contents into a cocktail glass and garnish with a wedge of lime and a cherry! Sip slow.

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The original champagne cocktail is mentioned in Casablanca, in Mark Twain’s Innocents Abroad, and has been turned into one million variations. This is the classic one. The OG.

It’s pretty simple - and it works - like most classic cocktails. It’s a little sweet (sugar) a little bitter (bitters) a little warm (cognac) and deliciously bubbly. The lemon on top is the perfect topper.

I found that if you swirl the cognac with the sugar before you add the champagne, it’s a better drink immediately. But it is not as impressive when you serve it. If you don’t swirl, the sugar cube bubbles with the champagne and it looks so pretty. But it takes a few minutes to get to the delicious drink you’re craving. Either way, you should totally make these for New Year’s Eve.

The Original Champagne Cocktail

1 sugar cube

2 -3 dashes bitters

1/2 ounce cognac

Champagne

lemon

Drop a sugar cube in the bottom of a champagne flute. Drip the bitters onto the sugar cube and let it sit so it soaks up. Pour in the cognac and swirl a little (optional - it’s better for flavor, but not the looks). Then top with champagne, pouring slowly to not get too much foam.

Cut a lemon with a wedge knife or a vegetable peeler and squeeze it over the top so there’s just a hint of lemon oil. Serve immediately!

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Nothing says holiday like a champagne cocktail. It’s the perfect cocktail for breakfast, brunch or dinner! Which means I’m pouring them all the time. Literally, all the time.

This one is a perfect combination of holiday flavors with the cranberry and the orange. And if you’re just making two, then you can buy a split of champagne or prosecco and not have any waste. It’s not like I’ve ever reached a point when I “wasted” champagne, but still…

cran-orange Mimosa

1 ounce cranberry juice

1/2 ounce orange liquer

champagne

twist of orange for a garnish

Pour all ingredients into a champagne flute and garnish.

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This cocktail is the equivalent of an apple picking adventure at a pumpkin patch while riding on a hay ride. It’s all fall. There can’t possibly be flavors that more embody fall than fresh apple cider and bourbon.

This is a version of a Manhattan cocktail, only adding in fresh apple cider. Get it, the Big Apple?!? I know, corny. But so totally no the nose, you can’t help but love it. The bourbon, vermouth and bitters are the so good with the fresh cider.

Fresh cider is critical here. You can find it almost anywhere - even Tree Top juice makes a version of a fresh cider that’s worthy of this cocktail. Just please don’t use apple juice. Gross.

The Big Apple

2 ounces apple cider

1 ounce bourbon (or rye)

1/2 ounce red vermouth

a dash of bitters

STEP 1

Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker. Fill it with ice and shake!

STEP 2

Strain into a cocktail glass filled with ice and serve with a wedge of apple. Cin cin!

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There’s something about a spicy, smoky margarita that feels perfect for Halloween! These are something you can make in a pitcher too - so you can serve them at a party and not have to keep shaking. Just mix the ingredients and then let guests shake to order. Better yet, find a friend who likes to work the bar - it’s usually someone who wants to chat with everyone, but also needs to keep their hands busy. I know who I always choose - it’s a great friend to have!

Try a few mezcals before you settle on one. Everyone likes something a little different and mezcal is unique because it’s so smoky. Like when you pick a scotch, they all taste a little different. It’s handy to buy the tiny little bottles first to try out the varieties. Those big bottles seem even larger when you don’ like what’s inside!

Mezcal Margarita

serves 2

4 ounces mezcal

1/2 ounce jalapeno syrup

1 dash triple sec

juice of 1/2 a lime (2 ounces)

lime wedges

coarse sea salt

STEP 1

Rub the ridge of one glass with the lime and dip half of the rim in salt. If you dip the whole thing, you can end up with a mouth full of salt and no one needs bloated fingers tomorrow. Fill the glass with ice and set aside.

STEP 2

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, pour mezcal, jalapeño syrup,, triple sec and lime. Shake aggressively for a few seconds. Strain the cocktail into the salted glass. Squeeze a lime wedge over the top and serve.

ALTERNATIVLY

I often will not fill the glass with ice in the beginning, but pour the ice the cocktail was shaken with into my glass. There’s a little melt that happens when you shake and I like to capture all of the flavors. But it’s not traditional, so you do you.

to make the jalapeño syrup

Combine together in a saucepan, 1 cup water, 1/2 cup sugar and 1 jalapeño, sliced but not seeded. Simmer until the sugar has melted and the liquid has reduced. Let cool before using.

If there was a better name for a Halloween cocktail than this, I can’t think of it. I have friends who adore this drink. They are constantly ordering it at the bars and I haven’t really seen the allure.

Then I made my own. Here’s what I discovered - the amount of lemon juice traditionally called for (1 ounce) is too much. It curdles your stomach. I made this with both fresh lemon juice and the stuff in the carton. Both ways, it needed less than the original recipes called for. With fresh lemon juice 1/2 ounce is plenty, with the juice in the carton, I recommend a little less than 1/2 an ounce.

The absinthe rinse seems optional because it’s a rinse, but it’s totally not. The slight licorice flavor with the absinthe and the citrus from everything else is a perfect combination. You can’t beat it when it’s done right. I buy a tiny bottle of absinthe because I don’t really need more than a little bit for this drink. And I don’t need more than a little for the rest of the cocktails I make either.

You will not regret shaking one of these up for Halloween - or really any time! Cin cin!

Corpse Reviver no. 2

makes one cocktail

1 ounce lillet blanc

1 ounce cointreau

1/2 ounce lemon juice

1 ounce dry gin

1/4 ounce absinthe

STEP 1

Pour the absinthe into the cocktail glass and swirl it around. Then dump it out. Or dump it in the next glass if you’re making more.

STEP 2

Pour all of the remaining ingredients into a cocktail shaker and fill it with ice. Shake until chilled. It’s about 21 times.

STEP 3

Strain into a cocktail glass and serve cold.

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