Thanksgiving cocktails

Thanksgiving Cocktails With a South Asian Twist

Simple recipes for drinks that provide a desi flavor to the holiday

CAMILLE BERRY

With Thanksgiving around the corner, you’ll have enough on your plate creating a menu, sending out invitations, and decorating your home with festive flair. Simplify your holiday dinner with these easy crowd-friendly Thanksgiving cocktails. Naturally, we’ve added a few South Asian twists to keep things interesting (and delicious). While these tasty tipples are all boozy, if alcohol is off the menu for your Thanksgiving bash, any of these delicious cocktails can easily be made into nonalcoholic versions.

POMEGRANATE LYCHEE MIMOSA

Kick-off the evening with a bit of fizz, namely a lychee mimosa. This light, refreshing beverage makes a delightful aperitif you can greet your guests with as they enter your door. While lychees are a summer fruit, this recipe calls for canned lychees – you’ll need some of the lychee syrup to mix into the cocktail. Rosewater adds a floral note while pomegranate liqueur brings some tartness. Use a sparkling wine like Cava, French cremant, or a brut Prosecco to make your mimosas. Good Champagne (and other high-quality bubblies) should never be used to make mixed drinks. Either regular or rosé will do here, but we will note that using rosé will make this drink particularly stunning. Don’t drink alcohol? Sparkling fruit juice and regular pomegranate take this mimosa from cocktail to mocktail.

INGREDIENTS

• Sparkling wine, 1 bottle • Lychees, 2 cans, syrup strained and reserved • Rosewater • Pomegranate liqueur • Pomegranate seeds, for garnish

METHOD

Pour 1 barspoon each of lychee syrup, rosewater, and pomegranate liqueur into a champagne flute. Mix gently, then top with sparkling wine. Garnish with lychees and pomegranate seeds, and serve.

TAMARIND PUNCH

Nothing comes close to the sweet-tart flavor of tamarind. That unique flavor just so happens to make it a stellar ingredient for cocktails. Here, tamarind stars as the main flavor in this wonderful rum punch. A little spice rounds out the sweet-sour flavor, and it’s the perfect excuse to break out your punch bowl.

INGREDIENTS

• Hot water, 8 ounces • Tamarind pulp, 8 ounces • Cinnamon sticks, 2 • Star anise, 5 to 6 • Whole allspice, 1 tsp • Simple syrup, ½ cup • Lime, juiced • Spiced rum, 1 cup • Lime wheels, for garnish

METHOD

Place water, tamarind, and spices in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, break up the pulp, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the mixture from the heat, and leave it to cool for 3 hours or even overnight. Thereafter, strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve. Pour the tamarind mixture, simple syrup, lime juice, and rum into a punch bowl. Stir, then serve into punch glasses filled with ice. Garnish with lime, if desired.

SPIKED MASALA APPLE CIDER

When the weather dips, spiked apple cider is always a winner. This warming drink is the perfect sipper for seasonal activities that’ll take you from pumpkin carving through to building snowmen, and it’s brilliant for washing down everything from turkey to slices of pecan pie. Ginger adds a kick of heat, while desi-pantry staples like star anise, cinnamon, and cardamom bring warmth and flavor to every sip. This recipe calls for Calvados, a French apple brandy, but you can just as easily swap it for rum, bourbon, or whiskey or leave the alcohol out.

INGREDIENTS

• Apple juice, 1 gallon • Cloves, 10 to 12 • Star anise, 6 • Green cardamom pods, 6 to 8 • Ginger, 2-inch piece, peeled and sliced • Whole black peppercorns, 5 to 7 • Orange, sliced • Cinnamon sticks, 2 • Lemon, sliced • Calvados, 1 1/2 to 2 cups

METHOD

Add all of the ingredients except the Calvados into a large stockpot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, and cover with a lid. Allow the cider to simmer for 2 to 3 hours, then pour in the Calvados. Once the mixture starts simmering again, remove from heat, strain out the solids, and serve.