Christmas Gifts for Cocktail Lovers Who Have the Bottles
A cocktail lover already owns the whiskey, gin and rum they like, and choosing a bottle for them is a guess at a taste they have spent years settling. The gift that gets used sits beside the bottles: a new bitters, a syrup, a jar of cocktail cherries, an old bar book or a bar tool. Each one changes what ends up in the glass.
Bitters: how to pick one they do not have
A new bitters changes a familiar drink, a few dashes at a time. A three-step way to choose:
- Check the basics. An aromatic bitters comes first. Angostura says its aromatic bitters have been made to the same recipe since 1824, and they go into an Old Fashioned or a Manhattan (shop Angostura aromatic bitters, 4 oz). If the bar already has one, add an orange bitters. Regans' Orange Bitters No. 6 came from the bartender and writer Gary "Gaz" Regan, who developed it with The Sazerac Company after five earlier test batches (shop Regans' Orange Bitters No. 6).
- Match their spirit. For a rum and tiki drinker, Dale DeGroff's Pimento Aromatic Bitters are meant for Piña Coladas, Painkillers, Mai Tais and Sazeracs. DeGroff, the bartender known as King Cocktail, created them with chemist Ted Breaux, and they are made in France from whole botanicals (shop Dale DeGroff's Pimento Aromatic Bitters).
- Add one they would not buy themselves. Bittercube's Cherry Bark Vanilla is made with wild cherry bark, Indonesian vanilla bean, star anise and fennel pollen among its botanicals. The maker suggests it for a Manhattan, an Old Fashioned, a sour or a highball (shop Bittercube Cherry Bark Vanilla bitters).
The complete guide to cocktail bitters explains the styles. Beyond aromatic and orange, cocktail bitters come in fruit, spice and savory styles, such as mole, grapefruit and rosemary, or Turkish tobacco.
Syrups and cordials
RAFT, a small-batch maker in Portland, Oregon, makes a Smoked Tea Vanilla syrup from organic Lapsang Souchong, a pine-smoked black tea, with vanilla. RAFT recommends one tablespoon per 4 to 5 ounces of cocktail, and a 250 ml bottle holds about 16 servings (shop RAFT Smoked Tea Vanilla syrup). Its grenadine is pomegranate juice reduced to a syrup, sweetened with organic cane sugar and lifted with lemon juice (shop RAFT grenadine). Fee Brothers, a Rochester, New York, family company founded in 1864, makes a Falernum syrup with lime, almond and ginger for rum punch and a Trade Winds (shop Fee Brothers Falernum syrup).
The complete guide to syrups and cordials covers how each kind is used.
Garnishes: the jar of cherries
A jar of Luxardo Original Maraschino Cherries is a garnish gift for the cocktail glass and the dessert bowl alike. Luxardo is a family company established in 1821 and based since 1947 in Torreglia, near Padua. Luxardo candies marasca cherries and packs them in marasca cherry syrup with no thickeners or preservatives, and says the dark red color is all natural. The company suggests the syrup as a flavored sugar in cocktails and the cherries over ice cream as well as in the glass (shop Luxardo Maraschino Cherries).
Books and barware
How to Mix Drinks, or The Bon Vivant's Companion by Jerry Thomas is a hardcover reproduction of the 1862 edition with a new introduction and appendix by David Wondrich (shop How to Mix Drinks by Jerry Thomas). David A. Embury's The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks is a new edition of the 1948 book on cocktail theory, 384 pages in hardcover (shop The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks). The two books come from different eras of cocktail writing, 1862 and 1948.
For tools, three pieces cover stirred drinks. Cocktail Kingdom's Trident barspoon, inspired by a traditional Japanese design, is 31.5 cm long with a smooth coil and a trident top (shop the Trident barspoon). Its Japanese-style jigger measures 1 ounce over 1.5 ounces with half- and three-quarter-ounce marks inside (shop the Japanese-style jigger). Yarai stackable rocks glasses hold 6 ounces each and come six to a pack (shop Yarai stackable rocks glasses). Together they cover measuring, stirring and serving, three jobs that barware does at a home bar.
Zero-proof picks for a friend who skips alcohol
St. Agrestis, a Brooklyn producer known for its amaro and Negroni, makes Amaro Falso as the non-alcoholic counterpart to its amaro. It is built from the same citrus, botanical and herbal ingredients, to pour on the rocks or use as a base (shop St. Agrestis Amaro Falso). RAFT suggests its Smoked Tea Vanilla without a spirit too, one tablespoon in 6 to 8 ounces of soda water. Aromatic bitters are made with alcohol (Angostura's label states 44.7% ABV), so they belong with the spirited gifts above rather than in a zero-proof one. Either bottle can go into non-alcoholic cocktails at home: Amaro Falso as a base, the syrup with soda water. The non-alcoholic drinks complete guide covers the wider category.
Five cocktail gifts by kind of drinker
| For | What goes in | Listed price |
|---|---|---|
| The Manhattan drinker | Angostura bitters 4 oz, Bittercube Cherry Bark Vanilla, Luxardo cherries | $55.49 |
| The tiki drinker | Dale DeGroff's Pimento Aromatic Bitters, Fee Brothers Falernum, RAFT grenadine | $39.98 |
| The reader | How to Mix Drinks by Jerry Thomas, The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks | $39.00 |
| The stirred-drink maker | Trident barspoon, Japanese-style jigger, Yarai rocks glasses (6) | $45.00 |
| The friend who skips alcohol | St. Agrestis Amaro Falso (2 x 200 ml), RAFT Smoked Tea Vanilla | $34.00 |
Prices follow the listed price on each product page. Products ship across the continental U.S. from theambrosianpantry.com. Each of the five also packs into a gift box or basket, alongside other drink gift basket ideas.
Short answers
What do you get a cocktail lover who has everything? Something that goes beside the bottles: a bitters they have not tried, a syrup, a jar of Luxardo cherries, an old bar book or a Trident barspoon.
Why give bitters? A bottle goes into a drink a few dashes at a time, and a new flavor changes drinks the person already makes.
What is a good gift for a home bartender under $25? Any single bitters in this guide, a RAFT syrup, a jar of Luxardo cherries, a Trident barspoon or one of the reprinted bar books each come in under $25.
What can you give a cocktail lover who does not drink alcohol? A non-alcoholic amaro such as St. Agrestis Amaro Falso and a syrup that works in soda water.
The bottles on the bar are theirs. The gift is the thing that makes them want to open one this weekend. For a full bar from the start, the home bar complete guide covers what to buy first.
