Bad Santa!

Day 223, Cocktail 221

This is the post wherein I attempt to make our friend Andrea very sad for having left beautiful Milwaukee for Boston…

Saturday night was our annual NID Holiday cocktail party.  Definately another occasion to come up with an orginal Christmas cocktail — and one that I could make up by the pitcher full!  Now, the first time I did this several years ago Andrea got wrecked on my creation, causing us to change the name from the Sleigh Ride to the Sleigh Wreck.  Even though she swore off of them, I’m pretty sure they were the cause of her dancing on the bar at our annual holiday party that year.  Andrea, if you’re reading this, set me straight if I’ve missed anything.

Anyway, back to Saturday night.  I tinkered around for a bit and came up with this.

  Bad Santa

• 1-1/2 oz vodka
• 1 oz pomegranate juice
• 1/2 oz triple sec
• 1/2 bar spoon peppermint schnapps

Combine the ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake, shake, shake to mix and chill.  Pour into a rocks glass and garnish with a mint leaf or green striped candy cane. 

Both Gwen and I, as well as several of our friends enjoyed this one.  The pomegranate juice keeps it fruity without being sweet and the peppermint schnapps give it just a whiff of mint flavor.  Definately a crowd pleaser for those holiday parties!

Now, if you do want to mix it up by the pitcher full, just work the scale up.  I used 3 cups vodka, 2 cups pomegranate juice, 1 cup triple sec and just 1 oz of peppermint schnapps.  I also added about 3/4 cup of ice to the pitcher and let it melt in.  This is really important to remember when mixing large batches.  When you mix a cocktail one at a time, you’re getting about 20% water into the drink from the ice melting.  Thus, adding ice or water to your large batch mixes still gives you the proportion.  Otherwise, you risk having your guests dancing on top of your bar by 10pm instead of 1am!

Cheers!