Traditional gins are best for for your holiday gin cocktails, including Tanquaray, Beefeater and even Gordons. For an extra holiday jolt, use Junipero gin.

Our five favorite gin drinks for this time of year are:

1. Negroni

A frequently-mentioned favorite here at Wired Gin, Campari and sweet vermouth impart a festive red color to the Negroni, making it the perfect gin cocktail for the holiday season:

1 oz gin
1 oz sweet vermouth
1 oz Campari

Fill a cocktail shaker two-thirds full of ice and add the ingredients. Shake for approximately 15 seconds, strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a slice of orange.

2. Emerald Isle

While the Negroni provides a gorgeous red color, the Emerald Isle cocktail provides a subtle green tint along with a winter-crisp flavor that fits the season:

1 oz gin
2 tsp Creme de Menthe liquor
2 dashes of bitters

Fill a cocktail shaker two-thirds full of ice and add the ingredients. Shake briefly, strain into a chilled cocktail glass, and garnish with a mint leaf or a maraschino cherry “ornament”.

3. Gin Toddy

Warm your cockles this Christmas with a hot gin toddy. It is simple to make, and it will certainly make you feel better if you catch a cold while doing all your holiday visiting. Here’s a great recipe:

2 oz gin
½ teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
8 oz boiling water

In a coffee mug, dissolve sugar into boiling water and add lemon juice and gin. Optionally, add a dash of bitters for a more exotic flavor. Garnish with a lemon twist.

4. French 75

Nothing says “New Year’s Eve” like a glass of champagne. But to give the evening more zing, the perfect New Year’s cocktail is the French 75, rumored to have been named after named after a 75 millimeter French artillery shell used in World War I. Caution: as much as a French 75 might seem quaff like friendly fire, it carries quite an impact.

1 oz gin
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
Dry Champagne or dry sparkling wine

Put sugar, lemon juice, gin and ice in a cocktail shaker filled two-thirds with ice. Shake with enthusiasm and pour into a champagne glass. Fill remainder of glass with champagne and garnish with a lemon twist. Happy New Year!

5. Best Gin Cocktail for the Holidays: Martini

Surprised?  I hope not.  Elegance and grace flow from a well-crafted martini made from a foundation of quality gin. Don’t get it wrong by forgetting the importance of vermouth!

2 oz gin
1 oz dry vermouth

Pick your gin wisely based on your audience. Gin aficionados will appreciate Junipero or Oxley, but casual drinkers may prefer a lighter, more frivolous gin like Hendricks or Leopold’s. With reverence, pour your selected gin into a cocktail shaker two-thirds filled with ice. add dry vermouth and shake while thinking festive holiday thoughts. (Frosty the Snowman, perhaps?)  Pour into a chilled martini glass, slide a lemon wedge over the rim of the glass and garnish with it. Perfect.

Enjoy the gin cocktails – in moderation – this holiday season, and best wishes for a fabulous new year!

Cucumber & Royale

Our friends at Hendricks revealed this delight of a drink:

1 oz Hendricks Gin
½ oz cucumber simple syrup (1 cucumber blended with 4 oz simple syrup)
rosé champagne

Pour ingredients in order into a champagne flute and stir gently. Garnish with cucumber slice and enjoy.

Tower of London

Bulldog Gin suggests this intriguing combination with an earthy green tea foundation and floral overtones:

2 oz Bulldog Gin
1½ oz St Germain Liqueur
2 oz green tea
1 oz simple syrup
0.5 oz sake

Shake well. Serve in a highball or collins glass over ice. Garnish with lychee.

French 75

Many people suggest the French 75 for a springtime cocktail, although we enjoy it year round. After all, a drink named after a World War I artillery shell should be enjoyed across the seasons. Nevertheless, the brightness of the champagne in this drink evokes summertime refreshment while the sweetness keeps the flavor profile grounded in spring. Plus the yellow pastel color matches the finest spring attire:

1½ oz gin
2 oz lemon juice
1 tsp quick-dissolving sugar
champagne

Fill a cocktail shaker two-thirds full of ice and add all the ingredients except champagne. Shake, then strain into a chilled champaign flute and top with a champagne. Garnish with a cherry.

Miller’s Pear-fection

This luscious cocktail from Martin Miller’s Gin also has a fabulous pastel color – orange – that certainly fits the season. The interplay between the gin, Pernod and Pear flavor is also plenty of fun!

2 oz Martin Miller’s Gin
4 oz pear nectar
½ oz Pernod Anise
1 oz simple syrup
0.5 oz sake

Shake well. Serve in a highball or collins glass over ice. Garnish with lychee.

There you have it. The best gin cocktails for spring from many different perspectives!

First, the last month’s release of the movie Julie and Julia showcases the cocktail’s creator and advocate, Julia Child.  I’ve always appreciated the fact that she attributed her longevity to “red meat and gin”.  Despite her perceived benefits of gin, vermouth was a far more popular ingredient in her recipes. The Upside Down Martini – with far more vermouth than gin – is naturally her cocktail of choice.

As the New York Times recently noted, the other big event is that Julia’s favorite vermouth, Noilly Prat, are returned to selling its original European recipe in the United States. The availability of this arguably richer vermouth means that we can now easily enjoy an Upside-Down Martini in the original form that Julia enjoyed. The recipe is quite simply:

5 parts dry vermouth (Noilly Prat is ideal)
1 part gin sweet vermouth
Lemon twist for garnish

Pour vermouth into a wine glass filled with ice, top with gin and garnish with lemon twist.

Smuggle into the theater and enjoy the next showing of Julie and Julia from a new perspective.