Entertaining at home during the holidays can be an intimidating endeavor for anyone—even the most sophisticated cocktail drinker. Premier Beverage mixologist Nick Nistico is here to help with five cocktail recipes that'll leave your guests wide-eyed and asking for more.
Last week top Miami influencers gathered for Ocean Drive and The Collection's Dine + Drive event, where attendees tasted bites from South Florida hot spots like Basil Park, Macchialina, Oak Tavern, Touché, and Mignonette—each dish complemented by a carefully selected fall cocktail courtesy of Premier Beverage and Nick Nistico, the group's corporate beverage program development specialist. The drinks were flowing as guests strolled through The Collection’s sprawling Coral Gables showrooms to visit each chef, taste each cocktail, and swoon over exotic cars.
With a handcrafted cocktail in hand, we caught up with Nistico to find out how he came up with each simply delicious drink. He generously shared his recipes from the event so we can all take our at-home bar game to the next level and impress our cocktail-loving friends and family over the holidays.
Spiced Cranberry Old Fashioned
"A boozy bourbon-forward cocktail for the holiday season” –Nistico
Nothing quite says fall like an Old Fashioned spiked with cranberries and spices. This cocktail is extremely simple, but it does require a little bit of work on the front end to make the bitters. Trust us: once you taste it, you'll know it was worth the time.
2 oz. Old Forester bourbon
.5 oz. mulling spice syrup
4 dashes cranberry-spiced bitters
To make the bitters:
Mulling spice tea
Sugar
Fresh cranberries
Overproof bourbon
Cloves
Make the mulling spice tea and cut with equal parts sugar. Separately, reduce equal parts fresh cranberries and water with equal part overproof bourbon and a handful of cloves and let it sit overnight. Fine-strain the bitters.
To make the cocktail:
Combine all ingredients and stir with ice. Strain into a highball with a large ice cube or sphere. Garnish with a few frozen cranberries.
Celery Sage Gimlet
“Celery and sage are two classic Thanksgiving flavors that pair well with the unique flavor of St. Augustine Gin. It's the perfect side cocktail for a variety of holiday dinner items.” –Nistico
This showstopper features a relatively new Florida-style gin made from Florida sugar cane, orange, lemon, juniper cassia bark, angelica, and a secret blend of botanicals at a craft distillery in the nation’s oldest city. The celery ignites the complexity of St. Augustine Distillery Co.’s New World Gin, while the cranberry reduction gives it a smoothness you’ll recognize with the first sip.
2 oz. St. Augustine New World Gin
1 oz. fresh lime juice
1 oz. simple syrup
.5 oz. cranberry reduction
3 leaves fresh celery chunks
To make the cranberry reduction:
Fresh cranberries
Bring equal parts water and fresh cranberries to a boil and reduce by half before straining into the mixing tin.
To make the cocktail:
Chop the celery. Add the ingredients with ice and shake vigorously. Strain over ice in a highball. Garnish with a sage leaf.
Filthy 50/50
“A twist on a dirty martini, the 50/50 is made with equal parts vodka and dry vermouth, and then finished with Filthy Olive Brine. Its salty-smooth taste stimulates the palate and prepares it for what’s next: good food.” –Nistico
This is an elegant apéritif with a slightly lower alcohol content than a traditional martini, thanks to the stunningly dry French vermouth. A lively conversation is practically guaranteed when you present the Filthy Olives to your guests.
1.5 oz. Stolichnaya Vodka
1.5 oz. Noilly Prat vermouth
1 oz. Filthy Olive Brine Martini Mix
Combine ingredients with the brine from Filthy Food’s premium olive juice and shake vigorously. Strain over ice in a cocktail glass. Garnish with a Filthy Pickle Stuffed Olive (a cornichon stuffed inside hand-selected queen olives).
Coconut Basil Smash
“The delicious combination of fresh basil and rich coconut cream make for the most refreshing cocktail.” –Nistico
With all this talk of fall, Miami's perpetual summer may slip your mind. To keep it real, Nistico created a tropical drink with coconut cream to cool you off. After all, it is in the 80s.
2 oz. Grey Goose Vodka
1 oz. fresh lime juice
.5 oz. simple syrup
.5 oz. Coco Real Coconut Cream
3 leaves fresh basil
Combine ingredients and shake vigorously. Strain over ice in a highball. Garnish with coconut flakes (you can find these at the grocery store, along with Coco Real).
Bay Leaf Cooler
“Bay leaves are so delightfully floral—they pair perfectly with the clean flavor of Bombay London Dry.” –Nistico
The tart Bay Leaf Cooler is a lime lover’s dream. Nistico played with the classic gimlet cocktail to make it decidedly autumnal rather than summery with the help of aromatic dried bay leaves.
2 oz. Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin
1 oz. fresh lime juice
1 oz. simple syrup
Dried bay leaves
Add all ingredients with three whole bay leaves to the shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Strain over ice in a highball. Garnish with a lime wheel.
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF WORLD RED EYE