The cool kids of the cocktail world are not sweet; they’re savory, culinary types made with seasonal ingredients. And they’re sticking around for the holidays, ready to mock your Cosmopolitan. You’re either in with this crowd or giving its cocktail list the hairy eyeball, but after the fourth peppermint mocha, even skeptics might reconsider.
Fortunately, Westchester boasts savory drinks—like the following four options—that strike the balance between punk and cuddly, meaning they’re free of that overwhelming candy taste.
Harper’s (Dobbs Ferry): Parsnip in a Pear Tree
Barman (and poet) Clark Moore infuses parsnips and pears in golden rum, and voilà: a viscous mouthfeel with the soul of a parsnip and a whisper of pear. It’s poured into a snifter as an after-dinner drink, with a flurry of nutmeg and ornament of flamed orange peel—festive and warming.
Blue Hill at Stone Barns (Pocantico Hills): King’s Road
Miles to go before you sleep? Brave the dark, deep woods of Pocantico Hills with an aromatic winter shandy. ArteNOM Seleccion de 1146 Añejo tequila, Mezcal Vago-Espadin, and Zirbenz Stone Pine Liqueur are shaken with honey vinegar, house-made beer syrup, and fresh rosemary, poured over ice, and topped with Local Option’s Blood ov the Kings red wheat ale, then showered with lime zest and bedecked with a rosemary sprig.
Restaurant North (Armonk): Hot Buttered Rum and Gingerbread Bacon Manhattan
Gingerbread man get away? Drown your sorrows with earthy Hot Buttered Rum made with Battenkill Valley Creamery butter, hubbard squash, Crown Maple syrup, molasses, spices, and salt, and topped with star anise. Or spice things up with a Manhattan featuring Black Dirt bourbon infused with house-smoked bacon and gingerbread cookies, garnished with house-made bacon brittle.
X2O Xaviars on the Hudson (Yonkers): Liquid Fruitcake
The holidays are a lonely time for those of us who actually enjoy fruitcake, hiding our shame amid “doorstopper” jokes. But X2O gifts us with a socially acceptable take on the cliché; a drink that gets its tang and hue from beet juice in Tuthilltown’s Hudson New York Corn Whiskey, nuts and fruit from Frangelico and Midori, and spice from a cinnamon sugar-coated rim.
