‘Wassail’ comes from the Middle English wæs hæil, and from the Old Norse before that ves heill meaning something akin to “be you in good health.” This classic medieval beverage, typically made from a combination of cider, ale and, later, fortified wine, has great significance in English drinking history and was popular during the Tudor period. ‘Tis truly supreme with the eggs, but if you must omit them for dietary reasons, ‘twill be delicious all the same.

The French 75 is traditionally made with Cognac or gin, lemon, sugar, and Champagne. I favor the Cognac version–which lives on as a New Orleans classic. I thought it would be fun to make a version inspired by Normandy, using Calvados in place of Cognac and, mirroring the grapes-on-grapes dynamic of the original, to pair the French apple brandy with dry cider in place of Champagne.

The Stone Fence is a much-mythologized olde Yankee drink consisting of aged rum and hard cider. Supposedly Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys drank a ton of Stone Fences before storming Ticonderoga. In this simple mix of ingredients, I saw the opportunity to play with a bit of anachronism and apply a nineteenth-century template (the Collins) to this eighteenth-century classic.

This aperitivo cocktail is a hybrid of a Negroni Sbagliato (bitter liqueur, sweet vermouth, prosecco) and a spritz (bitter liqueur, prosecco, soda). Fortified with a small measure of aged gin and winterized with a dose of citrus, it’ll have you embracing January’s chill with flavors of pine, citrus, and apple.

My friend Rebekah Peppler has a talent for transporting her readers to France. Her books, Apéritif and À Table give us a window into her life in Paris and highlight traditional French food and beverage. When I was perusing her books for this month’s programming, I noticed that her collection of Kir variations is like a mini road trip through France, from Normandy and Brittany to Burgundy, Paris, Champagne, and beyond. So, grab a bottle of crème de cassis, choose your variation(s), and be transported!

Wassail is a very old beverage originally tied to the blessing of the new year’s apple harvest. Here, we’ve reduced the drink to just a few ingredients, but capturing the spirit of the thing quite well, I think.

Essentially a single-serving sparkling punch, our Daisy honors the apple harvest with apple brandy, boiled cider and dry fizzy cider on top.