By the 1860s, it was common practice to add liqueurs–Curaçao and maraschino in the early days–to the Cocktail’s original formula. The term “Fancy Cocktail” typically denotes this addition and the assurance of a lemon twist, too. “Improved Cocktails” typically layer yet more flavor, with absinthe, multiple liqueurs, or a combination of bitters. The recipe below is technically an Improved Cocktail, though omitting the absinthe will knock it down to the “Fancy” level.

The drink from which so many have sprung–the Cock-Tail originated in the late eighteenth century and, by 1806 was codified as a “bittered sling,” i.e. a combination of spirit, sugar, water, and bitters. The method of preparing the cocktail without ice yields a cool but not ice-cold drink, allowing the character of the Holland gin (genever) or French brandy (Cognac) to shine.

Call me old-fashioned, but I love Champagne for New Year’s. Is there anything more classic? Though I do like classic Collins-esque Champagne cocktails like the French 75 (especially the Cognac-based kind), a stirred, spirituous base topped with bubbles is more my speed. This one is somehow wintry and tropical all at once, and ever-so-festive.

What ever happened to the fruit basket? There’s a very striking cover on the December 1947 edition of Gourmet that features a big fruit basket, ham, Champagne, and cigars in front of a Christmas tree. This punch is my attempt at an ode to the once-prized Christmas tradition, the noble fruit basket.

I have a deep appreciation for eggnog (and its cousin, Tom & Jerry). Because of my fondness for the holiday classic, I’ve developed several recipe for eggnog over the years, both large-format and single serve. This one combines two of my favorite versions–one with rum, rye, and Cognac and one with sherry and Madeira–and streamlines it into a single-serving variation that has a classic flavor profile with a dried fruit note.

I love the classic idea of having nuts, chocolate, and dried fruit with coffee and port after dinner. For this recipe, I leaned on the idea of Sangarees and Cobblers, layering flavors over a tannic base and drying the whole thing out with a half-ounce of rye. Pebble ice and a very Victorian garnish make this one quite festive indeed.

The very first cocktail recipe in William Schmidt’s sprawling entertaining and drinks manual is the Jack Frost Whiskey Sour. It calls for “apple whiskey,” cream, a whole egg, sugar, lemon, and soda. In actuality, it’s a Fizz and our version plays that up and splits the spirit and sweetener elements across a few different spirits and liqueurs. Juniper, apple, fig, and honey come through in this creamy, Flip-adjacent Fizz.

This honeyed apple brandy Sour is a combination of a Dizzy Sour and a New York Sour. The New York Sour, as you likely know, is a rye whiskey Sour with a dry red wine float on top. The Dizzy Sour is far more obscure; it debuted in The Hoffman House Bartender’s Guide and consists of rye, Bénédictine, sugar, and lemon, with a rum float, when combined with the New York Sour, subbing in apple brandy and adding a touch of fig syrup, the result is a honeyed, tannic drink with citrus and dried fruit notes.

The Widow’s Kiss was first published in 1895’s Modern American Drinks by George Kappeler. The original recipe calls for apple brandy with equal measures of Bénédictine and yellow Chartreuse, plus Angostura bitters. Our take is dry and spirit-forward and switches out the Chartreuse in favor of Alpine amaro, which nods to the Alpine origins of Chartreuse and also does the work of the bitters. It’s got a Rusty Nail vibe that I really love.

A stirred drink from The Hoffman House Bartender’s Guide (1905), the Automobile Cocktail consists of equal parts Scotch, Old Tom gin, and Italian vermouth, plus a little gum syrup and orange bitters. I took this template and subbed in apple brandy for the Scotch, using alpine amaro in place of bitters, and sweetening with fig syrup. It’s Martinez-esque, but feels perfect for November with apple and pronounced piney notes. “Motor wagon” was a term used by some early car makers.

Milk Punch–the kind we now differentiate as “clarified”–goes back to at least the early eighteenth century. It’s made by curdling warm milk in a punch mixture then straining it and, thanks to the magic of science, the milk solids make the mixture clear (hence the term “clarified”). Ours has aged rum, Madeira, lime, green tea, sugar, spices, and, well, milk.

Hot Buttered Rum is a drink that has, blessedly, survived into the twenty-first century thanks in large part to its popularity around the holidays. At its most elemental, it’s just rum, sugar, spices, butter, and hot water. I didn’t want to make this variation too overly complicated, but the walnut liqueur, as well as the pumpkin and miso flavors in the syrup, amp up all the best parts of this simple classic while giving it a bit more dimension.

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.

I love making all manner of Cobblers during the summer when every month brings a new bounty of fresh fruit. But I’ve always wanted to adapt a Cobbler for peak fall and Madeira is the perfect wine for it. I love looking at old pear and apple varietal names and took the name for this drink from a type of pear that’s still grown in western Massachusetts.

This particular style of milk punch–far milkier than the “clarified” kind–is associated closely with New Orleans, where it transitioned from being served in a large format to individual servings. The traditional base is brandy or bourbon, but our version combines brandy (specifically Cognac) with rye and spikes the whole thing with notes of coffee and chocolate.

This drink is essentially a Vieux Carré with coffee liqueur subbed in for the Bénédictine, but with a touch of absinthe–influenced by both the Sazerac and Cocktail à la Louisiane. The cocktail bears a resemblance to my After-Dinner Manhattan from a few years back, which I designed for a customer who was craving coffee in her nightcap.

The Sazerac is an institution and I love the rye-based versions dearly. But I also like split-base recipes that recognize the Cognac roots of the cocktail (and Cognac-only versions too!). This version of the Sazerac plays up the cocktail’s “Improved” qualities, splitting the aromatic ingredients between four different products, as well as splitting the base.

Ever since I wrote a piece for PUNCH about the Roffignac, I’ve wanted to develop my own spec. Though we’re taking a bit of a shortcut with this method and not making our own shrub, the à la minute “shrub” works and I love the way the plum and Cognac go together. A great drink for September that straddles summer and fall.

The Sgroppino hails from the Veneto and is traditionally made with lemon sorbet, prosecco, and grappa or vodka; some recipes call for limoncello. In looking at this template, I saw the potential to impart deeper flavors of red fruit, while still creating something that’s absolutely perfect for summer.

The Bellini was invented in the years just after World War II at Harry’s Bar in Venice. The simple mixture of peach puree and prosecco is typically served in short glasses bearing the bar’s logo. Our version is a little more complex because of our Campari- and peach liqueur-spiked puree and the use of Cocchi Americano and soda in place of prosecco–a move I took from another classic Italian drink, the Bicicletta.