3 classic cocktails you can pre-batch for your holiday party

Guest bartender Landon Hutchison serves up his batched cocktail recipes

I consider a well-crafted classic cocktail to be one of life’s great pleasures. In my book, a cold, crisp dirty martini is the perfect drink to sip on at the start of a festive evening. But when you have more than 20, or even more than 10 guests coming over, mixing up individual cocktails can feel like an impossible task.

Enter batched cocktails. Today, we’re talking about how to batch a few of the classics for a crowd. Ahead of primetime holiday hosting — in the midst of? I’m sorry if I’m late! — I invited my friend Landon, who generously oversees “the beverage program” of our annual holiday party (haha), to guest write this week’s letter.

A dedicated patron of the world’s best cocktail bars, Landon became a hobbyist mixologist a few years back and has refined his cocktail game over the years — his drinks rival that of any top craft cocktail bar, and trust that I’ve sipped on many of them. Below, he shares his methods for batching a few of our go-to holiday party hits: martinis, negronis, and old-fashioneds.

P.S. For those who are skipping the booze this party season, might I recommend this bottle for something fun and bubbly?

by Landon Hutchison

Several years ago, while back in NYC visiting friends, I was craving a Negroni Bianco from Dante. I managed to snag a prime spot at the bar, eager to watch the bartender and take mental notes on the ingredients and ratios so I could recreate the cocktail at home.

To my surprise, he grabbed a swing-top bottle from the speed rail, poured its contents into a mixing glass, gave it a quick stir, and served it to me in a Nick and Nora garnished with a sprig of baby’s breath — all in under 60 seconds.

At that moment, I thought: if the 2019 World’s Best Bar can serve a batched cocktail, surely, I can do the same!

Batching cocktails is hands down the best tip I know for reducing stress and spending more time with your guests when hosting. It turns high-quality cocktails into a self-serve option, just like beer or wine. 

You likely have many of the required supplies around your kitchen for batching cocktails. Rather than the jiggers, shaking tins, and bar spoons used for individual cocktails, we will be using more basic kitchen equipment.

• 1-liter swing-top bottles

• Kitchen funnel

• Liquid measuring cups

• Fresh ice

• Space in your fridge / freezer

Onto the good stuff. Here are a few of my favorites to batch for a holiday party.

Old-Fashioned

Makes 11 cocktail servings.

1. Using a funnel, add the following to a 1-liter swing-top bottle:

• 22 dashes of Angostura aromatic bitters

• ²/₃ cup of simple syrup

• 2 ¾ cup of ~100 proof rye or bourbon. I like Old Overholt Bottled in Bond rye or Elijah Craig Small Batch bourbon.

• 4.75 ounces good drinking water

2. Close bottle and rotate end over end to mix. Place in the refrigerator. 

3. To serve, pour over a large cube into a rocks glass and garnish with an expressed orange twist.

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Martini

Batched martinis at a holiday party can be an interesting choice. Pro: it’s a holiday party; who doesn’t want a martini?! Con: A martini is no doubt the cocktail with the most variations on how to do it “right.” I batch my wife’s preferred style (slightly dirty with vodka), and it seems to be a hit.

Makes 8 cocktail servings.

1. Using a funnel, add the following to a 1-liter swing-top bottle:

• ¼ cup Dolin Dry vermouth

• ½ cup olive brine

• 2 ½ cups vodka

• ²/₃ cup water

2. Close bottle and rotate end over end to mix. Place in the refrigerator — or freezer if within a couple of hours of service. Colder is better here, but this will freeze overnight!

3. To serve, pour in coupe glass and garnish with olives on cocktail pick.

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Negroni

Makes 9 cocktail servings.

1. Using a funnel, add the following to a 1-liter swing-top bottle:

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons Campari

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons Carpano Antica Formula Sweet Vermouth

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons London dry gin (you want a big juniper profile to stand up to the other ingredients. I like Tanqueray here.)

• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons good drinking water

2. Close bottle and rotate end over end to mix. Place in the refrigerator. 

3. To serve, pour over a large cube into a rocks glass and garnish with an expressed orange twist.

Note: Almost all cocktails are typically diluted during the shaking or stirring process. In the recipes above, you’ve pre-diluted these cocktails, so it’s important to keep your bottles refrigerated and serve them cold, since you won’t be shaking or stirring with ice.

1. Label your bottles. The bottles pictured have custom labels, but you can print your own labels with a label maker (Teresa: I have this one, but Sharpie on masking tape also works in a pinch!)

2. Acquire the right glassware. Renting can be a great option depending on the size of your guest list. For the above recipes, you’ll need rocks glasses (ideally, around a 10 oz. capacity) and coupe glasses. I recommend coupes over martini glasses, as they spill less and can double as sparkling wine glasses during a party.

3. Get plenty of bagged ice. For service, you’ll need a large beverage tub filled with ice to set your bottles in, as well as an ice bucket full of ice for the cocktails themselves. If you want to elevate the experience, consider sourcing large, clear ice cubes from a local ice purveyor that supplies cocktail bars. Teresa discovered an amazing seller a few years ago, and now I tag along to stock up on enough ice to last me the entire year.

4. Prepare garnishes to suit your cocktail menu. For example, you’ll want to set out orange twists for old-fashioneds, Luxardo or Amarena cherries for Manhattans, and lemon twists and olives for martinis.

5. Set up your bar / cocktail station. Set out your glassware and the appropriate garnishes. Then, right before guests arrive, place the bottles of batched cocktails in a beverage tub and fill your ice bucket.

Thank you, Landon! Can’t wait to sip on my holiday martini very soon…

What’s on the menu at your holiday parties this year? If you give these recipes a try, we’d love to hear how it goes — drop a comment and let us know.