Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday is here, and it’s time to have some fun before the somber weeks of lent. Even if you don’t practice lent, it’s a great excuse for a weekday celebration in the middle of winter. Here are a few cocktail ideas to help you let the good times roll.

Want more Mardi Gras? Danielle Harris, head bartender at Nanbu Noodle Bar in Santa Rosa Beach, FL, recently shared her recipe for a sake-based Hand Grenade cocktail. And here’s a gin-based Mardi Gras drink we posted earlier, and the King Cake Crusta recipe from last year.

Print Pin

Nordic Sazerac

Course Drinks

Keyword absinthe, aquavit, brandy

Ingredients

• 2 oz. Tamworth Distilling Skiklubben aquavit
• ½ oz. Art in the Age Dande Jack brandy
• 1 dropper Bennet Wild Hunt bitters
• 1 dash Absinthe

Instructions

• Rinse a chilled coupe glass with absinthe, discarding any excess, and set aside.
• In a mixing glass, add the aquavit, brandy and bitters.
• Strain the mixture into the cooled, absinthe-rinsed glass.
• Garnish with dill.

Notes

Jackie Nevin, Art in the Age mixologist, created this recipe.

Print Pin

Creole Cocktail

Course Drinks

Keyword Cardamom honey, cola, pincon, rye, sweet vermouth

Ingredients

• 1 ½ oz. Millstone Rye Bottled-in-Bond
• ¾ oz. Sweet vermouth
• ½ oz. Liberty Belle American Picon
• ½ oz. Honey cola cordial

Instructions

• Chill a mixing glass and coupe in the freezer before assembling the cocktail.
• When ice cold, add the rye and honey cola cordial to the mixing glass and stir without ice.
• Add the vermouth and picon, then stir more to incorporate.
• Strain into the prepared coupe.
• Garnish with a lemon peel.

Notes

Jacob Looney, New Liberty Distillery’s director of visitor experience, created this recipe.

Print Pin

Carnival On The Rhine

Course Drinks

Keyword coconut cream, creme de menthe, egg white, lemon, orgeat, vodka, white rum

Ingredients

• ¾ oz. Cruzan white rum
• ½ oz. Wodka Polish rye vodka
• ¼ oz. Cathead bitter orange vodka
• ¼ oz. Pernod Absinthe
• ¼ oz. Tempus Fugit creme de menthe
• ½ oz. Réal brand coconut cream
• ½ oz. Giffard orgeat
• ¾ oz. Egg white
• ¼ oz. Fresh lemon juice
• 2 drops Vanilla extract
• 5 drops 20% Salt tincture

Instructions

• Combine ingredients in a mixing tin and shake with ice, shake without ice.
• Double strain into coupe glass.
• Garnish with 3 dots of each Mardi Gras color (purple, green, gold), made to look like beads.

Notes

Jordan Deis, bar supervisor at the Peacock Room at Kimpton Hotel Fontenot in New Orleans, created this recipe.

Print Pin

Hurricane

Course Drinks

Keyword dark rum, light rum, lime, orange, Passion fruit

Ingredients

• 2 oz. Dark rum
• 2 oz. Light rum
• 1 bar spoon Luxardo cherry syrup
• ½ oz. The Perfect Purée passion fruit concentrate thawed
• 1 oz. Lime juice
• 1 oz. Orange juice
• ½ oz. Simple syrup

Instructions

• Add all ingredients to a shaker with plenty of ice.
• Shake and strain into a hurricane glass.
• Garnish with an orange slice and a cherry.

Notes

The mixologists at Hummingbird in Raleigh, NC, created this recipe.

Print Pin

Working Lunch

Ingredients

• 1 ¼ oz. Saint Luna Moonshine infused with graham crackers cacao nibs and local mushrooms*
• 1 ¼ oz. Partida Creus MUZ vermouth
• ½ oz. RC Cola reduction**
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• Marshmallow garnish

Instructions

• In a mixing glass, combine the bitters, moonshine, vermouth and cola reduction.
• Fill with ice and stir until diluted and chilled.
• Strain into a coupe glass.
• Garnish with a skewered toasted marshmallow.

Notes

*For Infused moonshine:
Combine one bottle of Saint Luna Moonshine with one sleeve of graham crackers, 1/3 cup of cacao nibs, and 3-5 dried matsutake mushrooms. Leave overnight in a sealed container. Strain through cheesecloth.

**For RC Cola reduction:
In a sauce pot, combine 24 oz. RC Cola, 1 tablespoon of whole black peppercorns, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 1 sprig of fresh rosemary over medium heat. Simmer and reduce volume by half. Strain and allow to cool.

Joshua Scheid, beverage manager at Philadelphia’s Rex at The Royal, created this recipe.

Print Pin

Batten Down the Hatches

Course Drinks

Keyword Creme de Violette liqueur, vodka, White quinquina

Ingredients

• 2 oz. Broken Shed vodka
• ¾ oz. White quinquina
• ¼ oz. Crème de violette
• 1 dash Lavender bitters

Instructions

• Add ingredients into a shaker with ice.
• Shake and double strain into a chilled Nick & Nora glass.
• Garnish with a lemon twist.

Notes

The mixologists at Broken Shed created this recipe.

Print Pin

Mardi Gras Mimosa

Course Drinks

Keyword lime, pineapple, sparkling wine, vodka

Ingredients

• 1 oz. Finlandia vodka
• 2 oz. Pineapple juice
• 4 oz. Korbel Extra Dry sprakling wine
• Squeeze of lime juice
• Colored sugar

Instructions

• Combine vodka, pineapple juice and lime juice in a cocktail shaker with ice.
• Rim a tall glass with colored sugar and fill with ice.
• Pour the cocktail mixture into the glass.
• Top with sparkling wine.

Notes

The mixologists at Korbel created this recipe.