We sifted through the clutter, and below we’ve rounded up a few of the best recipes for the Kentucky Derby and Cinco de Mayo.

That said, should you happen to fashion a delicious tequila julep or bourbon margarita served in a taco shell, be sure to let us know.

CINCO DE MAYO COCKTAIL RECIPES

Carpe Dia Blackberry Smash Cocktail

2 oz Milagro Añejo Tequila
1 oz fresh lime juice
¾ oz agave nectar
5 Blackberries
2 Sage leaves
3 dashes barrel-aged bitters

Muddle fruit and herbs, add all other ingredients.Shake with ice and strain into rocks glass with ice. Garnish with taragon mint sprig.

Jaja Cocktail

3 oz Tequila REVOLUCION 100 PROOF Silver Tequila
1 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz ginger simple syrup
1 oz club soda
6 mint leaves
3 Cucumber slices

Muddle mint and cucumber with ginger simple syrup. Add tequila and lime juice, then shake with ice. Strain over fresh ice into a rocks glass and top with club soda. Garnish with cucumber slices.

Tamarindo Margarita

2 oz Tequila Avión Silver
1 oz Grand Marnier
1/2 oz lime juice
1/2 oz orange juice
1/2 tsp tamarindo puree
1 tsp sugar

Rim glass with coarse salt and chili powder. Garnish with lime wheel and tamarindo peel.

KENTUCKY DERBY COCKTAIL RECIPES

Basil Hayden’s Triple Crown Julep

4 parts Basil Hayden’s® Bourbon
4 chopped Strawberries
10 spearmint leaves
4 lemon wedges
1 part Water
2 tbsp. brown sugar

Muddle brown sugar and water to dissolve sugar. Add chopped strawberries, lemon wedges and mint leaves, and muddle. Add Basil Hayden’s and shake, then add ice and shake again. Strain cocktail over crushed ice and garnish with a mint sprig and strawberry.

Classic Mint Julep

2 oz bourbon
1/2 oz simple syrup or 1 barspoon powdered sugar
8-10 mint leaves

In a Julep cup or rocks glass, lightly muddle the mint and sugar. Add the bourbon and pack tightly with crushed ice. Stir until the cup is frosted on the outside. Top with more crushed ice and garnish with a mint sprig.

Kentucky Colonel

2 oz bourbon
3/4 oz Benedictine
lemon peels

Stir bourbon, Benedictine and lemon peel with ice until cold, then strain into a cocktail glass. Express oils from fresh lemon peel, and drop in.

First up was the Nolet’s Silver New Fashioned (pictured), which paired Nolet’s Silver Dry Gin with sour cherry marmalade and Angostura Bitters. It was tart and refreshing, and the marmalade married well with the floral gin.

Next came the Blueberry Gimlet, which uses blueberry lime preserves that pair well with the gin’s unique botanicals like rose, peach and raspberry.

Nolet’s Silver Blueberry Gimlet

1.25 oz Nolet’s Silver Dry Gin
1 oz blueberry lime preserves
.5 oz fresh lime juice

Shake all ingredients with ice, then strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with fresh lavender leaves.

The third installment of Nolet’s Cupboard to Cocktail Program was the Silver Solstice. This complex little number paired Nolet’s Gin with Sweet Serenade banana jam, maple syrup, lemon juice and peppercorns. It’s meant to accompany warm summer evenings, but the comforting combo of banana jam with maple syrup seems a natural fit on colder nights as well.

Nolet’s Silver Solstice

1.25 oz Nolet’s Silver Dry Gin
.75 oz banana jam
.5 oz maple syrup
.5 oz fresh lemon juice
4 peppercorns

Muddle peppercorns in a mixing glass. Add remaining ingredients and shake with ice. Fine strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

Thanks to Nolet’s for stocking our cabinet with a litany of fun ingredients. Using marmalades and jams as sweeteners is a creative way to add intricate flavors to cocktails, and small touches like peppercorns and lavender pedals can greatly enhance the aromatics of a drink.

Like that? Drink this:
- Hendrick’s Gin Cocktail Recipes
- The Jasmine Cocktail Recipe
- Oxley Gin Summer Cocktail Recipes

But no matter; to celebrate the onset of spring, we present a trio of seasonal tequila cocktails. Each comes courtesy of Excellia Tequila, a 100% agave tequila from the highlands of Jalisco. And each features the brand’s reposado tequila, which is aged in Cognac and Sauternes casks and makes for some interesting mixing.

West of East India Cocktail (pictured)

1¼ oz Excellia Reposado
1½ oz fino sherry
¾ oz Pedro Ximenez sherry
½ oz amaro nonino
½ oz falernum syrup
3 dashes chocolate-mole bitters

Stir all ingredients with ice, and strain into a cocktail glass. Express lemon oils, and garnish with the peel.

Note – The West of East India Cocktail is an original drink from NYC bar, Mayahuel.

Aguamiel

2 oz Excellia Reposado
1 ½ oz fresh-pressed apple juice
¼ oz raspberry liqueur
¼ oz Creme de Cassis

Build over ice in an old-fashioned glass and stir. Garnish with a lemon peel.

Sparkling Margarita

1 oz Excellia Reposado
1 oz Esprit de June liqueur
2/3 oz fresh yuzu juice
2/3 oz fresh pear juice
Champagne

Stir first four ingredients with ice, then pour into a Champagne flute. Top with Champagne and garnish with fresh lychee or mango.

Like that? Drink this:
- Cinco de Mayo Cocktails
- National Tequila Day
- The Rosita Cocktail

The Leap Year cocktail was created by Harry Craddock, famed bartender at the Savoy Hotel in London and author of the seminal drinks tome, the Savoy Cocktail Book. Craddock first crafted the drink in 1928, and though it hasn’t caught on as a mainstream cocktail, the eponymous drink is unearthed every four years in bars and boozy homes across the world.

Combining gin with Grand Marnier, sweet vermouth and lemon juice, the cocktail is strong, but easy-drinking, with a richness provided by the orange liqueur and vermouth. The recipe –

Leap Year Cocktail

2 oz gin
1/2 oz Grand Marnier
1/2 oz sweet vermouth
1/4 oz lemon juice

Shake all ingredients with ice, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Here an orange liqueur substitute like triple sec just won’t do. This drink seems to require the rich, brandy-based Grand Marnier to play nicely with the sweet vermouth and scant 1/4 ounce of lemon juice. Gin wise, we like something versatile, like Plymouth, but feel free to experiment. And varying your sweet vermouth can really add complexity to the cocktail. Dolin Sweet Vermouth keeps things fairly standard, but tasty, while the richer Carpano Antica ads an almost caramel-chocolate candy note to the drink.

Whichever route you go, mix one up today. Especially if you’re angling for a marriage proposal, as according to Craddock, the Leap Year cocktail is said to have been “responsible for more marriage proposals than any other cocktail that has ever been mixed.”

Like that? Drink this:
- The Fitzgerald Cocktail Recipe
- Hendrick’s Gin Cocktail Recipes
- The Jasmine Cocktail

Photo: Boulder Locavore

While the bottle prominently features an artichoke, one can hardly claim that Cynar tastes like artichokes. Rather, it’s a bittersweet Italian aperitif (though it can be considered a valid digestivo given its bitter properties) comprised of 13 herbs and plants. It’s much less bitter than amari like Fernet and Campari, and its relatively low alcohol level – just 16.5% – makes it even easier to toss down the hatch.

Cynar is often served as a shot or mixed with soda, and in certain European countries, it’s a popular addition to orange juice. Others have found that subbing Cynar for Campari in a Negroni or Americano yields good results, something we can heartily vouch for. That said, here are a few more intricate cocktails calling for Cynar.

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The below drink is an original creation from Chicago’s fine cocktail bar, The Violet Hour.

The Art of Choke

1 1⁄4 oz Cynar
1 oz White Rum
1⁄4 oz Green Chartreuse
1⁄8 oz Rich demerara syrup
1⁄8 oz Lime juice
1 dash Angostura Bitters
Mint

Stir all ingredients including mint sprig until cold. Strain into rocks glass over large ice cube, and garnish with a fresh mint sprig.

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This drink is a Cocktail Enthusiast original. It’s deeply flavorful, harmonious and delicious.

Baroque and Famous

2 oz Flor de Cana 7-Year Rum
3/4 oz Cynar
1/2 oz Punt e Mes
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 dash Orange Bitters

Stir all ingredients with ice, then strain into a cocktail glass. Express orange peel and garnish.

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Here’s a cocktail created by Cameron Bogue of Bar Pleiades in New York’s Surrey Hotel.

The Sanny

2 oz Bourbon
1 1⁄2 oz Cynar
1⁄4 oz Maraschino Liqueur
2 dash Celery bitters
Lemon peel

Stir all ingredients, then strain into rocks glass over ice. Express lemon peel and garnish.

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That’s a good trio to start with. But we’re always up for further experimentation, so if you’ve got a favorite Cynar cocktail, let us know.

This first drink comes courtesy of Jason Littrell and Marshall Altier of JBird in New York. In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, it serves two. “One drink, two straws, please.”

Sadie Hawkin’s Sling (pictured)

4 oz Buffalo Trace Bourbon
2 oz pineapple juice
1 oz lemon juice
.5 oz apricot liqueur
.75 oz pear brandy
.75 oz Falernum
.5 oz cane syrup
2 dashes tiki bitters

Serve in a whole pineapple. Garnish with fresh fruit, flowers, herbs and intertwining bendy-straws.

Next up, a few Valentine’s Day cocktails from Hendrick’s Gin. The Primrose is a refreshing drink that ups the romance factor with rose syrup.

Primrose

1 ½ oz Hendrick’s Gin
½ oz Lillet Rouge
1 ½ oz apple juice
½ oz rose syrup
½ oz fresh lemon juice
2  dashes orange bitters

Shake and strain up into a chilled a martini glass. Garnish with a rose petal.

A take on the classic Floradora template, this tasty concoction is light and fresh, with a pink Valentine’s hue.

Floradora

1.5 oz Hendrick’s Gin
1/2 oz lime juice
1/2 oz raspberry syrup
Ginger beer

In a long glass, combine first three ingredients with ice. Stir, then top with Ginger Beer. Garnish with a raspberry and a lime wheel.

Pink grapefruit juice and grenadine create a holiday-themed take on the Tom Collins.

Pink Victrola (by Jim Ryan)

1.5 oz Hendrick’s Gin
1.5 oz fresh pink grapefruit juice
½ oz fresh lemon juice
½ oz simple syrup
1 barspoon real grenadine

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Express grapefruit peel oils on top of drink, and garnish with the peel.

Hot Buttered Rum is one of our favorite seasonal drinks and is a nice change-of-pace from egg nog and spiked cider. Rum is the perfect base for this buttery libation, which is spiced up with allspice dram and apple cider. There are several quality recipes for Hot Buttered Rum, but this year we’re making the below recipe, courtesy of Kenneth McCoy and NYC’s Rum House.

Hot Buttered Brugal

2 oz Brugal Añejo Rum
1 teaspoon honey
½ teaspoon butter
4 oz hot apple cider
½ oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram

Add all ingredients to mixing glass. Stir vigorously, then pour into heated coffee mug. Grate fresh cinnamon on top, and garnish with a cinnamon stick.

Like that? Drink this:
- Rum Punch Recipes
- Ron Abuelo 7 Anos Rum Review
- Old Monk Rum Review

The Brandy Crusta wasn’t the first drink to utilize citrus and liqueur, but it’s one of the few 1800s-era cocktails to do so and really stand the test of time. For that, Brandy Crusta, we salute you.

As Brandy and Cognac cocktails have made a resurgence in bars across the country, classics like the Brandy Crusta are becoming easier to find. And with its stable of simple ingredients, it’s a quick fix to at-home sobriety.

Brandy Crusta

2 oz Cognac
.5 oz fresh lemon juice
.5 oz simple syrup
.25 oz triple sec
2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Shake all ingredients and strain into a sugar-rimmed cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon peel.

For the best results, use a good, highly-mixable Cognac like Deau or Pierre Ferrand.

Like that? Drink this:
- Pierre Ferrand Introduces 1840 Original Formula Cognac
- Remy Martin 1738 Accord Royal Cognac
- Apple Brandy Old Fashioned

Photo: Esquire Drinks

Last year we covered the aptly-named Champagne Cocktail, the French 75 and the Death in the Afternoon as worthy New Year’s Eve cocktails. Any of those will do the trick. Or try one of these festive drinks.

Italian 76

2 oz gin
1/2 oz Aperol
1/2 lemon juice
1/2 oz simple syrup
Prosecco

Shake first four ingredients with ice. Strain into a coupe and top with Prosecco (or Champagne).

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Prince of Wales

1.5 oz rye whiskey
1/4 oz Maraschino Liqueur
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 chunk pineapple
1 barspoon powdered sugar
Champagne

Shake first five ingredients with ice, and strain into a coupe. Top with Champagne, and garnish with a lemon twist.

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Black Velvet

Stout beer
Champagne

Fill Collins glass halfway with stout. Top with Champagne.

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Old Cuban

1 1/2 oz gold rum
3/4 oz simple syrup
3/4 oz lime juice
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
6 mint leaves

Gently muddle mint in a cocktail shaker. Add remaining ingredients except Champagne, and shake well. Fine strain into a chilled cocktail glass, and top with Champagne.

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Kir Royale

Champagne
Creme de Cassis

Add Champagne to Champagne flute, and top with creme de cassis. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Hoping to change that, two companies will begin giving consumers more choices in their Fernet consumption. Camper’s San Francisco Chronicle article reports that drinkers can expect to find Angelico Fernet early next year and Fernet Leopold, from Leopold Bros. of Denver, as early as this week. The latter uses bitter aloe as its main bittering agent, adding to the mix ginger, sarsaparilla, saffron, cardamom and spearmint.

Read the full article, here.

And while you do, try mixing up the Hanky Panky cocktail, straight out of the Savoy Cocktail Book.

Hanky Panky

1.5 oz Tanqueray Gin
1.5 oz Italian Vermouth
2 dashes Fernet

Stir all ingredients with ice, then strain into a cocktail glass. Squeeze orange peel on top, and drop it in.

Or The Revenge, a Fernet-forward cocktail served at The Chesterfield in Dallas, TX.

The Revenge

1 oz Fernet
1 oz Campari
1 oz Italian Vermouth
Mint

Stir all ingredients, including mint sprig, with ice. Strain into an old fashioned glass over one large ice cube, and garnish with a sprig of mint.