Stop Serving Bad Holiday Drinks: The 10 Cocktail Rules Every Host Should Know

Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby, chef-owners of Philadelphia’s vegan fine-dining restaurant Vedge, offer up 10 cocktail rules every holiday host should know. They emphasize the importance of greeting guests with champagne or prosecco, that cocktails should reflect the season, and the necessity of a well-stocked bar with brown liquors like bourbon or rye. The use of botanicals, herbs, spices, and vegetables in cocktails is praised, along with the significance of salt in drinks.

They advocate for cocktails that don't take too long to prepare, the underrated value of rum, and the importance of using real lemon or lime juice. They also caution against using drinks as a stand-in for dessert and emphasize the need for non-alcoholic options that are more than just fruit juice, suggesting ingredients like bitter tea, tamarind, or cucumber to add complexity to mocktails for guests to sip and enjoy.