So it’s mid-January, it’s cold, it’s gray, and you’ve experienced ice, chilling rain, sleet, and snow all in the same week at one point or another this season. The heavy holiday drinking is over and people have settled in to wait out the rest of the winter months, and what better to help you through those cold nights than having a good, hearty whiskey cocktail to warm you up.  Here are five great whiskey-based drinks to get you through the rest of the season.

Irish Coffee. 

This famous cold weather drink was invented in the 1940’s and named by Joe Sheridan when he added whiskey to the coffee he gave to a group of Americans who arrived in Ireland in miserable weather. A perfect drink for sitting in front of the fire, or even pouring into your to-go mug for those gray Monday mornings at work – we won’t tell anyone!

Ingredients: 1.5 oz. Irish whiskey, 5 oz. coffee, 1 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsps heavy cream

Preparation:

1. Preheat coffee mug
2. Slightly whisk cream in a bowl until it takes shape—do not whip*
3. Pour whiskey and sugar in preheated mug and stir until combined
4. Add hot coffee, then pour cream on top using the back of a spoon so cream floats (the sugar will help the cream float)
5. Drink coffee through the layer of cream

*Whipped cream can be used as a substitute, yet original recipe calls for un-whipped heavy cream.

Mountain Cocktail. 

A lesser-known whiskey cocktail, this frothy and savory concoction will not disappoint. The egg white used to create the light texture of this drink will remind you of a cold mountain mist—but is sure to warm your belly. Don’t be turned off by the fact there is egg in your liquor; it’s what makes the drink.

Ingredients: 1.5 oz. blended whiskey, 1 tbs. dry vermouth, 1 tbs. sweet vermouth, 1 tsp. lemon juice, 1 egg white, 1 maraschino cherry, lemon peel

Preparation:

1. Beat egg white until frothy*
2. Combine with whiskey, vermouth, and lemon in ice-filled cocktail shaker
3. Strain into room temperature martini glass
4. Garnish with cherry and lemon twist

*For a more frothy texture, add dash of sugar to shaker

Old Fashioned. 

The name was first coined in 1881 at a gentlemen’s club in Louisville, Kentucky by a bartender on staff. You’ll soon be feeling like Don Draper from Mad Men when sipping on this strong, square-jawed drink. Although there are many recipe alterations to this timeless classic, this one comes straight from George Kappeler’s 1895 book on cocktails.

Ingredients: 1.5 oz. blended whiskey, 1 sugar cube, 2 dashes Angostura bitters, lemon peel, 1 large ice cube, 1 dash water

Preparation:

1. Dissolve sugar cube with a few drops of water in old-fashioned glass
2. Add bitters, ice, then lemon peel
3. Pour whiskey over mixture
4. Mix with bar straw, leave the straw in the glass

Suburban. 

Arriving on the scene sometime after 1875 and popular up until the Prohibition era, this mix is not your average whiskey cocktail; in fact, it’s shamelessly strong and unfortunately not well known. This drink will instill fantasies of billiard rooms filled with cigar smoke, leather, and mahogany—then it’ll hit you like a freight train, but at least you will forget about the weather.

Ingredients: 1.5 oz. rye whisky, .5 oz. dark rum, .5 oz. port, 1 dash orange bitters, 1 dash Angostura bitters

Preparation:

1. Combine all ingredients into cocktail shaker with cracked ice
2. Lightly shake, or stir well
3. Strain mixture into a chilled cocktail glass

Sazerac. 

Often referred to as “the oldest known American cocktail,” this devil of a drink originated out of New Orleans before the civil war. After vermouth became popular, this drink became somewhat of a distant legend to whiskey enthusiasts, and became even more remote after the ban on absinthe. This time capsule cocktail will bring you back in time to show you how our ancestors kept warm during the winter months—and we’re still doing it the same way today.

Ingredients: 1.5 oz. rye whiskey, .25 oz. Absinthe*, 1 dash Peychaud’s bitters, 1 sugar cube, lemon peel

Preparation**:

1. Pour absinthe into chilled old-fashion glass, swirl glass so absinthe coats the sides; remove the excess
2. In a separate chilled glass, muddle sugar cube with Peychaud’s bitters until dissolved
3. Add whiskey and stir, then pour into absinthe-coated glass
4. Garnish with a lemon peel

*If unavailable, substitute for Pastis, Pernod, Ricard, or Herbsaint

**Can also be served on the rocks

Cover art attributed to CameronC, SimpleDesktops.com

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Audrey Strasenburgh

Associate Editor at The Chiefly

Born and raised in Rochester, NY, a graduate of St. Lawrence University with a passion for the sport of rowing. A current rowing coach, avid hiker and skier with the lifetime goal of sampling every beer ever made.

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