For November’s Covers and Cocktails, I’m doing something a bit different. I’m using an anthology!
Seasons of Sorcery is an anthology with four different fantasy romance novellas. A couple of the novellas are set in worlds established already in an author’s series, like with Jennifer Estep’s Elemental Assassin series. But I was able to read these just fine without too much knowledge of the connected worlds or characters.
Each story has a “seasonal” thread, which I loved. I’m a sucker for a theme, and I wanted to make four separate drinks that captured the seasons. Instead of mixing up four separate cocktails, I went with shots, which if you think about it, are cocktail novellas. Short, quick, and to the point!
This also means I was doing all manner of shots in my kitchen. Alone. Well…my cat was here too. The spring shot uses elderflower liqueur and apricot brandy. Floral and fruity! I wanted something fresh for summer, so I went with a creamy lemon drop shot. Fall’s shot has a mix of rum, cinnamon, and cream. My roommate and I refer to this as a Cinnamon Toast Crunch shot. And lastly, my favorite shot is winter with a mix of coffee Patron and Bailey’s. Feel free to dump this one into some cocoa, too.
A good bonus is that these are relatively inexpensive to make, as most of the ingredients used are available as nips. You don’t have to spring for a giant bottle of something that you’ll only use once or twice.
A note about nips: Nips are those tiny bottles of booze. Did you know that? I didn’t until I moved to New England six years ago. However, I hate calling them “nips” because hello…I work for SBTB. Nips mean a very different thing here.
But, the good thing about nips is that they’re very portable. (I suppose both forms of nips are portable.) Most of the ingredients above are available in travel sizes. I just already had some of the alcohol on hand in bigger bottles.
Also, the holidays can be a difficult time of year and we often subject ourselves to unpleasant family dealings for the sake of the holiday spirit. If that’s the case for you (and I feel you on this one), feel free to smuggle some in your bag and sneak off to the bathroom. You don’t need a shot glass; just do a mouth shot! Pour equal amounts of the aforementioned ingredients into your mouth. It works in a pinch and I hope it’ll get you through any stressful socializing.
Shopping list for all shots:
St. Germain
Apricot Brandy
Vodka
Lemon cream liqueur
Rumchata
Fireball
Café Patron
Bailey’s
Spring shot:
St. Germain
Apricot brandy
Summer shot:
Vodka
Lemon cream liqueur
Autumn shot:
Rumchata
Fireball whiskey
Winter shot:
Café Patron
Bailey’s
All shots are equal parts (half and half) except for the winter one. For this, you want 75% Patron and then you want to float the Bailey’s on top. This shot is affectionately called a “baby Guinness” because it looks like a Guinness beer for babies.
Modifications and notes:
- There isn’t much to modify with a shot. However, you don’t have to use the brands I listed. If you have a preferred brand or something similar already on hand, feel free to use it. Have lemon vodka instead of plain? Go for it!
- Drink responsibly! These shots contain no dilutions or mixers, so they’re nothing but alcohol.
Bottoms up!
Rumchata and Fireball in one shot? I feel like to separate vacations with my friends just collided.
Side note, I know from the Rumchata vacation that you can buy it in creamer cups.
As a native of New England, I had no idea ‘nips’ was a regional term until I recently suffered an embarrassing conversation. What does everyone else call them?
Zuzus
In the UK they’d be called minatures.
I think I call them airplane bottles (in VA)
Mini-bottles until a few years back it was the only way to buy liquor in a restaurant or bar in South Carolina
They’re miniatures here in the Southwest US.
Also miniatures (or minis) in Maryland. Never have I heard them referred to as nips. Interesting.
Ok, Amanda. These sound good but my days of drinking shots are long gone along with any alcohol tolerance acquired in my youth. For those of us (hello, me!) who are no longer willing to drink undiluted liquor, what, if anything, do you recommend? Coffee or hot chocolate for the last, obviously but I’m unsure of the others. Thanks.
@kitkat9000: For spring, tonic water would be absolutely fine! Or maybe some ginger ale or Sprite.
For summer, I’d recommend some lemon seltzer to boost the lemon flavors.
And for fall, you could do a White Russian-esque move and mix it with half and half. Or since it’s nearly December, mix it with eggnog.
Hope that helps!
Lived in CT all my life and I never heard them called nips. I always thought of them as miniatures. I mostly just bought them for recipes when I knew no one would drink a whole bottle of whatever. Maybe it’s a more recent term; the older I get the more aware I become of how language changes. Creeping up on my 7th decade, the realization is no longer theoretical. But I still loathe the terms impacted and relat
able.