Holiday Drinks: Mardi Gras Inspired Cocktails

Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is a holiday that precedes Lent. Practiced by most Christian Denominations, Lent is the period of prayer, fasting, and good will that spans the 40 days prior to Easter. Mardi Gras is celebrated on Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. The symbolization of Fat Tuesday comes from the ritual slaying of, and feasting on, a fatted bull (boeuf gras), festivities, and the pinnacle of Carnival.

Adapted from European traditions, Carnival (meaning relief from flesh or meat) traditionally begins on the twelfth day of Christmas, the Epiphany, January 6. Carnival lasts through Mardi Gras. Participants celebrate Carnival through gatherings, parades, and the donning of colorful costumes and beads.

Carnival Mardi Gras colors are gold, green, and purple. These colors denote power (gold), faith (green), and justice (purple). The colors came to be associated with Mardi Gras in 1892 with the "Symbolism of Colors" parade. (Mardi Gras Unmasked)

Mardi Gras is a time for celebration, your last hurrah before Lent. Consider a few Fat Tuesday inspired cocktails to enjoy at your Mardi Gras party.

New Orleans

1 ½ oz Bourbon
½ oz Pernod
3-4 dashes of Angostura bitters
A dash of orange bitters
A dash of anisette
½ tsp Sugar syrup to taste

Fill a mixing glass with ice. Add your ingredients and shake. Pour into a chilled rocks glass and serve with a lemon twist. To make a lemon twist, cut the ends off a lemon and discard. Slice your lemon end to end around the peel in ¼ inch wide strips. Pull your strips from the pulp, removing most of the rind, and twist.

More tips for pouring, mixing, and necessary bar tools can be found in "Bartender Basics for Holiday Parties."

A Mardi Gras favorite is the daiquiri. On the rocks or frozen, here is the basic recipe:

Daiquiri

2 oz Rum
2 oz Rose's lime juice
A dash of sour mix
½ tsp Sugar

For the rocks recipe, fill a mixing glass with ice. Add your ingredients and shake. Pour the mixture into a rocks glass and garnish with a slice of lime.