Ring in 2022 with cocktail recipes from Niwot mixologists

This New Year's Eve will see many celebrating the start of 2022 by staying in with friends. If you're one of those who are planning a Niwot night at home, three of our area's local drink masters have suggestions for holiday cocktails. These drinks will keep things festive and help you celebrate the season.

Farow Restaurant's Alcohol-free Cranberry Spritz

Niwot's newest restaurant has provided its recipe for a celebratory, beautiful winter cocktail. Lighter and fun, it's a festive way to start out your evening without weighing you down over hours with friends. It's finished with a sugared cranberry, which is an easy garnish both professional chefs and home cooks can use to brighten holiday cocktails as well as meals and desserts.

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. sugar syrup flavored with cranberries and rosemary (cranberry syrup recipes are available online, add 1-2 sprigs of rosemary to the syrup)
• ½ oz. candied lemon cordial (recipes available online generally include combining sugar with lemon juice, candied lemon peel and water and then reducing over a heat source.)
• Soda water
• Ice
• Whole, firm cranberries, rolled in sugar and dried for garnish

Preparation:

Top with soda in a wine glass, give a stir with a bar spoon - garnish with spruce salt/sugar cranberries

Bootstrap Brewing's Chill Fire Chillax

A little heat is always welcomed on the colder nights of mid-winter. This beer-based cocktail by Bootstrap brewing features a blend of two beers, one with pineapple overtones and another with chili pepper heat that makes it perfect for hot sauce lovers and spice heads on your list. It can also be mixed at varying proportions so that the spice level is comfortable, rather than overwhelming.

Beer Selections and preparation method:

Use Bootstrap's Chillax Golden Pineapple Ale and Backfire Chili Golden Ale. First, pour half a can of the pineapple ale in your glass and then follow with a quarter of a can of the chili ale. Taste and mix further beer into your glass, adding more of one flavor or another based on the drinker's preference.

The Wheel House Mixologist’s Apple Pie Moonshine Cocktail

Throughout the year, The Wheel House became a community gathering spot as it hosted musicians, community events, organizational meetings, and relaxing evenings with friends. At the center of this is a team of talented mixologists serving craft beer and cocktails from behind the bar. One of these sweeter cocktails is filled with baking spice that combines with a pleasing, lighter alcohol heat. It isn’t on the menu but it’s perfect for closing out the year and welcoming 2022.

Ingredients:

• Apple Pie Moonshine (a specialty preparation spirit from Denver Distillery)
• Apple Cider
• A splash of lemon

Preparation:

Fill an iced cocktail tumbler with ice and top with 1.5 oz. of Apple Pie Moonshine. Add cider to taste and finish with a splash of lemon. Garnish with a lemon wedge or apple slice. Drinkers may also combine with ginger beer to create a mule.