Tonight’s the next meeting of the North Shore Distillery Boozy Book Club. For December, we typically choose something short, and often (but not always) holiday-themed. In past years, we’ve read short stories by Truman Capote about the holidays, a Christmas-themed mystery by Agatha Christie, and last year it was Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, for example.

This year, we chose Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern. Not exactly holiday themed, but it IS family-related and entertaining, especially when you listen to it (which I did for this one). And, we asked everyone to bring some fun stuff that their dad has said to share with the group. So, it should be a fun, light-hearted night, hopefully.

Cocktail Flight for the Book

There aren’t really any drinks in the book – there are a few mentions of beer and of bourbon (e.g., if the gift isn’t bourbon or sweatpants, it’s going in the trash), but that’s it. So, I’m going with a few fun cocktails for the season, including a whiskey cocktail.

Here’s the flight:

• Merry & Bright – one of our favorites in the tasting room this holiday season, and a crowd pleaser – 2 oz Twisted Citrus Vodka, 1 oz Cranberry Juice, 3/4 oz Fresh Lemon, 3/4 oz Brown Sugar Cinnamon Simple. Shake with ice, strain into tall glass over fresh ice. Garnish with orange swath.
  
• Maltese Falcon – we have some honey on hand, and this is one of my favorites with honey. 1.75 oz American Malt Whiskey, .5 oz Fresh Lemon, .5 oz Honey Simple, 2 dashes Angostura bitters. Shake with ice, strain into coupe glass, garnish with lemon twist.
  
• Seasons Wonders – an herbaceous cocktail for the holidays, with 1 oz of our Gin No. 6, 1/2 oz green Chartreuse, 1 oz fresh lemon & 3/4 oz plain simple, shaken with ice and served over fresh ice, garnished with fresh cranberries.

Happy holidays, and happy reading!