7 Best Mardi Gras Cocktails for Fat Tuesday

Mardi Gras is all about overindulgence, in fact, the name itself is French for Fat Tuesday. It takes place the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday and is a celebration of all the rich food and drinking excessiveness before the leaner days of Lent begin. The most famous Mardi Gras celebration in America takes place in New Orleans, home to some of the richest food and an abundance of alcohol in the US.

Check out some of our favorite Fat Tuesday tipples to put the party in your mardi and laissez les bon temps rouler! (Let the good times roll!)

Sazerac Cocktail

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 oz Rye whiskey
• 1/4 oz Absinthe
• One sugar cube
• Three dashes Peychaud’s Bitters

Directions

1. Rinse a chilled old-fashioned glass with the absinthe, add crushed ice and set it aside.
2. Stir the remaining ingredients over ice and set it aside.
3. Discard the ice and any excess absinthe from the prepared glass and strain the drink into the glass.
4. Add the Lemon peel for garnish.
5. Laissez les bons temps rouler

New Orleans Hurricane

Ingredients

• 4 oz Bayou Silver Rum
• 4 oz Bumbu dark rum
• 1 cup orange juice (freshly squeezed)
• ½ cup passion fruit juice
• ¼ cup lime juice
• 4 teaspoons grenadine
• cherries, orange and lime wheels (optional garnish)

Directions

1. In a pitcher, mix together rum and fruit juices. Fill four 8 ounce glasses with ice and pour mixture between glasses.
2. Top each glass with 1 teaspoon grenadine before garnishing with fruit to serve.

Vieux Carre

(Named after the historic French Quarter in New Orleans)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups ice
• 1 1/2 oz cognac
• 1/2 oz rye whiskey
• 1/8 oz Benedictine liqueur
• 1/2 oz sweet vermouth
• 1 dash Peychaud bitters
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• 1 (2 inch) piece lemon peel for garnish

Directions

1. Fill a short cocktail glass with ice. Pour in cognac, whiskey, Benedictine, and sweet vermouth. Add Peychaud and Angostura bitters.
2. Twist a lemon peel over the drink and drop it in.

Brandy Crusta

Ingredients

• 2 oz brandy
• 1/4 oz orange curaçao
• 1 teaspoon maraschino liqueur
• 1/2 oz lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 1/2 oz simple syrup
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• Garnish: lemon twist
• Garnish: sugar rim

Directions

1. Rim a coupe glass with sugar and set aside.
2. Add the brandy, orange curaçao, maraschino liqueur, lemon juice, simple syrup, and bitters into a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled.
3. Strain into the prepared glass.
4. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Berry Bacchus

Ingredients

• 5 ounces vodka
• .75 ounces Chambord
• .75 ounces Ginger-Mint Syrup (combine half ginger syrup with half mint syrup)
• .75 ounces freshly squeezed lemon juice
• .75 ounces freshly squeezed lime juice

Directions

1. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and then add the vodka, Chambord, Ginger-Mint Syrup, and lemon and lime juice and shake until cold.
2. Strain over fresh ice and garnish with a lime twist.

Brandy Milk Punch

Ingredients

• 2 oz bourbon
• 3 oz whole milk
• 1 oz simple syrup
• 2 dashes vanilla extract
• Garnish: nutmeg, freshly grated

Directions

1. Add bourbon, whole milk, simple syrup and vanilla extract into a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled.
2. Strain into a rocks glass, and garnish with freshly grated nutmeg.

King Cake Shooters

Ingredients

• 1 part RumChata
• 1 part Fireball
• vanilla frosting
• green sanding sugar
• purple Sanding Sugar
• whipped cream
• yellow sanding sugar

Directions

1. Using a butter knife, rim the top of each shot glass with vanilla frosting. Then, dip tops in sanding sugars.
2. Combine equal parts RumChata and Fireball into each shot glass. Top with whipped cream and serve.

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