Well, dear friends, wouldn’t you say it’s time for a drink? In less than a week we’ll be baking pies, roasting turkey, and making conversation with relatives across the wide gape of the political divide. With Thanksgiving over, we’ll be caught up in the whirlwind of gift-buying, cookie-baking, and the many Christmas, Hannukah and New Years parties we are all sure to be invited to. And while there’s no one in the world who loves the holiday season more than I do (truly, no one), even I admit that it can be a bit exhausting. So, right now, in the calm before the storm, let’s share a drink together.

I’m a big fan of ginger (Spice, hair, spice). My family’s made gingerbread men every Christmas for generations, and to my mind there’s little more comforting on a blustery November day than a hearty slice of freshly baked gingerbread. Still, let’s be reasonable now. You can’t drink freshly baked gingerbread. Entirely useless for our purposes this evening.

Imbibing your ginger takes either several days patience and some small amount of work or about $35. Since I like to save my pennies for Bulleit bourbon or Hendrick’s gin, I decided to go the first route. This is also a wise decision if (like my father, who first introduced me to the ginger flavored liqueur Canton), you find ginger-based beverages quickly becoming your go-to cocktail. Those fancy bottles of Canton don’t last nearly as long as you’d think they would. One sip of this modified Dark & Stormy and I think you’ll agree that the wait is worth it.

Hear that? It’s the clock striking six. Drop a big ice cube into your waiting glass. Cut yourself a generous wedge of lime. Pour in an once and a half of dark rum (Gosling’s is our go-to) and half an ounce of your precious ginger liqueur. Mix it around with your finger – it’s okay, no one’s watching. Now relax. In a few weeks, we’ll all be filled with love for our fellow man and the bustle of the holiday season. In the meantime, I’ll be curling up under my softest blanket, with a much-anticipated mystery novel, and a cup of pre-holiday cheer.

Homemade Ginger Liqueur (adapted from Serious Eats)

Ingredients
2 ounces ginger root, peeled and cut into thin slices (this was about 2 knobs of ginger for me)
1 vanilla bean, sliced in half lengthwise
Zest of 1 orange
1 cu white sugar
1.5 cu water
1.5 cu brandy (don’t buy anything too fancy or expensive for this – I got a perfectly serviceable 750 ml bottle for $12)

1. Make a simple syrup with the ginger and vanilla: place the sliced ginger, vanilla bean, sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and let it simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the ginger softens. Remove from the heat and let cool. Do not strain.

2. In the meantime, pour the brandy into a glass container. Add the orange zest and, when cool, the syrup (with the ginger and vanilla bean still included). Close the glass jar or bottle, shake, and let sit for a day while the flavors meld.

3. Remove the vanilla bean, close the container again, shake and let sit for another day.

4. The next day, strain the mixture through a coffee filter into a glass container for storage. Almost there! Now just let it rest for one more day to let the flavors mellow out. The next day, make the The Perfect Storm.

The Perfect Storm*

Ingredients
1 lime
1.5 ou. dark rum (like Gosling’s)
.5 ou ginger liqueur

1. Cut a hearty lime wedge.

2. Pour 1.5 ounces dark rum into an ice-filled Old Fashioned glass. Add a half ounce of ginger liqueur.

3. Squeeze in the lime wedge, stir, and enjoy.

*A quick Google search reveals a number of cocktails calling themselves “The Perfect Storm,” ranging from the disgusting to the delicious. I figure, what harm can it do to add one more to the mix?