The Ultimate 2016 Election Cocktail Menu

Alright, folks. It’s one of the most important days of the past decade here in the US and, regardless of who wins, everyone—and I mean everyone—is going to need a drink after this election.

That drink may be helping fight off the bleakness that is approaching in the coming four years, or that drink might be celebrating your candidate’s victory. Either way, drinks will be necessary.

Below, we’ve collected a list of election cocktails that will do the job before, during, or after the election. They’re separated by candidate, so choose your side and drink yourself into whatever future we’ll all be welcoming tomorrow, whether we like it or not.

(Also, if you haven’t voted, VOTE.)

Hillary Clinton Cocktails

I’m With Herradura
(Created by the LeGrande at the Time New York Hotel, NYC)

• 2 oz Herradura Tequila
• 1 oz Triple Sec
• 1 oz lime juice
• ¾ oz Blue Curacao

Method: Shake all ingredients with ice. Strain into coupe glass w/ salted rim. 

The Pant Suit 
(Created by the Quirk Hotel, Richmond, VA)

• 1 ½ oz vodka
• ¾ oz lemon juice
• ¾ oz herbed simple syrup
• Splash of pomegranate juice
• Lemon twist for garnish

Method: Chill a martini glass. Build all ingredients in a martini shaker. Shake and strain into the chilled martini glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

You be Hillin’
(Created by Quarter + Glory, Washington, D.C.)

• 1 oz of Gin or Vodka (your choice)
• ½ oz fresh lemon juice
• ½ oz simple syrup
• 1 oz Prosecco or sparkling wine
• Lemon twist for garnish

Method: Add all ingredients except the sparkling wine into a mixing tin. Add ice and shake vigorously. Double strain into a chilled coupe glass and top off with your sparkling. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Blackberry Smash
(Created by The Watergate Hotel, Washington, D.C.)

• 2 oz Angel’s Envy Bourbon
• ¾ oz Blackberry Syrup
• ½ oz Lemon Juice
• 3 Blackberries
• 1 Lemon Wedge
• Dash Angostura Bitters
• Handful of Mint

Method: Muddle mint, berries & lemon together. Combine with remainder of ingredients and shake. Pour into a bucket glass over ice. Garnish with two blackberries & mint sprig.

I’m with Her
(Created by The Carolina Inn, Chapel Hill, NC)

• ½ oz Blue Curacao
• ½ oz St. Germain Liquor 
• Prosecco
• Blue sugar

Method: Rim a champagne flute glass with blue sugar. Add ice, Curacao and St. Germain and shake well. Strain cocktail into flute. Top beverage with prosecco.

The Donkey

• 1 ½ parts Bombay Sapphire Gin
• ¾ part Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice
• ½ part Blue Curaçao
• 1 part Peach Schnapps
• ¼ part Sugar Syrup

Method: Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with orange zest.

Donald Trump Cocktails

The Trumpkin
(Created by the LeGrande at the Time New York Hotel, NYC)

• 1 ½ oz Baileys
• 1 ½ oz vanilla liqueur
• 1 oz cream
• I teaspoon pumpkin spice powder
• ½ oz cinnamon for garnish

Method: Shake Bailey’s, vanilla, cream and pumpkin spice powder with ice. Strain into coupe glass. Dust with cinnamon to garnish.

Trumpence
(Created by the Quirk Hotel, Richmond, VA)

• ¾ oz bourbon
• ¾ oz rye
• ¼ oz simple syrup
• 2 dashes Angostora bitters
• Orange peel for garnish

Method: Build drink in a martini shaker. Stir gently and pour over rocks. Garnish with an orange peel.

Get Trumped
(Created by Quarter + Glory, Washington, D.C.)

• 2 oz of bourbon or rye (your choice)
• 3 dashes of Angostura bitters
• 3 dashes of Regans orange bitters
• Bar spoon of brandied cherry juice
• Dash of simple syrup

Method: Add all ingredients into a mixing vessel. Add ice and stir with a bar spoon for twenty seconds. Place a large format ice cube into Rx glass. Pour ingredients into the glass over ice. Garnish with an orange twist.

Brag-ga-do-cious
(Created by The Watergate Hotel, Washington, D.C.)

• 2 oz Appleton 21yr Rum
• 3 oz Cola Cane Syrup
• Lemon Slice & peel
• Lime Slice & peel
• Orange Slice & peel

Method: Place fruit slices in the bottom of a bucket glass & top with crushed ice. Add rum & syrup. Top with more ice. Garnish with lemon, lime & orange peels.

Trumpster
(Created by The Carolina Inn, Chapel Hill, NC)

• 1 oz Malibu Coconut Rum
• 1 oz Captain Morgan’s 
• ¾ oz Grenadine
• ½ oz Pineapple juice
• Spun sugar hair

Method: Combine all ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake well. Strain cocktail into chilled martini glass. Garnish with spun sugar.

The Elephant

• 1 part St-Germain French Elderflower Liqueur
• 2 parts Cazadores Tequila Blanco
• ½ part Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice
• 3-4 Sour Cherries
• Top with Club Soda

Method: Muddle the sour cherries in a shaker, and add remaining ingredients and ice. Shake and strain into an ice-filled Collins glass. Top with soda. Garnish with a sour cherry and a lime wedge or wheel.

For Both Sides of the Aisle