Batch cocktails for Thanksgiving

The rule: add the water the ice would have

When you stir a drink with ice, part of what ends up in the glass is melted ice. A batched drink never meets the ice, so add that water yourself: about a fifth of the drink's volume if you'll serve it over ice, a quarter if you'll serve it without. Then keep the bottle in the fridge, or in the freezer for spirit-only drinks.

Leave out anything fizzy or fresh. Citrus juice tastes dull after a few hours, so squeeze it on the day, and add soda or Champagne only in the glass.

Three drinks for ten people

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  Makes 10

  Boulevardier

  15 oz rye, 10 oz sweet vermouth, 10 oz Campari and 7 oz water. Pour 4 oz over one big cube, with an orange twist. It's bitter, a little sweet, and good after a heavy meal.

• 

  Makes 10

  Old Fashioned

  20 oz rye, 2.5 oz simple syrup, 20 dashes of Angostura bitters (about 0.6 oz) and 4.5 oz water. Pour 2.75 oz over one big cube and twist an orange peel over each glass.

• 

  Makes 10

  Americano

  10 oz Campari and 10 oz sweet vermouth, batched. Pour 2 oz over ice in a highball, top with 2 oz soda water and add an orange slice. It's the lightest of the three, for the afternoon.

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  For guests who don't drink

  Virgin Mule

  The Moscow Mule without the vodka: ½ oz lime juice and 4 oz ginger beer over ice, with a lime wedge.

How many drinks a bottle makes

A 750 ml bottle holds about 25 oz. That's 12 drinks at 2 oz of spirit, or 16 at 1½ oz. Plan by the spirit in each drink: the Boulevardier batch above takes a 750 ml bottle each of rye, vermouth and Campari, with some left over.

Ask about allergies first

Check before you batch, because you can't take an ingredient back out of a bottle. Egg white, the almonds in orgeat and the anchovies in Worcestershire sauce are the common surprises.