For many of us, the New Year’s drinks started at a young age. Who hasn’t celebrated the new year with a Martinelli’s Sparkling Cider at the crack of midnight as a kid?

Drinks are just part of the holiday.

Whether you’re in for a long night of revelry or a leisurely bit of holiday indulgence and a 9 p.m. bedtime, we have some ideas about how to make the holiday weekend special. And if you need a little help the morning after, we’ve got something special for that as well.

The morning-after bloody mary

Jason Poole knew he was onto something in 2012, when he placed second in a national bloody mary competition in New York. The next brunch, the line was out the door at the Pour House, a midtown restaurant that used to be located next to the train tracks on Q Street. He served 140-something bloody marys that day, he said.

Not much has changed in the last 10 years. Poole moved around the corner to Midtown Spirits, his new restaurant, and people still show up in droves for the bloody marys. Breakfast, lunch or dinner, customers love the drink.

“People just order it any time,” he said. “We see that because we’re always prepared to make ‘em. Since we are known for them, we do them all the time.”

With good reason. During a recent visit, a bartender suggested a blend of infused vodkas: half horseradish-infused and half dill pickle-infused. The result was a deeply flavorful bloody mary for $10.

Not into going out? Not a problem. Midtown Spirits sells bottles of vodka for about $30 apiece. The horseradish-infused vodka is available as a 9-ounce takeout drink for $20. The bloody mary mix is available in grocery and liquor stores as well as at the restaurant.

— James Patrick

The best beer

Enjoying craft beer during a New Year’s Eve party is almost impossible.

The logistics are wildly against you. You show up with a four-pack or a bomber of something special, put the beer in the communal fridge; come back 20 minutes later and it’s all gone.

The best beer at a holiday party is whatever’s cold and in your hand. But if you’re at a small gathering, or you get sneaky and leave a special treat out in your car, there’s no better brewery to celebrate with than Slice Beer Co.

The small Lincoln spot is the top-rated brewery in the area, with a 4.24 overall Untappd rating. And it’s releasing a pair of beers for sale New Year’s Eve: Fog Forecast, a new hazy IPA (7% ABV), and Doobie Snacks double IPA (8.5% ABV). Both beers will be in four packs and are available only at the brewery. It’s worth the drive if you want something unique for yourself or to offer to friends for the holiday.

Russ Yeager, Slice’s CEO, said they are rolling out the beers to help fans ring in the new year with a bang.

“I think it’s a great time to party,” Yeager said. “It’s one of people’s last times, if you’re going to go dry January or new year’s resolutions, it’s one more time to blow it out.”

For the beer fans: Fog Forecast is being released for the first time. It’s hopped with strata, citra and simcoe. Doobie Snacks has a 4.28 rating on Untappd. It’s a blend of mosaic, simcoe, citra and CTZ hops, for a flavor profile that blends citrus and pine notes.

— James Patrick

New Year’s Eve out

Maybe I’m biased because they have a drink called “The Patrick,” but I’m sticking with Midtown Spirits for this one.

They’re normally open until 10 p.m., but for New Year’s Eve the restaurant will be open past midnight, with hourly drink specials for every time zone ball drop. Slushies, infusions and the autumn apple fizz will all be featured in the hourly deals.

Revelers can celebrate outdoors, on a spacious heated patio that sits directly across from the midtown dog park on 19th Street. Or you can party indoors, in the high-ceiling dining room next to the distillery tanks.

Midtown offers creative drinks like a hot buttered bananas Foster and a White Russian with an ice cube made out of cold brew coffee.

And then Midtown Spirits will be open at 9:30 a.m. New Year’s Day for the usual weekend crowd, with a twist.

“January 1st is national bloody mary day, so it’s obviously done for a reason,” Poole said. “That’s obviously a big day for us and it’s a Saturday. We’re expecting to be pretty busy.”

— James Patrick

El Dorado County wine

For a robust, full-bodied red wine that’s none too sweet, check out Lava Cap’s 2019 Barbera. The El Dorado County winery uses 100% estate-grown grapes grown on a steep volcanic hillside at 2,700 feet above sea level, producing a wine with notes of black cherry, blackberries and blueberries.

Lava Cap’s barbera is pretty hefty at 15.1% ABV, and pairs well with heavier dishes such as roasts, though marketing director Nolan Jones — son of owners Charlie and Noreen Jones — said its relatively high acidity makes it work for charcuterie or pizza as well. The 2019 vintage has yet to be reviewed by Wine Enthusiast, but 2018 scored 90 points out of 100.

“That’s one of my favorite year-round wines,” Jones said. “ If you chill it in the summertime, you can enjoy it on a warm day. It’s one of the few reds that stands out on a hot day. ... It’s a serious barbera, it’s really elegant, but it has a ton of really bright, fresh fruit and acidity.”

The 2019 Barbera available at Raley’s, Bel Air, Nugget Markets, local Total Wine & Mores and local BevMos as well as Auburn Community Tap House, La Trattoria Bohemia in East Sacramento and Papa Gianni’s Ristorante in Cameron Park, with a retail price of $25.99.

— Benjy Egel

Homemade cocktail

Simon Difford’s “Cocktails: The Bartender’s Bible” has more than 3,000 mixed drinks and their illustrations inside. But only one, the New Year’s Absolution, seems right for Jan 1.

First, stir two spoonfuls of runny honey with one shot of absinthe in the base of a cocktail shaker until the honey dissolves. Next, add ice and one shot of pressed apple juice, shake well and strain into an old-fashioned glass filled with ice. Finally, top it all off with ginger ale and a mint sprig for a delightfully bright and appealingly green cocktail.

Those freaked out by the inclusion of absinthe would do well to remember that spirits sold in the U.S. must not include thujone, the chemical in wormwood that’s said to have hallucinogenic properties (though even that is highly debatable). That said, the “Green Fairy” tends to be over 45% ABV, so don’t underestimate the power of that single shot in the New Year’s Absolution. And be mindful with your New Year’s kisses: after all, absinthe makes the heart grow fonder.

— Benjy Egel

A refreshing mocktail

Sacramento bars are more frequently offering quality mixed drinks sans alcohol, thanks in part to the rise of booze-free spirit companies like Seedlip and Lyre’s. Few make ‘em as well as Bottle & Barlow, and perhaps nothing on the bar/barber shop’s rotating mocktail menu tastes as good as the Probiotic Punch.

A bartender shakes together Cock ‘n Bull ginger beer, apple cider vinegar, pineapple juice, orgeat syrup, ice and Seedlip Garden 108, a botanical nonalcoholic spirit made with peas and herbs. The mixture is then strained into a Collins glass full of ice and garnished with a house-dehydrated lemon wheel.

It tastes cleansing thanks to the apple cider vinegar, a sensation many Jan. 1 mocktail drinkers are probably chasing. In addition to that refreshing kombucha-like burn, though, it’s a complex, well-bodied drink thanks to the Seedlip. It’s delicious, a veritable cocktail that happens to be alcohol-free. Whether it’s Dry January, a more-permanent lifestyle choice or just an interest in trying something new, leave the Shirley Temples for another night and opt for Probiotic Punch.

— Benjy Egel

This story was originally published December 31, 2021 at 5:00 AM.