Best Bartender in the World Reveals Secrets to Great Holiday Cocktails—and One Might Surprise You

The word “legend” is used far too often in the world of bartending. But when it comes to Colin Peter Field, there's simply no better way to describe the longtime leader of Bar Hemingway in Paris. 

For nearly 30 years, the convivial craftsman was the face behind this iconic cocktail den, serving supermodels, socialites, and celebrities from Kate Moss to every single actor who ever played James Bond. Pierce Brosnan even asked to take a photo with him. 

Along the way, he invented a few timeless classics, including electrifying holiday preparations perfectly-suited to wintertime in the City of Light—or anywhere, really.

So, it was only fitting that when Maker’s Mark 46 Bourbon wanted to launch Le 46, a French-inspired holiday cocktail pop-up bar, the brand turned to Field for inspiration. It’s probably a little less obvious how the beloved label born of Loretto, KY, has to anything to do with the Old World. But the liquid is famously aged with specially seared French oak staves, resulting in a bold, berry-and-spice complexity. And it turns out that Field was fond of pouring it during his tenure at Bar Hemingway. 

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“We used more Maker’s Mark than any other bar in Paris,” he says.

Now he’s doing the same, only in a different cosmopolitan hub altogether. On the evening of December 11, those in New York can catch him working Maker's Mark into some seasonal specialities at a two-hour event in Union Square Park. It’s part of a larger activation there called Maker’s Mark Winter Wheat Wonderland. Attendees will be able to sample limited releases, enjoy creative cocktails and even dip glassware into the brand’s signature red wax—all while rubbing elbows with several members of the Knicks. It runs through December 22.

For those of us not in the Big Apple over the holidays, however, Field offers some exclusive insight on how to fashion a masterful cocktail in the comfort of your own home. Follow his advice and you might be labeled a legend yourself—by friends and family, at the very least.

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How to Make a Great Holiday Cocktail

Tip #1: Use Bourbon

As Field points out, there are top notes in bourbon that correlate effortlessly with the flavors we always associate with winter. And that holds especially true for a wheated bourbon, such as anything coming out of the Maker’s Mark distillery.

“It's an atom, and it has lots of protons and neutrons going around it, and these protons and neutrons are like apricot, peach, stewed apple, tarte Tatin, vanilla pastry—or pâtisserie, as they say in French," he says. 

"It has a very nice almond taste, noisette. So all of a sudden, with the small amount of things I've just mentioned," Field says. "You can start working on a cocktail and bringing out a particular flavor and character from that. When you have a rich alcohol, it's very, very easy to make lovely cocktails.”

Tip #2: Make Something Classic

Field serves up his own holiday spin on the classic old fashioned, which might just be his favorite cocktail this time of year. Starting with a base of Maker’s Mark 46, he pours in hand-crushed orange juice, hand-crushed lemon juice, a sugar cube, and five drops of Angostura bitters over ice cubes frozen from mineral water.

“Stir it nicely, and then add a nice freshly cut slice of orange and a fresh cut slice of lemon,” he says of the garnishes. “Why freshly cut? Because I want it to bleed into the cocktail. And then I love adding Griottines cherries. They are very, very beautiful and give a certain perfume to the cocktail.”

Tip #3: Use Simple Ingredients

Though your base spirit ought to have ample complexity, the modifiers you mix against it should be entirely straightforward. 

“Keep the ingredients to things that you've already tasted, either in your childhood or youth,” he warns. “Don’t try and introduce a taste variety that you don't have. You will find it bizarre, and other people will find it bizarre.”

Field is fond of working with local honey—whatever local means for you.

“The way to introduce that into a cocktail would be to add hot water to dilute it first,” he explains. “I'm not talking about doing a hot cocktail. Once you dilute that and then add a little bit of fresh lime juice, that could be very interesting.”

Tip #4: Presentation Is Paramount

As memorable as the cocktails are at a venue like Bar Hemingway, Field calculates that the drink represents only 20 percent of the overall experience. He rounded out the rest by developing bespoke stemware for his beverage program, rendering each offering with meticulous precision and maintaining engaging hospitality all throughout. 

“Give every guest a beautiful evening,” he says. “There is an immutable rule: a cocktail must be seen first, then smelled, and then tasted. Provide for people that which you would want yourself: a good drink, well-served.”

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