Skip to main content

Shake, Stir, and Swish: Championship-Worthy Final Four Cocktails

The-Three-Pointer-3
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Just as with every year, March Madness has been filled with twists and turns, buzzer beaters and heartbreak. If you’re one of the few whose bracket isn’t busted, you’re probably feeling pret-ty good right about now. If you’re one of the thousands that didn’t see South Carolina taking down the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th seeds, well, we feel ya. Really. You’re in the right place, though.

In order to celebrate the Final Four (or salve the wounds of a broken bracket), we’ve put together some final four cocktails to mix up this weekend for what’s likely to be an exciting set of games.

New Amsterdam Russian Coffee

NEW-AMSTERDAM_WHITE-RUSSIAN_252-FINAL-Credit-Jason-Varney-crop
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Method: Stir vodka, coffee, and Triple Sec in a rocks glass with ice. Top with milk.

The Three Pointer

The-Three-Pointer Cocktail
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Method: Combine ingredients over ice, garnish with chili.

Svedka’s Buzzer Beater

Svedka-13_Seven_Wonders_Silo
Image used with permission by copyright holder

 Method: Pour ingredients into a pitcher, and stir. Garnish with orange and grapefruit slices. 

Nolet’s Silver Players Punch

Player's-Punch-Edit
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Method: Combine first 4 ingredients over ice in a cocktail shaker.  Shake vigorously.  Pour (do not strain) all contents into a rocks glass.  Top with Soda Water. Add extra ice if needed. Garnish with 2 raspberries.

And one more, because who doesn’t like an extra cocktail?

3 Pointer Punch

Jagermule-Punch-w.-Cocktails-Crop
(Created by Flinn Pomroy, Sweetwater Social, NYC)

  • 125 oz Jagermeister
  • 5 oz Fresh Lime Juice
  • 5 oz Ginger Syrup
  • 35 oz Bigelow Orange & Spice Tea
  • 60 oz Soda Water (add to taste)
  • 2 whole oranges sliced into very thin discs.

Method: Combine Jägermeister, Lime Juice, and Ginger Syrup to punch bowl. Bring 5 cups of water to a boil and add 5 tea bags of Bigelow Orange & Spice. Remove water from heat and allow to steep for 6 minutes (You will have more tea brewed than you are actually going to use.) Add 35oz of Bigelow Orange and Spice tea to the punch bowl. Stir punch vigorously. Add soda to taste. Top entire punch with sliced orange discs. Serve over ice in traditional Mule Tins or in another receptacle of your choosing. Garnish with your teams assigned garnish – and enjoy responsibly.

Sam Slaughter
Sam Slaughter was the Food and Drink Editor for The Manual. Born and raised in New Jersey, he’s called the South home for…
What foods are high in iron? These staples will help you live a healthier life
Add these high-iron foods to your shopping list today
Ribeye caps topped with garlic and herbs cooked in a cast iron pan over charcoal.

What foods are high in iron? We all know that iron is important for a healthy, balanced diet, but did you know you can find two different kinds of iron in food: heme and non-heme. Your body can absorb iron from heme (animal-based) food better than from non-heme (plant-based) food sources. Where can you find heme food sources? Read on to find out about foods high in iron.

If you eat a plant-based diet, you’ll get a lot of non-heme types of iron. As a result, your body might need a bit of help to absorb it properly. Sometimes vitamin C can aid with the absorption of plant-based kinds of iron. Regularly consume both plant and animal-based sources of iron to get the best of both for your body. 
What is iron?

Read more
The Macallan, Bentley serve up a single malt Scotch whisky worth more than a car
The Macallan and Bentley mean luxury
The Macallan

When it comes to luxury, The Macallan and Bentley are two of the biggest names in the world. While one is a single malt Scotch whisky brand and one is a car company, they both carry a certain, fancy weight. It only makes sense that the two brands would collaborate for a special bottle of Scotch whisky. This is likely because a whisky-powered car is more science fiction than reality.
What does the new whisky look like?

It's called The Macallan Horizon, and its bottle was created in collaboration with British automobile brand Bentley Motors. It was designed to meld the worlds of single malt scotch whisky and the sleek, elegant car brand. The result is a horizontal (hence the name) bottle crafted with a breathtaking 180-degree twist.

Read more
Forget wine — Beer and cheese is an unbeatable combination
Put the corkscrew away and crack open a cold one
Beer and cheese

When one hears the term cheese pairings, wine is the beverage that most often comes to mind, we'd wager. Because, of course, it is. The pairing of wine and cheese is as classic a coupling as peanut butter and jelly, bacon and eggs, or chocolate and strawberries. They're meant to be together. But that certainly doesn't mean that wine is the only adult beverage that can dance an alluring tango alongside everyone's favorite dairy product. Beer, as humble as its reputation can be, is also a beautiful balance to cheese's immense offering of flavors. While some may think of beer as not being as multi-dimensional and varied in its palate-pleasing capabilities as wine, this is not the case - especially now that we live in a world with so many exquisite craft beers, stouts, and lagers.
Of course, another classic accompaniment to cheese is bread or crackers. Why might that be, one might ask. Is it because we're simply in need of a starchy vessel to usher the cheese into our mouths? The answer is actually a bit deeper than that. Starches like bread and crackers are made from the same yeasty ingredients as beer, so their pairing makes perfect culinary sense.
This isn't to say, though, that one can simply pick up a hunk of cheddar and crack open a Budweiser and expect culinary artistry. The science is a bit more nuanced than that, so we're here to help you find the best pairings for your favorite beers and cheeses.

How to pair beer and cheese

Read more