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Raise a glass to pink hour with the Sunset Serenade cocktail

A proper drink to honor another planetary rotation with

By Mark Stock Jan 14, 2026 9:09 AM

Sunset Serenade cocktail. — Middle West Spirits

Fitting that this time of year, in a lot of places, happy hour coincides with the sunset. That’s means for a good drink, whether you’re shuffling through the Dry January recipes or looking for something more traditional. Perhaps it’s cold and gray where you are and you simply want to craft something in a glass that looks like a sunset.

Here’s a drink that catches the eye. It may not be quite as radiant as a Blue Hawaiian cocktail, but it’s a looker and reminds a lot of a setting sun. Best, it’s a balanced drink you’ll want to make several times over.

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Note that this one incorporates a bit of sparkling wine. If you’re looking for a lower-proof option, try an NA bottle of bubbles. Regardless, don’t go with an expensive Champagne bottle. Standard issue, middle-of-the-road sparkling does just fine here.

The following utilizes a great flavored vodka from Middle West Spirits in Ohio. Read on for the full recipe.

Sunset Serenade

Combining vodka, Aperol, tropical fruit, citrus, and sparkling wine, this is a recipe worthy of a beautiful sunset, whether you’re vacationing on the beach or just in your backyard.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ounces OYO Stone Fruit Vodka
1/4 ounce Aperol
1/2 ounce pineapple juice
1/2 ounce lemon juice
1/4 ounce simple syrup
Sparkling wine
Maraschino cherry and pineapple slice for garnish

Method:

Add all ingredients except sparkling wine to a shaker tin and shake vigorously until well chilled.
Double strain into Champagne flute and top with sparkling wine.
Garnish with maraschino cherry and pineapple slice.

Mark Stock is a writer from Portland, Oregon. He fell into wine during the Recession and has been fixated on the stuff since… Read Full Bio

Four Roses’ 2026 Limited Edition Small Batch is its oldest blend yet

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Four Roses has announced the release of its 2026 Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon next month — and this year’s batch reaches back further than any prior release, blending bourbons aged 14 to 23 years.

The new blend from the Lawrenceburg-based distillery combines four hand-selected batches across three of the distillery’s ten recipes: 14-year-old OBSK, 14-year-old OESK, 15-year-old OESV, and a 23-year-old OESK. It’s non-chill filtered and bottled at barrel strength, 109.2 proof.

The Gold Room Is Peak Gilded Age New York Glamour

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As a New England WASP, I probably have a hereditary fondness for grand old rooms. My Boston Brahmin forebears, after trading religious zeal for mercantile ambition, liked nothing better than sipping claret, playing whist, and smoking cigars in their clubhouses on Beacon Hill. In private quarters adorned with mahogany paneling, maritime paintings, and marble fireplaces, my flinty ancestors chortled deep into the night—safely removed from wives, papists, and, God forbid, Yale men.

Since moving to New York City, I’ve delighted in finding bars that feel like clubhouses frozen in the Gilded Age. The Campbell in Grand Central comes to mind. The Rose Club at the Plaza. Although much newer, the Polo Bar gussies up the blue-blood clubhouse aesthetic with fabulous fare, a trophy-laden wine cellar, and an ultra-exclusive mystique. But the apotheosis of robber-baron extravagance is The Gold Room at Lotte New York Palace.

Classic lagers to drink if you want your beer to “taste like beer”

Pilsner Urquell

When you think about the flavor of beer, what do you imagine? To me, it’s a crisp, refreshing, no-frills lager. The type of beer you’d just as likely crack open on an unseasonably warm spring day while grilling as you would after an afternoon of mowing the lawn on a hot, hazy, humid summer day. It’s light, refreshing, and tastes like beer.

That’s not to say that there isn’t a place for chocolate- and coffee-centric porters or boozy, barrel-aged stouts, or even tart, lip-smacking sour beers. There is a time and place for those and many other styles. It’s just that sometimes I want to crack open a beer and not taste an explosion of tropical fruit juices or get bashed in the head with malts or oaky wood. I want a beer that tastes the way I imagine it should. Specifically, I’m thinking about a balanced, thirst-quenching lager.