What to buy: Lucid is one of the most widely available absinthes. If you can’t find it, substitute another anise-flavored liqueur such as pastis or Pernod.

When a recipe calls for blood orange bitters, we turn to Stirrings brand; it can be found at specialty liquor stores. If you can’t find it, use regular orange bitters or omit this ingredient.

Simple syrup can be found at most liquor stores, or you can make your own.

This recipe was featured as part of our Absinthe Obsessive story.

Banana Beer or Bananenweizen as it’s known in Germany, tastes best with Wheat Beer. The banana flavor blends well with the fresh taste of wheat beer and gives it just a slight sweetness. Perfect for sipping after dinner, or anytime.

“Federweißer (from German Feder = feather + weiß = white, from the appearance of the suspended yeast), is an alcoholic beverage, typically 4 percent alcohol by volume. It is the product of fermented freshly pressed grape juice, known as must. The term in principle includes all stages of fermentation from must to finished wine.”

“It is known as Suser, Sauser, Neuer Süßer, or Junger Wein (“young wine”) in Southwest Germany, Switzerland and South Tyrol, Sturm (“storm”, from the cloudy appearance) in Austria and Bavaria, Neuer Wein (“new wine”) in the Palatinate, Bremser in Franconia, burčiak in Slovakia, burčák in Czech Republic, “bourru” or “vernache ” in France.”

“Fermentation” “Once yeast has been added, grape must begins to ferment rapidly. The fructose contained in the grapes is broken down into alcohol and carbonic acid (glycolysis). As soon as an alcohol content of four percent has been reached, Federweißer may be sold. It continues to ferment until all the sugar has been broken down and an alcohol content of about ten percent has been reached.”

“As a beverage” “Due to the carbonic acid, Federweißer tastes quite refreshing, not unlike a grape lemonade or a sweet sparkling wine. The yeast particles contained in Federweißer are responsible for its name, which literally means white as a feather. As fermentation progresses, however, Federweißer may increasingly assume a darker, often amber-like or light brown hue. In general, Federweißer is made from white grapes; when made from red grapes, the drink is called Roter Sauser or Roter Rauscher. Roter Sauser is less common than Federweißer. In general, both are made from grapes that lack the potential to produce a wine of high quality.”

“Because of rapid fermentation, Federweißer can not be stored for long and should be consumed within a few days of purchase. As carbonic acid is constantly produced, the bottles can not be sealed airtight and have a permeable lid (they would burst otherwise). They must be stored in an upright position to allow the gas to continuously escape from the bottle and to prevent spilling.”

“Progressing fermentation was also a challenge in transporting bottled Federweisser over long distances before the advent of modern-day commercial traffic and refrigerated vehicles, the latter of which are needed to slow down the yeast’s metabolism during transport. Therefore, in the old days, Federweisser was almost exclusively available (and, for the most part, known) in and around wine-growing regions.”

“Depending on the date of the grape harvest, it is available from early September to late October, and is generally served together with hearty, savoury food. The classic combination is Federweißer and Zwiebelkuchen, although Federweißer and chestnuts is also popular. It also tastes good with many kinds of meat.”

“Federweißer contains yeast, lactic acid bacteria, and a large amount of vitamin B1 and B2.”

This recipe was featured as part of our Kentucky Derby Day menu.

What to buy: Try to find Stirrings blood orange bitters for this drink. If you can’t, go ahead and substitute orange bitters.

Prosecco is a sparkling wine hailing from the Veneto region of Italy and made of the namesake grape. The extra-dry Ruggeri Prosecco di Valdobbiadene works nicely in this cocktail and is affordable enough that you can buy a few bottles. Prosecco is becoming more widely available, but if you can’t find it, go ahead and use a good-quality, extra-dry sparkling wine.

This was featured as part of our Neoslacker Interactive Thanksgiving.

What to buy: Sidral Mundet is a lightly fizzy Mexican soda with a clean apple taste. It can be found at any Hispanic grocery store or online. If you can’t find it, sparkling apple juice makes a decent substitute.

This recipe was featured as part of our Cinco de Mayo cocktail menu.

This recipe was featured as part of our Sexy Vampire Halloween Party and Punch Recipes photo galleries.

What to buy: Framboise lambic is an ale flavored with raspberries instead of hops and can be found in most grocery and liquor stores.

Hoegaarden white ale is a smooth, refreshing wheat beer from Belgium. It can be found in most grocery and liquor stores.

This recipe was featured as part of our Summer Fruit Cocktails and Punch Recipes photo galleries.

This recipe was featured as part of our Cinco de Mayo cocktail menu.