Cocktail recipes & holiday hosting tips from Brix Experience

‘Tis the season for hosting – and we have the perfect place to learn tips & tricks to elevate your holidays! Moncton’s Brix Experience hosts interactive classes throughout the year (perfect for that last minute experience gift!), with theme meals, cocktail and mocktail sessions, and kids’ baking classes during March Break. Get a sneak peek into a session as Operations Director Eric Effinger and Mixologist Justin ‘Juice’ Landry share some of their holiday hosting tips with Jenna & Tosh on our final episode of 2025!

Take a listen/watch our video, then scroll down for a holiday message from Eric, complete with recipes & tips to make your hosting spectacular this season!

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PART ONE:

PART TWO:

Layering cocktails is easier than you think! Tune in as Justin teaches Jenna & Tosh how it’s done – or sign up for your own in-person lesson at Brix!

Elevate a mimosa tower with two base options! Eric went with a classic orange juice on the bottom and blood orange for the middle.

Eclectic glassware means each guest knows for sure which one is theirs – and it doubles as a great conversation starter!

Carb load your guests – and make creating their own fun sandwiches part of the party! A warm panini grill to heat the bread brings this brunch board up a notch, too.

FROM ERIC:

Seasons Greetings!

As a hospitality professional, I have armed myself with some essential technicals that allow me to navigate & survive the constantly moving tectonic plates that is the hosting landscape. During the holidays the movement can be felt, the bells jingle, and with the right plan you can not only survive the holidays, but also receive guests with arms open and exchange many a high five.

Here are some tips that I deploy and employ to help me receive humans and put smiles on the faces of my family & friends (any guest that enters my domain). Working in hospitality and at the BRIX, my guests have higher expectations similar to getting into a car with a race car driver, but I hope the following helps you take the corners with gusto and win the race (or just serve some good liquids and solids).

Prep is everything. Leave yourself extra time but make the preparations fun. I like to prepare and get as much done the night or day before (item or task pending). Whilst doing this I like to ensure I am the taste tester, and when it comes to cocktail pre-tasting, you must apply the Santa clause mentality and taste/check them twice. The night before is the pre party for yourself, so make the playlist about you, eat some
cheese, fill your boots!

Day of, the big day! The final door on the Advent Calendar! Ensure you have hangers in the closet waiting; the entry way is high traffic, so remove items and add a few extra hangers. The moment they step into your home the timer starts. This timer is from boots off until drink in hand, and its like pulling the pin on a holiday grenade. Plan a welcome cocktail, something that’s easy to prepare — and that can handle minor dilution — that will start the night off right.

WELCOME COCKTAIL: Kalimotxo
Popularized in the Basque region in the 1920s, this is served in a rocks glass on the rocks

3oz Full bodied red wine
30z cola
Garnished with Orange juice

This cocktail has a great story (listen to the podcast!), tastes like a unique sangria, and will surprise your guests.

Next: You need an Instagram able moment. Regardless if your guests are at your business or in your home, memories become memories when they go to the world wide web in your guests socials (who doesn’t like that sweet dopamine hit of a post being liked, especially at your holiday event!). So we went to the Champagne Tower!

Start with a triangle base: 6 glasses, second tier 3 glasses, third tier 1 glass (using champagne coupes, not flutes)
*scale up as needed // note the final shape will resemble a Christmas tree
Place a towel on the base; there will be liquids spilled during this holiday spectacle!
In the bottom glasses place OJ & blueberries, the second tier blood orange juice and the top leave empty; this will be purely Cava, Prosecco, or any sparkling wine you wish to pour.
Then, get your guests’ phones out. Have a bottle or two open and ready.
Pour from the top, watch the bubbles cascade down from tier to tier, creating a trio of delicious bubbly drinks to enjoy (Mimosa bottom, blood orange royal second, pure prosecco on the top)
*feel free to change berries, place sorbets in the coupes, etc.

The champagne tower is a great time to welcome your guests, toast, set the tempo for the night’s culinary adventures to come!

TIPS:

Buy any OJ you want, pour into a carafe (a carafe removes brand recognition, avoids judgement from guests).
The more you fill the coupes with juice & garnish = the less sparkling wine you have to use, so make the tower align with your holiday budget.
I wouldn’t suggest using champagne, especially when mixing with OJ, that’s like ordering a Grey Goose Vodka Caesar (amateur hour).
Note if the tower crashes, ask your guest to watch their feet, keep smiling and clean as needed. Any pics or videos will get more likes = more dopamine, so it’s a win win!
If you don’t want to do a tower — bigger is always better! Buy a Magnum of bubbles or wine; just the large format presence will draw some “ohhs” and perhaps a few “ahhhs.”

Now that your guests have a drink in hand, my next holiday essential is get your guests involved (and no, I do not mean have them
do the dishes). At Brix experience, we get people to roll up their sleeves and be a part of the action.

I like to always create a “Sanga Station” (Aussie slang for sandwich, feel free to sub out based on your recent travels which leads to some great convo, aka Torta station if you just came back from Mexico) — a do-it-yourself Sandwich station.

What you need:

A panini press, or toaster
Ghee (butters best friend that has a higher smoking point)
A mix of sliced bread, I opt for CoPain sourdough loaf & their baguette
A mix of cheeses, meats & anything else you like on a sandwich

Encourage your guests to build their own mini sando, torta, Sanga, sandwich and enjoy!

PRO TIP: Holidays are a marathon, so get your guests to carb load. The more delicious bread you get them to eat = the more cocktails & wine they can enjoy and ultimately the fuller they will become, it’s a win win. So, this sandwich station is the first step, the second is
Tapas!

PAN CON TOMATE
Pan con tomate is a delicious Spanish tapas staple and its easy to prepare. What it is: Tomato spread on garlic rubbed, buttered & toasted bread.

The night before I take three or four beefsteak tomatoes, use a cheese grater and grate them into a bowl. Then place the tomato insides into a colander or sieve, let the tomato juices drain (stirring occasionally) until the tomato mixture is slightly thicker. Crack in some salt to
taste and add a whisper of lemon juice to taste, then store.

Slice thick: Sourdough loaf, spread Ghee or butter, toast until crispy. Remove and rub half a garlic clove all over each side, you will smell and enjoy the perfume of this little friend. Then take your spread, spread on the warm toast, take a bite and enjoy!

PRO TIP: You can easily modify this recipe to create a second: The Pan Con Manchego. Take the above recipe, then take a slice of nutty delicious Spanish Manchego cheese, put it on top of the tomato spread and voila, it’s a Pan Con Manchego!

For me some of the best food moments are without complication: bread, spread perfectly, really gives me all of the feels.

Now that we have some time before dinner, I want to talk about a favorite cocktail that combines something that I like to finish the meal/experience off with: An Amaro. Amaro means “bitter,” it is a category of spirits known as a digestive. I am a big fan of Amaro Montenegro which you will see used a lot to start & finish a dinner in my homestead.

On to the next one!

THE PAPER PLANE

Glass: A Nick & Nora (or any glass you have, you can serve drinks in a salsa jar, however I would clean it out and give it a wash first, unless it’s a Tequila Caesar but that’s another season entirely)

Recipe:
Mix into a Boston shaker .75oz of:
-lemon juice
-Amaro Montenegro
-Aperol
-Lot 40 Rye Whisky
Add ice to shaker, seal, shake, shake, shake, then take out your hawthorn strainer
Strain into a chilled Nick & Nora

Garnish with a orange zest or a tiny little folded paper plane (using a mini clip), or anything you want … its your home. Make it yours. Garnishes are meant to entice and draw the eye. I believe in you!

PRO TIP: If you don’t know what some of these terms mean, take a mixology class at BRIX — and note we also sell the above equipment to help you be an amazing bartender at home.

Now if your guests want something a little stronger in the form of a shot, here is what I recommend:

A BLACK BIRD
.75oz Lot 40 Rye Whisky
.25oz Amaro Montenegro floated on top

Served into a shot glass
This is a delicious, concentrated blast of excellence that brings the warmth of a fire to your face.

Now when I am looking to really bring the BRIX experience into my home I reach out to the professionals, and in this scenario I reached out to Justin “Juice” Landry our primary Mixologist for a few amazing treats to blow my guests away. Here is what he dealt me:

Espresso Martini:
0.75oz Appleton 12 year rum
0.5oz Montenegro Amaro
0.75oz Frangelico
0.75 cocoa Syrup
2 dash angostura bitters
Coffee bean garnish

New York Sour:
1.5oz whiskey (red bank)
1oz lemon
0.75oz simple syrup
0.75oz egg whites
2 dash angostura bitters

Dry Shake
Shake with ice
Strain into rocks glass onto fresh ice
Let sit for 30 seconds
Spoon halfway into froth, pour red wine down spoon.
Bam!

Ginny’s Garden (Gin drink)
1oz Gin
1oz Aperol
1oz Strawberry Syrup
1oz Lemon Juice
2 dashes orange bitters
4 drops Saline water
Garnish Orange peel

But for the real process to enjoy replicating them, I highly suggest attending any BRIX mixology experience and learn from the master. Similar to Luke when he went to master the force in the Dagobah system with Yoda!

The Jenna & Tosh Show is a co-production of Pickle Planet Moncton and The Podcast Hub, and is recorded & aired by Rogers TV New Brunswick.

The Pickle Planet Podcast returns on Jan 12, 2026!

This season’s theme, Now Go Play, was composed and performed by Moncton musician Vimal. Discover more at Music by Vimal.

Don’t forget – the full archive of the podcast is available on Pickle Planet Moncton, dating back to 2018 when we started in Tosh’s attic!