Nightcap Late Evening Drinks Recipes

The nightcap is a lovely thing.

It stretches out an evening a bit and softens all the day's edges.

Wherever you find yourself for last call, consider that last drink and find something worth savoring.

If you're at a bar, the ritual can be quite civilized. When we asked Jackson Cannon of Boston's Eastern Standard what to drink at the tail end of the night, he prescribed Nicole Lebedevitch of The Hawthorne's luxurious Cognac and Cynar cocktail, aptly named Ce Soir (see the recipe). It's lush and silky, but with a bitter edge that makes you feel like a grownup.

If you're at home in your pajamas (why not?), consider the Hot Milk Punch (see the recipe).

Recipe: Put on your slippers, shuffle into the kitchen and warm up some milk (or better: half and half) with a little brown sugar. Add a few glugs of rum and brandy and grate over some nutmeg and cinnamon. Now, find a very cozy spot to settle down; this is as sweet and snuggly as a basket of kittens snoozing by a fireplace.

If you're at that point of postprandial mellowness when mixing a drink seems too taxing a chore, look to rich, amber-colored spirits. They are best at warming you through. Pour a finger or two of something dark and delicious, like Bulleit's 10 year bourbon. Sip until it's lights out.