’Tis the season! The holidays are stressful—wholesome, but stressful. And one of the easiest ways to break the ice with Mom’s second cousin once removed whom you last saw when you were six, is to have a great cocktail in hand.
Ryan Dooling runs The Classic alongside owners Drew and Marie Nye and has been in the hospitality business for nearly twenty years. Safe to say, he knows his drinks.
Whether you’re taking the relatives out or looking for an escape from the season’s hustle, Rochester’s local “Cheers” has you covered. The drinks are spot on, the service is phenomenal, and the menu is vast (and entirely gluten free!). It’s quaint, it’s warm—it’s the essence of the holidays packaged in a brick-and-mortar (and I don’t mean that in an “Oh my gosh, if I see another festive sweater, I swear …” kind of way). When you give The Classic a visit, Dooling recommends ordering the following seasonal drinks:
The Holiday Espresso Martini
(Espresso, espresso liqueur, coffee-flavored vodka, and raspberry liqueur)
“When people ask, ‘how’s your Espresso Martini?’ I say, ‘Well, here’s the one that we make over here. Here’s one we make here, and here are the six other ones that I’ve come up with. Which one sounds good to you?’ It’s gotten that crazy,” Dooling says. “And it’s as simple as just changing one ingredient, and you have a whole different cocktail. I definitely see people gravitate toward these around the holidays and as the weather changes in general.”
“Because we are affiliated with Roam, we make theirs, which is a creamy vodka-based espresso martini. Ours at The Classic is with whiskey, and it’s not creamy, which is more like a traditional steakhouse preparation. For the holidays, I twist it a little bit—it’s got an element of chocolate, coffee, and raspberry. And then you can garnish it with something as simple as a cherry or chocolate powder on top. It almost comes out like a raspberry torte.”
Classic Campfire
(Bourbon, marshmallow syrup, Bauchant (orange cognac liqueur), espresso liqueur, espresso, Fee Brothers butter fat wash bitters)
“I try to think outside of the box,” Dooling says. “Our good friends at Fee Brothers make bitters, and they came out with a whole line of fat wash bitters. So I like to add that little bit of savory in when the weather gets cold. They have bacon fat wash, butter fat wash … it literally tastes like when I was a kid—like when you had instant oatmeal with butter and brown sugar on top. And they’re all vegan and gluten free.”
“I think people change the way they drink based on the weather. In the summer you’re drinking something lighter, a little bit more refreshing, and then, all of a sudden, the weather changes, and the person drinking tequila soda in August is drinking an old fashioned in September. I like to come up with drinks the way I like to cook. I’ll have a base, and then I think about what kind of flavors go with that. So, your orange, your apple, some of those darker, heartier-type things that you associate more with the season.”
Mom’s Drink
(White peach and rosemary vodka, ginger liqueur, St. Germain, lemon juice, simple syrup, Prosecco)
“This one isn’t on the menu,” Dooling says.
“It’s not holiday-specific, but it’s about family. There was a line of vodkas that we were trying to get rid of, and Drew said, ‘Just take this and do something with it.’ And I came up with this drink, and it instantly became my mom’s favorite drink.
“Her name’s Diana, and we were going to name it after her. In the ’80s, her license plate said Lady Di, like Princess Diana, so we were going to call it the Lady Di, but then everybody just started saying, ‘Give me that drink that Mom likes.’ And it became Mom’s Drink.”
“If you know it, you know it. And it’s one of those funny things where it’s about a family member, and it brings people together in a really cool but totally by mistake way.”
At-home holiday drinks
If you’re hosting at home, choosing which drinks to make and what options to have can seem like a daunting task. Dooling recommends the following: and the best part?—they don’t take much preparation at all.
Button Up:
2 oz. bourbon
1.5 oz. apple cider
¼ oz. lemon juice
1 oz. apple pie moonshine
Cinnamon stick
Dehydrated apple
Shaken, served up
Place all ingredients in a shaker and serve in a coupe or rocks glass.
Simple Holiday Cocktail:
1.5 oz. vodka
¾ oz St. Germain
2.5 oz. ginger beer
2 oz. mango syrup
Dried cranberries
Sprig of rosemary
Served on the rocks
Shake ingredients (minus ginger beer) and pour over fresh ice; add ginger beer.
“This one is simple and light,” Dooling says. “The dried cranberries and little bit of rosemary make it look festive, and you can prepare them and bring them out on a tray to your friends.”
I don’t think there’s any right answer to, ‘what to drink?’ It’s all based around what you like—coffee … vodka—what general tastes? But there are some things you simply can’t go wrong with. And whether you’re heading to The Classic or making something at home, Dooling’s drinks will hit the mark.
Learn about The Classic at theclassicparkave.com or on socials at @theclassicparkave.
This article originally appeared in the November/December 2026 issue of (585).
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