This year we started a Campfire tradition. Every Thursday, one staff member shares their favorite drink and a story to go with it. For your upcoming celebrations, please enjoy this compilation of Thirsty Thursday stories and recipes.

Happy holidays from the Campfire team.

Flaming Dr. Pepper

by Paul Adler

Ingredients

Disaronno
Bacardi 151
one can of light beer (miller lite, high life, should be blonde in color, as opposed to brown)

Preparation

Fill a shot glass about 80% full of Disaronno, top off with 151
Fill a pint glass (or Solo cup, if you want that authentic college feel)
Light shot on fire, drop into cup, chug. Tastes exactly like Dr. Pepper.

Story

I first learned about the Flaming Dr. Pepper reading Tucker Max's I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell during freshman year of college and immediately decided an incarnation of the drink needed to make an appearance at the University of Maryland. To quote Max: "People, heed my warning: That stuff is Special Olympics in a pint glass. You think they are harmless and not very strong, and the next thing you know it is an hour later and you are in the bathroom of the bar with your pants off, surrounded by five girls, giving your boxers to a bachlorette party because one of the girls is cute and told you that you had a nice butt. Be forewarned."

The drink is simple enough to make, tastes exactly like Dr. Pepper, and will likely result in a blackout if more than five or six are consumed. Furthermore, handling fiery shot glasses of liquor is never the brightest idea—I've seen tables, carpets, Solo cups, and people (I once was left with second-degree burns after a night of Flaming Dr. Peppers) set alight.

Caipirinhas

by Jen Larkan and Jeremiah Rosen

Ingredients

2 oz. Brazilian cachaca
1 lime
1 teaspoon super fine white sugar

Preparation

Wash the lime and roll it on the board to loosen the juices. Cut the lime into pieces and place them in a glass. Sprinkle with the sugar and crush the pieces (pulp side up) with a muddler. Just enough to release the juice, otherwise it'll get bitter. Add the cachaça and stir to mix. Add the ice and stir again.

Story

This is the signature drink at the Brazilian restaurant that has one of our favorite happy hours. After asking the bartender to show us how to make it, we decided to try it out for Thirsty Thursday and then report back on the success. It got everyone quite tipsy!

Flaming Gorilla

by Christopher McLallen

Ingredients

1 part peppermint schnapps
1 part Kahlua® coffee liqueur
1 part Bacardi® 151 rum

Preparation

Pour into shot glass, layering ingredients, from top to bottom. Light on fire and extinguish after 15 seconds.

Story

Maybe it was that there had been a fire in the building behind Campfire the month before or maybe I thought Thirsty Thursday could use something visual and a bit dangerous. Either way The Flaming Gorilla certainly provided some entertainment, as the excess 151 Rum spilled out of a couple of the shots and caught the table on fire. No need for the fire department this time as we had plenty of seltzer water on hand and the fire was put out quickly.

Cucumber Capiroska

Cucumber Caipiroska

by Nicole Berube

Ingredients

1 oz. English Cucumber Juice
2 English Cucumber Wheels
2 Lemon Wedges
½ oz. Simple Syrup
Splash Lemon Juice
1½ oz. Hangar One Buddha’s Hand
Splash Soda Water

Preparation

Muddle Cucumber Wheels, Lemons, and Simple Syrup
Add Ice
Add remaining ingredients except Soda Water
Shake and serve in a Highball Glass
Top with Soda Water

Story

The Cucumber Caipiroska is a variation on Brazil's most popular cocktail. My mother was born and raised in Portugal, so I had a lot of exposure to Portuguese cooking at home. I began making the drink in college while studying Portuguese, and found I was far better at mixing ingredients than interpreting Portugal's 18th century poets.

Milkshake Mambo

by Jen Larkan & Kaitlyn Tegethoff

Serves 3–4 people

Ingredients

1 Pint Vanilla Ice Cream
3 oz. Whipped Cream Vodka
16 Strawberries
¼ Cup Milk

Preparation

Put all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth. Garnish with a strawberry optional.

Story

When the A/C broke we started having milkshakes delivered to the office and thought it would be tasty to add some booze and end the summer. PS don't substitute with orange vodka, we didn't have such yummy results when we were testing!

Old Fashioned with Elderflower Twist

by Dan Rodriguez

Serves 3–4 people

Ingredients

½ part St. Germain
2 part bourbon or straight rye whiskey
2 dashes angostura bitters

Preparation

Stir ingredients in an old-fashioned glass, add ice and stir again. Garnish with a large orange twist.

Story

I really like bourbon. Like, a lot. I'm the Bubba Blue of bourbon. I drink it neat. I drink it with an extra-large ice cube. I like it spicy and oaky. I like it softer with hints of vanilla. My "signature" drink is booze in a glass, sometimes with ice. But when I had to come up with a Thirsty Thursday drink, I was told "booze in a glass" was a cop-out.

So to dress it up, I chose the classic Old Fashioned. It's a timeless drink that's extremely versatile. You can spiff it out with high-end bourbon, but with all the flavors involved, you can stick with a very affordable bourbon or rye (Rittenhouse Rye is an excellent cocktail rye that will run you about $20 a bottle). You can use simple, basic ingredients from the grocery store, or you can hunt for the perfect artisanal bitters. Adding a splash of elderflower liquer to the classic recipe softens the drink with a bit more sweetness and opens up the flavor profile, giving some additional balance to the citrus and bitters.

Manmosa

by Rich Cruz

Ingredients

Blue Moon
Champagne or sparkling wine
Mandarin Vodka
Orange Juice

Story

My friend went to brunch one Sunday in Hoboken and saw a Manmosa advertised on the brunch menu. He asked the waiter what it was and thought it sounded good based on the ingredients (this version didn't have any champagne), so he ordered a Manmosa tower. After he had the first drink, he told the waiter that it was really good. The waiter then said that he [my friend] was the first person to ever order it.

Saketini

by Simone Oppenheimer

Ingredients

2 oz cucumber infused vodka
2 oz saki
cucumber slice for garnish

Preparation

Combine vodka and saki into shaker with ice. Shake and strain into martini glass. Garnish with cucumber slice.

Story

The cucumber saki-tini was the first drink I had after I giving birth to my son in April. That's reason enough to honor it! It's a refreshing drink with a hint of cucumber taste and a touch of flower from the saki. It's a true "Simone drink" which means it has no more than 2 ingredients and is clear in color. L'chaim!

40s

by Jason Sutterfield

Ingredients

Olde English
Miller High Life

Story

I enjoy our staff's recipes but I'm typically not a big fan of fruity cocktails. I decided to reground Campfire by handing out 40's. There isn't a recipe but if you're hosting a party, I suggest bringing the good ole' classics like Old English, Colt 45 and High Life. If you really want to get the party started, I suggest playing a round of Edward Fortyhands.

Hot Gin Punch

by Christine Cattano

Ingredients

24 oz Gin
24 oz Madeira wine
6 Lemon twists
6 Orange slices
3 large chunks Pineapple
3 oz Honey
1 oz Fresh lemon juice
1 pinch Ground nutmeg
1 tsp Ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon Brown sugar

Add all the ingredients to a large pot and simmer over low heat on a hot plate. To serve, pour the hot mixture into a punch bowl and garnish with orange slices.

An Ode to Mr. Dickens

"Punch, my dear Copperfield, like time and tide, waits for no man."

For our very first Thirsty Thursday, which started right around ye olde Christmastide, I thought it was an exceptionally appropriate opportunity to conjure up one of the most magical-sounding brews in Mr. Dickens' lore. I used my generations-old chili pot, an equally ancient hot plate, and a lot of elbow grease chopping all that fruit (no interns required!)

Nibblers beware, the fruit at the bottom may result in epic drunkface!

Disclaimer: You may have heard this referred to as "hobo punch," which has been coined by certain neandertals who don't understand the complexity of the brewing process. Humbug!

Pimm's Cup

by Kade Roybal

Ingredients (to make one drink)

1 Cucumber, cut into 1/2-inch slices
3/4 cup Pimm's No. 1
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 sprigs each fresh rosemary, thyme and mint
2 lemon slices
2 fresh strawberries, cut in half
Ginger beer
2 rhubarb stalks

Add cucumber slices in cocktail shaker. Use muddler and mash well. Add Pimm's No. 1, lemon juice and sugar. Fill 2 glasses with ice. Add ice to Pimm's mixture, cover and shake vigorously. Strain into glasses. Place 1 rosemary sprig, 1 thyme sprig, 1 mint sprig, 1 lemon slice, and 2 strawberry halves down into each glass. Fill glasses with ginger beer. Garnish with cucumber spears and rhubarb stalks.

Story

The first time I tried Pimm's Cup was at a Wimbledon viewing party in Brooklyn, NY. It was a hot summer's day and my best friend from England had just moved to NY. She made pitchers of Pimm's Cup and everyone immediately had to have the recipe, including myself! I was thrilled to share this with the Campfire team. I also made Campfire themed cupcakes with marshmallow frosting! It might sound like an odd combo but I highly recommend cocktails and cupcakes at your next party. It was yummy and very successful!

Naranja Fizz

by Lisa Erwood

Ingredients (to make one drink)

1 1/4 ounces tequila
1 ounce peach schnapps
Splash of seltzer
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
1/2 ounce fresh orange juice
1 lime (for garnish)

Add all of the ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake well. Strain into a chilled glass and garnish with lime.

Story

I originally picked a peachy, tequila cocktail from a notable website. I got all the ingredients together, made a few test drinks and to my surprise the results were pretty undesirable. Thirsty Thursday was starting in a few minutes and I needed a plan B. I decided to work a little magic and use some ingredients from the original recipe and a few that we had on site and boom, the Naranja Fizz was born.

East Bay Cider

by Gregg Kaysen

Ingredients

Hennessy (eyeball it)
Martinelli's Sparkling Cider (just a dash)
Apple with Sprinkled Cinnamon Garnish (hat tip to Red Rooster Harlem)
Ice

Story

Hennessy has a long and rich history in California's East Bay drinking culture. Or maybe just among me and my eternally adolescent homies. If you're not drinking it straight from the bottle while standing on pleather couches in a Hayward nightclub, try it with apple juice.

This is my personal favorite cocktail, tweaked to attract an audience on all sides of the Bay Bridge.

Suggested listening music: 90's West Coast Rap

Honey Douce

by Jakub Popadiuk

Ingredients

1 1/4 parts Grey Goose Vodka
Lemonade (Tropicana or Minute Maid works best)
1/2 part Chambord or premium raspberry liqueur
Crushed Ice
Honeydew melon balls for garnish

Story

Some people go to the US Open for the Tennis, I go to the US open for the Honey Deuce cocktails. It's the official cocktail and it's awesome! It comes served in a really cool collector's souvenir cup and I immediately thought "I need to serve this at work for Thirsty Thursday!". It's a fun, delicious drink where the melon balls resemble tennis balls. I came up with the brilliant idea to have my friends and I drink 16 Honey Deuces so we could have enough collectors cups for the whole Campfire staff. I probably can't tell you who won the tennis match but I can tell you it was probably one of the best days I've had this year. Deuce!

Blood of the Kapu Tiki

by Mike Monello

Ingredients

3 oz fresh lime juice
3 oz grapefruit juice
3 oz orange juice
3 oz grenadine
3 oz sugar syrup
10 oz amber rum
½ tsp Pernod
3 dashes Angostura bitters

Fill a pitcher with crushed ice and add ingredients. Swizzle until a frost appears on the outside of the pitcher. Pour into small glasses or Tiki mugs, each garnished with orange and lime wheels. Serves 4 to 6.

Story

Halloween was approaching so what better time to mix up a giant batch of Blood of the Kapu Tiki? This party punch recipe was created by tiki carver Bosko and is featured in Beachbum Berry Remixed. It's not too sweet and not too strong, the perfect drink for large gatherings. I knew I had to one up Chris's epic setting the table on fire moment (link to Chris' recipe and story), so I served it up in a giant Volcano Bowl complete with smoking volcano and illuminated lava rocks.

Don's Own Planters

by Mike Monello

Ingredients (to make one drink)

1 ounce fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 ounce club soda
1 ounce honey mix
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 ounce light Puerto Rican rum
1 1/2 ounces dark Jamaican rum
1 Pineapple (for garnish)

Shake with ice cubes and pour everything into a tall glass. Garnish with speared cherries and pineapple finger.

Story

My love of all things tiki is fueled as much by the amazing cocktails created by self-made characters like Don The Beachcomber and Trader Vic Bergeron as by the mysterious wood carvings and exotic tiki mugs that characterized the era. Don's Own Planters was Don the Beachcomber's take on the grandaddy of all Polynesian potions, the Planter's Punch. This recipe came from Cocktail archaeologist Beachbum Jeff Berry's fantastic Beachbum Berry Remixed, the bible for all tiki cocktails.

Bison Thyme

by Jakub Popadiuk

Ingredients (to make one drink)

0.5 oz Creme Yvette
2 oz Zubrowka
A few drops of Orange Bitters
4 Fresh Raspberries
1 Straw Fresh Thyme
1 Container of fresh mint
Dash of lemon
1 spoon of honey syrup/honey water

Gently muddle thyme, raspberries, and honey. Add lemon juice, bitters, Creme Yvette, Zubrowka and ice into a shaker. Shake well and double strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish: 1 straw of thyme.

Story

If my name doesn't give it away, I'm 100% Polish. I wanted to somehow incorporate my nationality into my drink so I decided on the Bison Thyme. This drink is so good, it should be forbidden. It actually is forbidden – only in the United States. It contains Zubrowka, a Polish vodka flavored with bison grass. It's banned because bison grass contains a blood thinner. But don't worry, I used the faux version and for safety precautions, I highly recommend that you do too! I discovered this cocktail recipe at a mixologist party. It's also great when served chilled and mixed with apple juice. Enjoy!

Margaritas

by Steve Coulson

Ingredients (to make one pitcher)

5 limes
5 lemons
1 can frozen lemonade concentrate
COARSE salt (either sea salt or kosher, NOT table salt)
1 regular size bottle of Budweiser

Add ingredients to blender. Blend. Salt rim of glass before serving.