By Dina Novarr –
You know what’s more American than Thanksgiving with family? It is the miracle of mismatched chosen families gathering around the table to eat food cooked with inconsistent skill and commitment. It’s a table where people, flavors, and spirits from all corners of the world come together to celebrate what really matters: good company, great food, and cocktails that complement your turkey instead of competing with it. Welcome to the Friendsgiving table, where every bottle has a passport stamp and every cocktail tells a story about belonging.
I picture this as starting the evening with Avèze, the French Alpine aperitif “welcome.” Before the turkey even hits the table, your guests need something to do with their hands besides doom-scrolling the family group chat. Avèze is a bold, herbaceous gentian liqueur born in the mountains of Cantal, France. Avèze doesn’t posture, pander, or apologize. Serve it over crushed ice, let it open up, and enjoy every sip till the glass is empty.
Next, we move on to “The Dragonfly’s Dance,” a celebration of duality and the official drink of managing Friendsgiving chaos.
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The Dragonfly’s Dance
Ingredients
2 oz Libélula Joven Tequila
1 oz Combier Triple Sec
1 oz fresh lime juice
0.5 oz cranberry syrup (yes, from the can—this is a judgment-free zone)
Preparation
Shake, strain over fresh ice, and garnish with sugared cranberries.
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Libélula, named for the dragonfly, blends bright blanco with gently oaked reposado, giving you a tequila that exists beautifully in between worlds. Pair it with Combier Triple Sec, the Loire Valley’s gift to cocktail history and the world’s first triple sec, and suddenly that wobbly cylinder of cranberry sauce has found its soulmate. Sometimes matches can be made across oceans and borders.
Slowly you move on to the “Rosé Cooler,” the perfect Friendsgiving pairing for turkey and stuffing.
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Rosé Cooler
Ingredients
0.75 oz Combier Elderflower Liqueur
1.25 oz dry vermouth
4 oz AVAL Rosé
Preparation
Combine elderflower liqueur and vermouth in a wine glass. Add ice. Top with AVAL Rosé. Stir gently. Garnish with a lemon twist. ——
This cocktail is your Friendsgiving diplomat: light, floral, crisp, and structured enough to elevate turkey instead of fighting it. The AVAL Rosé (hailing from Brittany) brings minerality; the elderflower adds lift; the vermouth adds backbone. Together, they cut through gravy, brighten stuffing, and keep you from slipping into a 4 pm food coma. It’s essentially the “I brought my new partner to Thanksgiving and they’re actually delightful” cocktail.
And, to end the feast, we will have, “Smoke & Mûre.” It’s an evening nightcap that is earthy, smoky, and lush.
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Smoke & Mûre
Ingredients
1.5 oz Banhez Mezcal
0.5 oz Combier Liqueur de Mûre (blackberry liqueur)
0.5 oz fresh lime juice
Ginger beer
Preparation
Add Banhez, lime, and Combier Mûre to a shaker. Shake lightly. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Top with ginger beer. Garnish with a lime wheel or blackberry.
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Banhez is crafted by a co-op of families in Oaxaca and brings smoke, minerality, and soul. Combier Mûre adds deep, velvety blackberry richness. Together, topped with ginger beer, it becomes the ideal after-dinner drink: grounding, comforting, and a little mysterious … like the kind of conversation that only happens when everyone is too full to pretend anymore. This is the cocktail you sip when the lights dim, the pie crust flakes onto the tablecloth, and someone says, “Okay, real talk … .”
Lastly, a pure expression to end the night: Control C Pisco served neat in a small glass. Nothing added, nothing needed. Elegant, clean, floral, and expressive, Control C is distilled in the Elqui Valley of Chile, where the climate swings give grapes their unmistakable aromatics. It’s bright enough to keep the night alive and soft enough to let it land. It’s the kind of spirit that quiets the room, slows the breath, and lets everyone settle into that warm, reflective stillness that only happens at the very end of a great night. It’s not just a digestif; it’s a benediction.
Look around this Friendsgiving table. You’ve got spirits from Saumur and Oaxaca, Jalisco and Brittany, Auvergne and Elqui. You’ve got co-op farmers, multigenerational distillers, winemakers, granddaughters protecting family legacies, and even a retired hockey player who found his calling in the Loire. You have a world of spirits at a table, but it is the kind of American story worth celebrating.
These bottles aren’t “imports.” They’re immigrants. They crossed borders. They carried traditions. They brought identity, craftsmanship, and centuries-old techniques. And now they’re here, mixing with each other, creating something new while honoring something old.
Here’s to keeping families together, chosen or otherwise. Here’s to keeping spirits flowing. Here’s to a table where everyone belongs.
Salud. Santé. Cheers.
San Francisco-based Dina Novarr enjoys sharing her passion for fine wines, spirits, non-alcoholic craft beverages, and more with others.
Cocktails with Dina
Published on November 20, 2025
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