Former residents of the French Quarter probably miss Mardi Gras more than anything else about the city. With the majestic celebrations that side of the world during the festival, who wouldn’t?

If you can’t make it to New Orleans for Fat Tuesday, you can celebrate its memories with cocktails that bring to mind its spirit. With thousands of places to enjoy a good cocktail in the city during the height of the annual festivities, there surely must have been a couple of drinks that completely snagged your fancy. Plop down on the couch, turn on the TV to whatever Mardi Gras programming is being shown and mix up a few of these French Quarter favorites.

Bourbon Lemonade

Fruity and light, this will make a nice accompaniment to hot chicken wings or some other spicy appetizer. To make it, make sugar syrup (2 teaspoons and a cup of water boiled), allow to cool and combine with two and a half cups of lemon juice. Pour the mix into a tall glass, add an ounce and a half of bourbon and top up with water. Add lots of ice after mixing and garnish with a slice of lemon.

Absinthe Frappe

Since you can’t really get an Absinthe drink along the lines of bars in the French Quarter anymore (they use Herbsaint now, if you must know), you’re in even better boat by making this one yourself. To concoct your own Absinthe Frappe, you need a rocks glass filled with crushed ice. Once you got it, pour an ounce and a half of absinthe and a quarter of an ounce of Anisette into your glass, then top it up with soda water. No need to do anything more - this cocktail is as perfect as can be.

Creole Cocktail

A favorite of my dad’s, this one’s not really my thing, though I’ve kept a V8 in stock to get him to shut up, sit back and relax during an exceptionally loud visit. Mixing it up is easy enough. On a martini glass filled with crushed ice, pour an ounce of vodka and two and a half ounces of Spicy V8 Cocktail. The original was garnished with a pickled okra (yes, an okra) after stirring although I usually just put an olive for good measure.