If, much like our government, you’ve instituted a spending freeze in your budget to cope with the times, you’ll be pleased to learn about Elephant & Castle’s weekly drink special. Every Wednesday night starting at 8, the 19th Street, Northwest, location of the British-inspired pub chain offers a happy-hour menu with 11 takes on a martini—each for only $5. While the cocktails aren’t particularly inventive, their price should be enough of a wow factor to lure many. Below, see a demonstration of one the more popular martini spinoffs on the menu, the Castle-tini, and make sure to get the recipe after the jump.

With more than 150 wine varietals and 130 types of Scotch, there’s plenty to drink at the new British gastropub Againn. Luckily, Elli Benchimol, who was previously at Potenza, Zola, and Zola Wine & Kitchen as beverage director, is there to guide you. In addition, Benchimol crafted a cocktail menu with ten specialty drinks. Included on the menu is, of course, a version of the Pimm’s Cup, a staple British drink. Benchimol’s version, named Pimm’s Cup No. 13, has Hendrick’s gin, but you can substitute your choice of liquor. Check out Benchimol’s demonstration below and make sure to get the recipe as well as browse Againn’s full cocktail menu after the jump.

A staple drink of the holiday season, eggnog often gets a bad rap—the result, we surmise, not of people’s fear of eating raw eggs but of those awful premade eggnog mixes sold in cartons at most grocery stores. At Poste Moderne Brasserie, bartender Rico Wisner makes a mix-free version of the drink, called the Egg ’n’ Grog ($13). Wisner also skips the heavy cream, opting instead for milk to keep the cocktail from becoming overwhelmingly thick and heavy. Take a look at his demonstration in the video below, and be sure to get the recipe after the jump so you can make your own nog at home.

Co Co. Sala has dubbed its lineup of winter cocktails “heavenly hot elixirs,” but “sinful” is perhaps a more apt way to describe the sensory pleasures elicited by the drinks at this Penn Quarter chocolate lounge. In coming up with the cocktails—which combine artisanal chocolates with liqueurs, cognacs, and rums—co-owner Nisha Sidhu drew from her knowledge of flavor profiles. The Apollo, for example, plays on the chocolate-and-orange pairing by mixing Valrhona dark chocolate with Grand Marnier, a liqueur distilled from bitter orange. Before combining the liquids, however, the dark chocolate is first made into a ganache then steamed into hot chocolate.

Check out Sidhu’s demonstration below, and make sure to get the recipe—as well as browse the restaurant’s full winter-cocktail menu—after the jump.

When hosting a Halloween party, there are three elements critical for success: (1) a great costume, (2) a good music selection (bonus points if you have a DJ), and (3) killer drinks. The last is perhaps the most critical element—the tastier the drinks, the more your guests will consume, and the drunker they get, the less likely they are to care about (1) or (2).

For advice on the perfect drink to serve at a party, we enlisted PS 7’s Gina Chersevani, who recommended putting together a punch: “Punches are great when you’re entertaining, especially during the upcoming holidays.” Her Toasted-Spice Apple-Cider Punch recipe is made with fresh apple cider, pressed at the restaurant. If you don’t have a cider press, an electric juicer will do the trick—just make sure you remove the apple cores before. To make three cups, you’ll need about 12 pounds of apples. If you’re pinching pennies, here’s some good news: Chersevani recommends making the cider using bruised or slightly damaged apples, which sell for much less than regular apples. Of course, if you’d rather skip the hard work, you can buy premade cider.

Below, Chersevani demonstrates how to make the punch and how to properly toast the spices used in the drink. Check out the videos, and make sure to get the recipe after the jump.

Absinthe may still be the main draw at this second-story Shaw restaurant, which opened at the height of the spirit’s craze last year, but bar manager Melyssa Mason has created a cocktail menu with a more well-rounded selection. There’s the 4 O’Clock Rocks ($10), which mixes Hendrick’s gin with muddled cucumbers and limes, and the Mely’s Milkshake ($10)—named after Mason—that’s a combination of vanilla vodka, Frangelico, and Bailey’s.

Also on the menu: 1905’s signature cocktail, the Green Lantern ($11). This gin drink is made with muddled limes and basil, a splash of pineapple juice, and a house-made pineapple simple syrup—the secrets of this last ingredient, says Mason, can’t be revealed. “But regular simple syrup also works,” she adds, tauntingly.

Get a demonstration of how to make the Green Lantern below, and make sure to stop by 1905 for a taste of the fall cocktail lineup, which Mason says will feature some warmed Scotch drinks. The recipe for the Green Lantern is included after the jump.

He may be the City Paper’s beer expert, but on Saturday, Orr Shtuhl will temporarily ditch the mug for cocktail gear and step behind the bar to host Spice, a cocktail party at the Warehouse (1021 7th St., NW). On the menu: five original drinks—plus some punch and shooters—created by Shtuhl and priced at no more than $7. What makes the party even more sweet: DJ Sean P of Fatback will emcee the event.

The Phillips, a variant of a screwdriver that’s made with paprika-infused vodka, is one of the menu’s more interesting offerings. To infuse the vodka, Shtuhl drew inspiration from a previous Buzzed cocktail demonstration and used a home version of the sous vide technique. Find out how he created the drink below, and make sure to get the recipe as well as a look at the party’s menu after the jump.