Making Christmas cocktails — or drinking them — is one of my favourite holiday festivities. Sure, it may seem obvious — doesn't everyone like to drink at the holidays? But it's not about the drinking (well, not entirely). There's something fun about veering away from our typical mainstays and getting creative with festive flavours and ingredients. Heck, throw some cranberries and a sprig of rosemary into that G&T you drink year-round and now it's a Christmas cocktail. There's no wrong way to do it.
Then there are those drinks we only have around the holidays that make them all the more special: a cup of piping hot chocolate at one of the city's Christmas markets, a glass of rum eggnog while you wrap all of your gifts, an Amarula laden coffee on Christmas morning. Christmas cocktails and mocktails punctuate the season and get the festive feelings in the air.
If you're hosting, Christmas cocktails are also a lot of fun for guests. Every year, my mom makes a signature Christmas cocktail that she greets us with, so now it's become a Christmas tradition that we always look forward to. Guests will love guessing what's in your festive creation, and to make it easy for you, we've got 14 Christmas cocktail and mocktail recipes. Try the recipes below, or use them as a guide to help you put a holiday twist on your favourites. It's the holidays — anything goes.
Cup O’Jerry
Start your day right with this delightful coffee, made festive with the addition of spiced rum and lots of whipped cream.
Add the Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum, heavy cream, and a pinch of brown sugar to your mug. Top with piping hot coffee. If you usually take cream and sugar in your coffee, add that too.
Stir, and top with cinnamon and whipped cream.
The Salted Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel
Only three ingredients go into this easy, crowd-pleasing cocktail. We won't judge if you lick the caramel sauce rim.
Part piña colada, part eggnog, this cocktail checks all the boxes. It's festive, it's tropical and it's topped with a dollop of whipped cream. Check, check and check.
Garnish with an orange wheel, rosemary and skewered cranberries.
Wise Chai New Fashioned
The addition of store-bought chai syrup and festive garnishes like star anise and a cinnamon stick put a holiday spin on this take on an old fashioned.
Add all the ingredients to a saucepan over medium heat and whisk to dissolve the sugar, or stir if you can’t whisk. Watch carefully and reduce heat before the mixture boils over.
Simmer on low for 10 minutes.
Turn off heat, cover and allow the mixture to steep and cool for another 10 minutes.
Strain the syrup into an airtight glass jar or bottle by pressing down on the cranberries to squeeze everything out. Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Non-Alcoholic Christmas Kiss
Muddle 5–6 fresh cranberries in the bottom of a cocktail shaker.
Add ice and the rest of the ingredients. Shake to chill.
Strain into a coupe glass and garnish with sugared cranberries. Note: Use a hawthorne strainer to strain or else the cranberries block the openings on the shaker lid and you’ll have trouble getting the whole cocktail out.
The Currant
Made with cassis, gin and cherry liqueur, this is a booze forward cocktail that will knock your Christmas socks off.
Heat apple cider according to directions on package.
Combine hot apple cider with Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey in a mug and stir.
Garnish with a cinnamon stick.
Non-alcoholic Gingerbread Old Fashioned
Sarah Kate, non-alcoholic drink expert and author of the blog Some Good Clean Fun, shares her recipe for a spirit-free old fashioned made festive with the addition of gingerbread syrup.
1 dropper All The Bitters Alcohol Free Aromatic Bitters
1 oz + 1 tsp gingerbread syrup
Gingerbread cookies, for the rim
Gingerbread cookie, to garnish
Gingerbread Syrup
1 cup water
1 cup demerara sugar
3 Tbsp fresh ginger root, finely chopped
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp vanilla
5 allspice berries
5 whole cloves
Method
Gingerbread Syrup
Chop the ginger into small pieces.
Add the allspice and cloves to a mortar and pestle and crush.
Add everything for the syrup, except the vanilla, into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer on medium heat, stirring to make sure the sugar dissolves. Keep on a simmer for several minutes, then remove from heat.
Add the vanilla, stir and then cover to cool.
Strain into an airtight glass jar or bottle.
Gingerbread Old Fashioned
Put 4–5 gingerbread cookies into a plastic bag, or between parchment paper, and gently crush them with a rolling pin. Pour the crumbs onto a small plate.
Pour a small amount of the gingerbread syrup (1 tsp) onto another plate.
Dip a rocks glass into the syrup and then into the ginger crumbs to rim the glass with the cookie crumbs.
Add the rest of the ingredients into the rocks glass and stir to combine.
Add a big square ice cube, and stir again to chill.
Garnish with a gingerbread cookie.
The Heritage
Celebrate the season with this bubbly cocktail topped with sparkling wine.