7 Festive Cocktails for your Holiday Party
🎵 ‘Tis the season to be jolly.🎵
Or so the old earworm — which seemed to be playing on repeat for the entire 3 hours it took me to get a mani/pedi yesterday — proclaims. I think we can all agree that there is much to be happy about this time of year.
1) Spending time with family.
2) Giving and receiving gifts.
3) Taking a break from work.
4) Feeling so free from obligations that you can spend an entire fucking day snuggled up with a good book.
5) These festive AF cats.
But, in my humble opinion, there is something simple you can add to your holiday party — or, for that matter, your solo reading session #JudgementFreeZone — that really ramps up the jolly: Some tasty cocktails.
If you’re looking for something seasonal to sip this year, whip up one of these boozy brews.
1. Ho Ho Holiday Spritzer
One reassuring thing about the holidays — at least for me, because I have anxiety like… whoa — is how they are almost always the same.
Same color scheme.
Same wrapping paper motifs.
Same worse-for-the-ware, cigarette-smoke-smelling Santa costume that your uncle has worn to delight (and terrify) the children for the last 2 decades.
If you, like me, appreciate the continuity and simplicity of the holidays, this is the cocktail for you.
Fruity and light, it’s an easy option that will quickly become a go-to classic.
Ingredients
1 tsp lemon juice
2 oz cranberry juice
2 oz orange juice
2 oz ginger ale
2 oz vodka
1 ½ tsp grenadine
4-5 cranberries
1 sprig rosemary
¼ cup ice
Directions
1) Add ice to a short glass.
2) Pour in 1 tsp lemon juice, 2 oz cranberry juice, 2 oz orange juice, 2 oz ginger ale, 2 oz vodka, 1 ½ tsp grenadine and stir gently to combine.
🎄 With these proportions, the alcohol flavor is extremely mild (read: undetectable). If you prefer a stronger alcohol flavor double the vodka quantity when preparing.
3) Add sprig of rosemary and cranberries to garnish.
Optional: Prepare this as a big batch cocktail by mixing 4 tablespoons of lemon juice, 2 cups cranberry juice, 2 cups orange juice, 2 cups ginger ale, 2 cups vodka and 5 tablespoons of grenadine. Combine in a pitcher. When serving, pour over ice in short glasses and add desired garnishes.
2. The Grinch Cocktail
It isn’t often that you can combine a favorite childhood memory with a boozy treat — because… legal drinking age — but this cocktail provides a rare opportunity.
Demonstrate your occasion dedication to Grinchiness with this adorbs cocktail.
And, if you decide to come down from Mount Crumpit and engage with the citizens of Whoville this holiday season, you can transform this recipe from an individual drink to a big-batch cocktail, providing plenty to share.
Ingredients
1.5 oz Bird Dog Blackberry Whiskey
3 oz ginger ale
¼ cup lime sherbert
1 strawberry
2 tbsp green sanding sugar
Directions
1) Coat the edge of a short glass with water and rim the glass with sanding sugar.
🎄 To do this, pour the sanding sugar onto a plate, place the glass upside down and twist it back and forth until it is coated to your satisfaction.
2) In a measuring cup, combine 1.5 oz of Bird Dog Blackberry Whiskey with 3 oz of ginger ale, stir gently.
3) Add ¼ cup of lime sherbert, mixing with a fork to break up the sherbert and combine it with the ginger ale and whiskey mixture.
4) Pour the combined ingredients into the prepared glass, taking care to avoid touching the rim.
🎄 If the combined ingredients don’t reach the top of your glass, top off with additional ginger ale and/or whiskey depending on your taste.
5) Cut a strawberry in half and, using a cookie cutter or a paring knife, cut into a heart shape.
6) Skewer the heart-shaped strawberry and add to drink to finish.
🎄 If the skewer is too long to sit to your liking in the bottom of the glass, use a pair of kitchen shears and clip it down to size, taking care to remove any splintered edges.
Optional: Prepare this as a big batch cocktail by combining four cans of ginger ale with 24 ozs of whiskey in a large punch bowl. Top with 4-5 scoops of lime sherbert and allow the sherbert to melt.
To make this non-alcoholic — and, therefore, fun for the whole family — swap out the whiskey for pineapple juice.
3. Eggnog White Russian
While lots of revelers choose to show their holiday spirit by covering every square inch of their bodies with red and green and affixing some reindeer horns to their heads, not everyone is so… flamboyant… about their affinity for the season.
If you prefer to keep it lowkey, but still want to demonstrate some commitment to the season, try this soothing sippable.
By trading milk for Eggnog, you can revolutionize your white Russian — and make yourself feel a bit more holly and jolly than you did before you consumed it.
Ingredients
3 oz coffee liquor
3 oz vodka
3 oz eggnog
Approx. ½ cup ice
Garnish of your choice
Directions
1) Add ice to short glass.
2) Pour 3 oz coffee liquor over ice
3) Pour 3 oz vodka cover ice
4) Top with 3 oz (or more, if space allows) of eggnog
5) Stir to mix
🎄 You can skip this step if you like the layered look; however, the eggnog tends to appear curdled when it starts to mix with the alcohol components, so stirring is recommended
6) Top with a garnish of your choice — we used a skewered cherry cordial… because we had one in the pantry.
4. Cranberry Vanilla Mimosa
One thing that I’ve always found odd about the holiday season is the dedication some people put into looking their absolute best — as if the people they are going to hang with haven’t seen them looking like hot garbage on a random I-overslept-and-my-hair-looks-like-a-squirrel-is-living-in-it Wednesday.
But, even though I — who, really, would like to live in oversized sweatshirts and leggings — find it weird that people willingly clothe themselves in binding, formal clothes just to sit around someone’s family room and snack on Christmas nougat, I do get it.
Sometimes it’s nice to be fancy.
And if that’s how you roll, this drink is for you — because it looks fancy AF.
As an added bonus, because it’s technically a mimosa, it is socially acceptable to sip one no matter how early in the day it may be.
Ingredients
Approx. 1 cup prosecco or champagne of your choice
1.5 oz vanilla vodka
3 oz cranberry juice
5-10 cranberries (fresh or frozen)
Directions
1) In a champagne glass of your choice, combine 3 oz (2 shots) of cranberry juice with 1.5 oz (1 shot) of vanilla vodka.
2) Stir until well combined.
3) Fill glass to top with prosecco or champagne, pouring slowly to maintain color separation if you desire this aesthetic.
4) Top with 5-10 fresh or frozen cranberries
🎄 If you plan to sip the cocktail, frozen cranberries are preferred as they will keep your drink cool while not diluting it.
5. Merry Cherry Bomb
These Merry Cherry Bombs have it all.
They’re adorable.
They’re delicious.
They’re festive.
They’re easy to make.
And, most importantly, they’re alcohol-rich.
An after-dinner cocktail and a dessert all in one perfect bite, they will be a hit at your holiday party or spice up your winter reading session.
Ingredients
10 oz jar of Maraschino cherries with stems
Approx. 1 cup of vanilla vodka
Approx. 12 oz almond bark
Approx. 1 cup Christmas-colored nonpareils (round sprinkles)
Directions
1) Empty juice from jar of Maraschino cherries, holding back cherries to keep them in the jar.
2) Pour vanilla vodka into jar, covering the cherries.
3) Replace lid and place in refrigerator, allowing cherries to soak for 24-48 hours.
🎄 The longer you allow the cherries to soak, the stronger they will taste. If you prefer a mild alcohol flavor, reduce soaking time to 12 hours.
4) After soaking time has elapsed, drain vodka from jar.
🎄 You can dispose of the vodka or you can use it in a cocktail, as it will have a nice cherry vanilla flavor. Recommend mixing with soda water and sipping while you complete the rest of these steps.
5) Spread cherries out on a bed of paper towels and allow the excess alcohol to drain off while completing next steps.
6) Melt almond bark on the stove over very low heat or in the microwave (heat at 50% power stirring every 30 seconds). Take care not to overheat the product as it may caramelize.
7) While the bark melts, pour nonpareils into a bowl and place a sheet of wax or parchment paper on a cookie tray
8) Once almond bark is fully melted, while holding stem, drip cherries, one at a time, in the molten bark, submerging halfway.
9) Immediately dip the coated cherry in the nonpareils, coating to your liking.
10) Place completed cherry on the prepared cookie sheet.
11) Repeat until are cherries are coated.
12) Allow cherries to sit on the cookie sheet in the refrigerator until the almond bark has fully set (approximately 30 minutes). Store in a storage container or on a covered plate until ready to serve.
6. Cheery Cinnamon Shot
Sparkly and bright — just like the Christmas lights that transform bland subdivision streets into temporarily magical displays of commitment to the season — this simple shot will kick you in the tush harder than a frustrated reindeer.
Perfectly marrying cinnamon and cherry — two flavors I would have been reluctant to pair — these shots provide a perfect use for that Fireball you have leftover from autumn — which is, of course, the Fireball season (obvi).
Ingredients
3 oz package cherry gelatin
1 cup boiling water
1 cup Fireball cinnamon whiskey
13 oz can whipped cream
1 package Red Hots candies
Approx. ¼ cup Christmas-colored nonpareils (round sprinkles)
Directions
1) In a large measuring cup, mix 1 cup of boiling water with one package of cherry gelatin. Stir until the gelatin is fully dissolved.
2) Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
3) Add 1 cup of Fireball cinnamon whiskey, stirring until well mixed.
🎄 This proportion will result in relatively strong shots. If you prefer a more mild alcohol flavor, use ½ cup of cold water and ½ cup of Fireball cinnamon whiskey instead of a full cup of Fireball cinnamon whiskey.
4) Portion the mixture into clear plastic glasses, filling to the top while leaving a slight lip to support toppings
5) Arrange glasses in a 9 x 13 pan for easy storage and place in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours until gelatin is fully set.
6) When ready to serve, remove from refrigerator and top each cup with whipped cream.
7) Sprinkle with Christmas-colored nonpareils and top with 2-3 Red Hots candies.
7. Yuletide Shooter
This one is best enjoyed after the kiddos go to bed, while your finger bleed from the papercuts you inevitably suffer while trying to rapidly wrap present after present — work that, let’s be honest, the fucking elves should really do.
But, no worries. This one will make it all better. Because it has all the alcohol.
Plus, because it looks so festive, you won’t feel guilty about downing a couple while surrounded by piles of wrinkled wrapping paper while your children slumber upstairs, visions of sugar plums — or, more likely, Nintendo Switches — dance in their head.
Ingredients
3 oz package cherry gelatin
3 oz package lime gelatin
2 cups of boiling water
2 cups of vodka
13 oz can of whipped cream
Garnish of choice
Directions
1) In a large measuring cup, mix 1 cup of boiling water with one package of cherry gelatin. Stir until the gelatin is fully dissolved.
2) Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
3) Add 1 cup of vodka, stirring until well mixed.
🎄 This proportion will result in relatively strong shots. If you prefer a more mild alcohol flavor, use ½ cup of cold water and ½ cup of vodka instead of a full cup of vodka.
4) Portion the mixture into clear plastic glasses, filling halfway.
5) Arrange half-filled glasses in a 9 x 13 pan for easy storage and place in the refrigerator for 1 and ½ to 2 hours until gelatin is reasonably well set.
6) Meanwhile, in a large measuring cup, mix 1 cup of boiling water with one package of lime gelatin. Stir until the gelatin is fully dissolved.
7) Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
8) Add 1 cup of vodka, stirring until well mixed.
9) Allow mixture to cool on the counter for 30-45 additional minutes.
10) Remove half-filled shot cups from the refrigerator and fill the remainder of the way with the lime gelatin mixture.
🎄 Test one first, pouring lime gelatin on top of set cherry gelatin. If the colors bleed more than you would like, return cups to the refrigerator and allow the lime gelatin to cool an additional 30 minutes to 1 hour before attempting again.
11) Return fully filled cups to the refrigerator and allow to set for at least 3-4 hours.
12) When ready to serve, remove from refrigerator and top each cup with whipped cream and a garnish of your choice — we used our merry cherry bombs to ramp-up the alcohol.
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