The best part about the holidays is the chance we get to spend quality time with family and friends. Use your next hosting opportunity as a way to dazzle your guests at your holiday get-together with these libations. Easy to make and with a seasonal twist, each of these cocktails is guaranteed to get you and your guests in the celebratory mood and ready for the most wonderful time of the year. Just don’t rock around the Christmas tree too hard.
Rockefeller Sour
For this recipe, we chose Branch and Barrel Bourbon for its oak and vanilla notes, which add an interesting contrast to the sour cocktail. The result is a balanced and nuanced cocktail, with a stunning layered look, guaranteed to impress in both looks and flavor. Traditionally, a dry red wine is used as the float on the drink. For a holiday twist, use mulled wine, cooled, for a hint of warm spices.
Ingredients
-
1 ½ oz dry red wine (mulled wine for a holiday twist)
-
1 ½ oz Branch and Barrel Bourbon
-
1 egg white, separated from the yolk
-
1 ½ oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
-
¾ oz simple syrup
Directions
In a shaker combine whiskey, lemon juice, simple syrup, and egg white - without any ice. Perform a dry shake, meaning shake all the ingredients together without ice. Shake vigorously. Once the mixture is completely combined, add ice to your shaker and shake again. Pour all contents of the shaker into a highball glass. Using a cocktail spoon, slowly pour wine over the cocktail. Pour slowly so a layering effect occurs.
Santa’s Milk and Cookies
The crispness of Breckenridge vodka pairs with Kahlua immaculately. Perfect for Santa to dunk his cookies in, this cocktail will make even the darkest holiday evening merry and bright.
Ingredients
-
1 ½ oz Breckenridge Vodka
-
¾ oz Kahlua
-
¾ oz gingerbread simple syrup (recipe below)
-
Half and half
-
Cinnamon and sugar for the rim of the glass
-
Sugar cookies for garnish
Directions
Rim a highball glass with a mixture of half cinnamon and half sugar. Add ice to the glass and pour ingredients in one by one, Breckenridge Vodka, followed by Kahlua, then the gingerbread simple syrup. Top off the drink with half and half. Garnish with Santa’s favorite sugar cookies.
To make the gingerbread simple syrup
Simple syrup can change the flavor of any cocktail. Whatever flavor combination you can think up, you can easily make it into a simple syrup. The best part is it truly is simple.
Ingredients for gingerbread simple syrup
-
3 cinnamon sticks
-
Pinch of nutmeg
-
1 ½ cup of water
-
¼ cup of honey
-
¼ cup of molasses
-
1 inch of fresh ginger, roughly chopped
-
1 tsp vanilla extract.
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Let boil for five minutes. Watch the pot carefully as the sugar in the molasses and honey tends to boil up and may boil over. After five minutes turn off the heat and let the mixture cool. Strain out the liquid and then it’s ready to use.
Pa Rum, Rum, Rum, Rum
This classic cocktail is perfect when serving a large group. Mix the butter with the cinnamon and brown sugar ahead of time. Your guests can spoon the butter into their mugs, and simply fill with rum and hot water. Top this decadent drink with whipped cream for a sweet finish.
Ingredients
-
1 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
-
2 oz Montoya Rum
-
Hot water
-
Dash of cinnamon
-
1 tbsp brown sugar
-
Whipped cream
-
Cinnamon stick for garnish
Directions
Spoon about a tablespoon of butter into a mug. Add a tablespoon of brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon. Pour one and a half ounces of rum into the mug and fill with hot water, stirring as you pour. When all the butter is melted and combined in the drink, it’s ready. Top with whipped cream and a cinnamon stick for garnish.
Loco Cocoa
The earthy notes of tequila bring out the similar flavors of the cacao in chocolate, making them a delicious pairing. A dash of cayenne gives this hot cocoa an unexpected kick. This one will definitely keep you warm and toasty even during the most frigid winter night.
Ingredients
-
1 ½ oz Suerte tequila
-
4 oz hot chocolate
-
Dash of cinnamon
-
Dash of cayenne
-
Whipped cream
-
Cinnamon stick for garnish
-
Chocolate sauce for drizzle on top
In a mug add an ounce and a half of tequila. Add a dash of cinnamon and a dash of cayenne. If you’re making this for a lot of people you can put these spices right into your hot cocoa mix. Fill the mug with hot chocolate. No hot chocolate is complete without whipped cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce. Add a hot pepper as garnish, so guests know this hot cocoa has some spice. Use a cinnamon stick as a garnish, and it can be used as a stir stick when guests consume the cocktail.
These four classic cocktails got a holiday makeover to bring you and your guests festive cheer this season.
Rockefeller Sour
This classic twist on a whiskey sour cuts the sweetness with the addition of a dry red wine. Colorado has a vast variety of high-quality local whiskeys which are widely available to make this cocktail a locally made holiday staple.
Santa’s Milk and Cookies
This whimsical twist on a white Russian cocktail is a crowd-pleaser. It looks stunning, and tastes like your favorite childhood gingerbread, with a boozy spin.
Pa Rum, Rum, Rum, Rum
This traditional cocktail is perfect for a cozy night surrounded by family and friends. A hot buttered rum is just what the night orders when the weather outside is frightful.
Loco Cocoa
Take your hot chocolate to the next level with some sugar and spice. Tequila and chocolate are a match made in heaven. Take that paring and add a little spice for a unique drink that will warm you up in more ways than one.