This time last year I was enjoy Christmas cocktails out at the bar with the girls. Now we’re all stuck at home away from each other but at least I still have my virtual happy hours and my alcohol. I chose these six drinks because they are a holiday/Christmas twist to a very classic cocktail. No matter what alcohol you prefer- gin, vodka, tequila, whiskey… there is a drink on this list for everyone! I’m also very excited to share these nifty cocktail glasses I picked up at the thrift shop last week. I’m absolutely obsessed!
Christmas Margarita:
Tequila is totally my drink of choice and this was so simple to make. This definitely looks like the most Christmas-y out of all of my drinks and the most basic for the holidays. Would have been great for a holiday party. I already know I’ll be making this one a lot in the upcoming weeks. Here is the recipe I followed along with.
What You Need:
- 3 oz Cranberry Juice
- 1 oz Lime Juice
- 1oz Triple Sec
- 2 oz Tequila
- Lime slice for garnish
- Cranberries for garnish
- Rosemary for garnish
- Salt/sugar for the rim
Directions: Run a lime on the edge of your glass and dip in salt or sugar. Combine cranberry juice, lime juice, triple sec and tequila in a mixer with ice. Shake! Strain into the glass with the salt/sugar rim and throw in the lime slice, cranberries and rosemary for garnish.
Raspberry Gin Fizz:
I’m a huge gin person these days so I’ve been making a lot of gin fizzes. I found the recipe for this one on Pinterest and never thought to use kombucha as a mixer until now. I dig it, and the pan-fried lemon was a nice touch. FYI: This recipe makes 2 drinks!
What You Need:
- 1 Lemon
- Ice
- 2 sprigs of Rosemary
- 2 oz Gin
- 2 oz Raspberry Liquor
- Raspberry Lemonade Kombucha
Directions: Cut the lemon in half. Slice 1/2 of the lemon and fry each slice in a pan until golden brown. With your two glasses, put 1 ice cube in each and pour 1oz of gin and 1 oz of raspberry liquor in each glass. Place one of the lemons on top of the ice. Pour kombucha into the glass until full and then squeeze the juice of the other half of lemon on the top as desired. Garish with rosemary.
Cranberry Whiskey Cocktail:
Another classic Christmas drink that is so simple to make. I learned recently that the colder it gets outside, the darker the liquor should be. I already had rosemary simple syrup left over from another drink I made last week on a Zoom happy hour so this was so quick to make and I enjoyed it.
What You Need:
- 2 oz Cranberry Juice
- 1 oz Rosemary Simple Syrup
- 2 oz Whiskey
- Cranberries
- Rosemary
Directions: Pour cranberry juice, simple syrup and whiskey into a mixer over ice. Shake! Strain into a glass over new ice and garnish with cranberries and rosemary.
Holly Jolly Christmas Cocktail:
I tried to follow along with this recipe– but it definitely took a left turn. Still delicious though! This does not look like the picture, mainly because my Blood Orange juice was a very light pink to begin with, but it was an interesting mix of ginger and citrus. It was different but I dig it.
What You Need:
- 1/3 cup Blood Orange Juice
- 2 oz Vodka
- 1/2 oz St. Germain
- Ginger Beer
- 1 tbsp Pomegranate arils
- Mint Leaves
Directions: Shake blood orange juice, vodka and St. Germain in a mixer with ice. Strain into a glass and top with ginger beer, pomegranate arils and mint leaves.
Pomegranate Procecco Smash:
You’ve heard of an orange crush, now here is her winter sister- a pomegranate crush. Pomegranate is very Christmas-y right? I just wanted to take a break from the cranberry juice. I definitely didn’t get the ice situation right with this one but it was still so good. This is my mom’s favorite drink and she stole this from me as I was taking these pictures.
What You Need:
- 2 oz Pomegranate Juice
- 1 oz Maple Syrup
- 1 oz Vodka
- Prosecco
- Crushed Ice
- Rosemary
- 1 tbsp Pomegranate Arils
Directions: Shake pomegranate juice, maple syrup, and vodka in a mixer over ice. Strain into a glass with crushed ice in it. Top with Prosecco and garnish with rosemary and pomegranate arils.
Cinnamon Orange Bourbon Old-Fashioned
My little oddball drink! It’s the only one that isn’t red but I had to do some version of an Old-Fashioned. I found this recipe on Half-Baked Harvest but definitely did not follow it to a T. But that’s the fun in these drinks- I can do whatever I want… especially 5 drinks in already.
What You Need:
- 2 oz Bourbon
- 1 oz Maple Syrup
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1/4 cup Orange Juice
- 1 oz Cinnamon Syrup
- Orange Bitters
- Orange Seltzer
- Cinnamon
Directions: Stir together bourbon, maple syrup, sugar, OJ, cinnamon syrup and bitters in a mixer. Pour into a glass over ice and top with orange seltzer and cinnamon. I also used an orange peel for garnish.
Here’s the whole crew! These drinks were so easy to make and I can’t wait for my next virtual happy hour with my girlfriends. Let me know in the comments below if you try any of these!
Thanks for reading! xx