16 Festive Holiday Drinks to Sip All Season Long

This low-alcohol punch leans on tart cranberry juice and spicy ginger ale for a big punch of flavor, allowing the booze to take a back seat. Frozen cranberries stand in for a traditional punch ring, keeping this fizzy drink nice and cold.

The abundant cranberries in this delicious concoction perfectly complement the hard cider and the Aperol.

This bubbly, sweet-tart cocktail combines sparkling wine, dessert wine and deep-red pomegranate juice.

You'll need brandy, dark rum, and bourbon to make this richly flavored eggnog.

"Chartreuse and chocolate is among the world's most underrated combinations," says Bobby Heugel. He melds the two ingredients in this boozy, rich hot chocolate.

Leo Robitschek makes his perfect holiday punch with warming flavors of pear, cinnamon, and citrus.

Eben Freeman's foamy interpretation of eggnog—infused with the sweet, caramelly flavors of sticky toffee pudding, a British favorite—is halfway between a drink and a dessert. "It's thick enough to eat with a spoon," he says. "So was classic eggnog."

Coquito, or "little coconut," is a traditional creamy rum punch served in Puerto Rico for Christmas and throughout the winter holidays. 

A wintry take on a classic spritz, this cocktail is dry and tart from the cranberry liqueur with a layer of warming spice from the Contratto Aperitif.

Inspired by old-school 7-UP sherbet punch, this grown-up version is spiked with piney gin, tart lemon sorbet, and a generous splash of fizzy Champagne. This punch is only as good as the Champagne you use, so splurge for the good stuff!

With warm, rounded flavors like maple syrup and sarsaparilla, this gin cocktail is comforting and deeply flavored, rather than light and aromatic.

This version of mulled wine, from Walkers Maine restaurant in Cape Neddick, Maine, is gently infused with nutmeg, vanilla, and star anise, then lightly sweetened with honey and maple syrup.

Honey simple syrup is even easier to prepare than standard simple syrup; just vigorously stir together honey and water until well combined. The mellow, floral sweetness of the honey syrup pairs perfectly a touch of lemon in this tea-infused cocktail.

The spicy-sweet fig-ginger syrup rounds out the smoky mezcal and bright lemon juice in this cocktail. Mezcal is still the dominant flavor in this barely sweet drink that lets the liquor shine.

This juicy cocktail is a riff on a classic French 75, but instead of using lemon juice, Food & Wine's Justin Chapple swaps in clementine juice. The best part of this drink is that it also makes an excellent mocktail: Use apple cider vinegar and seltzer instead of the gin and Champagne.

Ponche Navideño is a Christmastime spiced tropical fruit punch that's served warm with a shot of tequila in Mexico. Paola Briseño González's chilled riff on this holiday classic pays homage to her love of vermouth.