14 Holiday Drinks to Sip This Season
When you’re entertaining for the holidays, you want your drinks to be just as festive as the menu. Sparkling punches; seasonal spritzes; warming mulled wine. We’ve gathered some of our favorite holiday drink recipes in this roundup, whether you’re in the mood for a cocktail spiked with cranberry or want to try your hand at homemade eggnog. Read on for even more holiday drinks to enjoy.
Sticky Toffee Pudding Eggnog
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."
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Cranberry-Spice Cocktail
The abundant cranberries in this delicious concoction perfectly complement the hard cider and the Aperol.
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Sparkling Pomegranate Punch
This bubbly, sweet-tart cocktail combines sparkling wine, dessert wine and deep-red pomegranate juice.
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Homemade Eggnog
You’ll need brandy, dark rum, and bourbon to make this richly flavored eggnog.
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Frenched Hot Chocolate
"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.
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Anjou Punch
Leo Robitschek makes his perfect holiday punch with warming flavors of pear, cinnamon, and citrus.
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Sparkling Cranberry-Ginger Punch with Toasted Spices
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.
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Babbo Natale Spritz
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.
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Citrus-Champagne Punch
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!
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Spiced Maple Gimlets
With warm, rounded flavors like maple syrup and sarsaparilla, this gin cocktail is comforting and deeply flavored, rather than light and aromatic.
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Walker’s Mulled Wine
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.
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Earl Grey–Aquavit Spritz
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.
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Smoky Mezcal-Fig Sour
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.
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Clementine 75
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.