Cheers to the Season: The Ultimate Holiday Cocktail Guide
The holidays are a time to celebrate, and what better way to toast the season than with a lineup of festive, show-stopping cocktails? Whether you’re hosting a cozy gathering, dazzling at a glamorous soiree, or simply winding down by the fire, a perfectly crafted drink adds the finishing touch to any celebration. From reimagined classics to inventive sips that sparkle with seasonal flavors like cranberry, cinnamon, and citrus, this guide has something for everyone—no matter your palate or party size. So dust off your shakers, stock your bar cart, and get ready to sip your way through the most wonderful time of the year. Cheers!
Hendrick’s Festivus Fizz
Created by Hendrick’s National U.S. Ambassador, Vance Henderson
Ingredients:
2 parts Hendrick's Gin
3/4 part Fresh Lime
1 part Pink Grapefruit Syrup
1 dash Cardamom Bitters
Top with Sparkling Wine
Rosemary Sprig, Cucumber Slices, & Cranberries to Garnish
Combine ingredients (minus sparkling wine) in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into a rocks glass over ice and top with sparkling wine. Garnish with rosemary sprigs, cucumber slices and cranberries. The fresh fruit flavors coupled with sparkling wine will have your tastebuds dancing.
Suegra’s Casserole
2 oz Sweet potato-pumpkin spice infused Las Californias Citrico
Cube a sweet potato and lightly toss in apple juice or water. Add a tablespoon of pumpkin spice and toss until evenly covered. Roast for 1 hour at 350f, let cool. Add potato to container with 2 cups of Las Californias citrico, shake and seal, let rest for 5 days. Fine strain and bottle
½ oz PX sherry
½ oz Sweet Vermouth
3 dashes Angostura
Add all ingredients in a mixing glass and stir until cold and diluted. Strain in coupe and garnish with flamed Marshmallow.
Rémy Martin: The Rémedy
1⅓ oz Rémy Martin 1738 Accord Royal
⅔ oz Lime Juice or Verjuice
⅓ oz Honey Syrup
Ginger
Pour Rémy Martin 1738 Accord Royal, Verjuice, Honey syrup and Ginger syrup into a shaker. Top up with ice and shake vigorously. Strain twice into an Old Fashioned glass filled with ice. Put a slice of ginger on top.
OAXACAN NEGRONI
1 oz. Casamigos Mezcal Joven
1 oz. Italian Bitter Apéritif
1 oz. Sweet Vermouth
2 Dashes Orange Bitters
Garnish Charred Grapefruit Peel
Combine all ingredients into a glass mixer. Add ice, stir well for 30 – 45 seconds and strain into rocks glass. Add large ice block and express natural grapefruit oils from peel over top of cocktail. Lightly char peel and garnish.
Wyoming Whiskey Ski Lift
2oz Wyoming Whiskey Small Batch
0.75oz lemon juice
0.75oz Orgeat
0.75oz coffee liqueur
1oz heavy cream
1 egg white
2oz soda water
Combine all ingredients aside from the soda water in a shaker tin. Shake hard without ice. Add ice and then shake hard again. Strain into a chilled Collins glass into the soda water to the top of the glass. Allow the cocktail to sit for one minute and then top with the rest of the drink to achieve lift above the rim of the glass. Garnish with a dried lemon wheel.
Ilegal Spicy Hot Chocolate
3 cups water
1 cup milk or alternative milk
1 bar chocolate (Ibarra)
1.5 oz Ilegal Joven or Reposado
0.5 oz Ancho chili liqueur
2 oz hot chocolate mix
0.5 oz agave nectar
1 dash Angostura bitters
Add water, milk, and chocolate to a pot and bring to a boil. Let boil until chocolate dissolves and let cool. To coffee mug: add Ilegal Mezcal, agave, chili liqueur and bitters, fill with chocolate mix and garnish with cinnamon stick.
Avaline Cambrusco Spritz
2 oz of Avaline Lambrusco
2 oz of 100% Pomegranate-Cranberry Juice
Sparkling Water
Lemon
Garnish: 1-3 Maraschino Cherries
In a tall glass, add ice. Add Lambrusco & 100% Pomegranate-Cranberry Juice. Fill to the top with Sparkling Water. Add one squeeze of a lemon wedge. Garnish with Maraschino Cherries
