Coconut cream, coconut milk, and a splash of Coconut Rum. This is what makes the White Christmas Margarita Punch a surprisingly tropical version of a festive cocktail.
The result is a rich and creamy Tequila drink that undoubtedly looks stunning.
The cranberries and the rosemary sprig are quite effective in supporting the Christmasy impression. Still, they are just the supporting act for garnish. The real star and the main ingredient of this festive Tequila cocktail is, naturally, coconut.
The classic Margarita recipe and most summer variations of this cocktail call for a crisp and fresh Tequila Blanco.
For the Christmas version, however, an Añejo is a much better fit. It is milder and softer in flavor, with warm caramel and vanilla aromas.
For example, the 1800 Añejo, produced by José Cuervo or the Patrón Añejo (a little more pricey), two of the most renowned Tequila producers, are both excellent choices.
Due to its milky white, the cocktail itself already does look quite festive. The addition of floating cranberries and a rosemary sprig truly ignite those Christmas vibes.
Yet, while the cranberries are edible, better treat the rosemary like a non-consumable garnish and leave it aside.
To create the impression of little snowflakes, you can consider rimming your glasses with coconut flakes. Very much in the style of a proper Margarita drink. By that, you can round off the Christmas theme and elevate the visuals of the drink.
Christmas is an excellent occasion to serve some extraordinary cocktails. Two of our favorites are our Christmas Spiced Rum Sour, made with a special homemade Christmas syrup, and this tasty Christmas Old Fashioned.
But there are many more beautiful festive recipes. In case you're looking for more inspiration, check out this list with other favorite Christmas cocktails.
The White Christmas Margarita Punch is a brilliant fit for the festive season, but I quickly want to mention some other must-try Tequila cocktails, as well. Not winter-themed, but still delicious, also during the cold season.
For instance, the Tommy's Margarita, or if you like more fruity, grapefruit-forward drinks, there are the Paloma or the Cantarito. For more drinks featuring the popular agave spirit, you can check out our overview of the best Tequila Cocktails.
Mixing Cocktails on Christmas Eve became somewhat of a tradition in our family. If you, too, want to shake up some drinks this year and perhaps start a new tradition, you've come to the right place.
This list of our favorite Christmas Cocktails holds something for everyone: Dessert cocktails with traditional Christmas flavors and spices and fruity classics with a festive twist. So get your shaker ready to mix some fabulous Christmas cocktails.
The Flip that Cobbler is a beautiful creation by Matthias Soberon (@servedbysoberon) for the festive season. It combines two classics, the Flip and the Cobbler - the clue is pretty much in the title. Egg yolk, which usually is imperative in Flips, is added via the medium of Dutch Advocaat.
And in cobbler-style, you serve this Christmas Cocktail in a goblet with heaps of crushed ice and a straw.
Ingredients
1.5 oz The Dutch Advocaat
1.5 oz medium-dry Madeira
0.33 oz nut liqueur
two dashes of nut bitters
nuts for garnish
Add all ingredients into your cocktail shaker and shake with plenty of ice cubes. Then strain in your glass over crushed ice. Now garnish with the nuts and serve with a reusable straw.
The Old Fashioned cocktail does a brilliant job of highlighting a quality spirit. The classic recipe only calls for sugar or syrup and a dash of bitters to enhance the taste of your base spirit.
With our festive Rye Old Fashioned, you add some flavor in form of homemade cranberry syrup.
Ingredients
2 oz Rye Whiskey
0.75 oz Homemade Cranberry syrup
2 dashes of Angostura bitters
3-5 Fresh cranberries
Sugared cranberries (garnish)
Sugar for rim (optional)
Rim a chilled Old Fashioned glass with sugar and set it aside. Add the fresh cranberries into your mixing glass and gently crush or muddle them.
Then add Rye Whiskey, cranberry syrup, Angostura bitters, and ice. Stir the drink until it's well-chilled and strain it over ice into the prepared glass.
For a festive touch, garnish the drink with sugared cranberries skewered on a cocktail pick.
A good Negroni is a fantastic way to counterbalance a lavish Dinner on Christmas Eve.
The Negroni Sour from @supreme_chef is a little less bitter than a regular Negroni, making it super approachable and easy to drink. The chamomile aroma from the Gin also adds a nice twist.
Ingredients
1.5 oz chamomile-infused Gin
1.5 oz Campari
1.5 oz Sweet White Vermouth
1 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
0.5 oz orange-infused syrup
Orange peel for garnish
one egg-white for the foam
To infuse Gin with chamomile, pour a more neutral Gin (e.g., Beefeater) into a glass, add a bag of chamomile tea, and let it sit for 5 to 15 minutes, depending on the individual taste.
Add all ingredients into your shaker, including the egg white, and dry shake (no ice yet) for at least 15sec. Then add the ice and shake again until your shaker feels ice cold.
If you prefer to leave the egg white off, add all ingredients plus the ice into your shaker, and shake until the contents are well chilled.
Then strain over ice into your glass and garnish with an orange peel.
If you're looking for a hot drink instead, this Hot Christmas Mezcal cocktail is the perfect fit.
It is based on homemade hot chocolate and spiked with Mezcal, coffee liqueur, and chocolate liqueur. A rich and creamy drink topped with heavy cream and garnished with grated nutmeg and a cinnamon stick.
Ingredients
1 oz Mezcal Joven
1 oz Dark chocolate & salt liqueur
0.5 oz Coffee liqueur
3 dashes Orange bitters
4 oz Hot chocolate
0.75 oz Heavy cream
Make hot chocolate by slowly heating up milk (4 oz) and dark chocolate (3 tbs). You can find more detailed instructions in the Mezcal Hot Chocolate Recipe.
Then pour Mezcal, the liqueurs, and the orange bitters into your glass and stir until combined. Add the hot chocolate and stir again before topping the cocktail with heavy cream.
For the final touches, sprinkle it with grated nutmeg and garnish with a cinnamon stick.
The Black Brew from Georgi (@justshakeorstir) is a chocolaty, cozy, yet elegant winter drink. The flavor combination of nuts, chocolate, and coffee is classic. Mixing that with Bourbon makes for a gorgeous Christmas Cocktail.
The Black Brew is perfect after dinner on Christmas Eve, but the flavors also work fantastic on a festive family afternoon. Drink it with some biscuits at tea time, put Jingle Bells on, lean back, and enjoy.
Ingredients
2 oz Coffee Liqueur
0.75 oz Mozart Dark Chocolate Liqueur
0.75 oz Frangelico Liqueur
0.75 oz Bourbon
2 oz Espresso
Chocolate Wafer Roll for Garnish
Add all the ingredients together with lots of ice to your shaker. Shake until the cocktail shaker feels well chilled, then double strain into your glass.
For the final touch, garnish the drink with the chocolate wafer roll.
Our Christmas Rum Sour is a fabulous cocktail for everyone who loves a classic Sour.
The flavors of Rum and lemon are still very pronounced, but the festive twist is the star of the show. It's a float of mulled wine that carries subtle notes of cinnamon, anise, and cloves.
The egg white gives some texture and makes this version of a Rum Sour a perfect Christmas delight.
Ingredients
2 oz Havana Club Añejo Especial
0.75 oz Fresh lemon juice
1 oz homemade Christmas syrup
one egg white
Cinnamon stick, dried orange wheel, and star anise for garnish
Put all ingredients, including the egg white, in your shaker and dry shake (no ice) for 15 seconds. Make sure to close the shaker tightly as, without ice, it could pop open. Then, add ice and shake again.
Now, strain the cocktail over ice into the chilled glass, and garnish it with a cinnamon stick, star anise, and dried orange.
The Trumpet of Joy by Micky (@veermasterberlin) features many of our favorite Christmas flavors: cinnamon, ginger, apple, and vanilla. And they work together beautifully.
It's a unique combination of flavors in cocktails, but it is absolutely delicious and surely a drink your guests will remember.
Ingredients
1.5 oz Rum (Wood Stork Spiced Rum)
0.75 oz Hibiscus Cinnamon syrup
0.33 oz Ginger infused Aperol
0.5 oz Apple Vanilla liqueur
0.75 oz fresh Lime juice
2-3 drops Angostura Bitters
one egg white
edible flowers for garnish
Put all the ingredients in your cocktail shaker and dry shake (no ice yet). Make sure to close the shaker tightly. After about 15 seconds, add ice and shake again.
Double-strain the drink into your cocktail glass and garnish with edible flowers.
For making the Hibiscus Cinnamon Syrup, you can use our hibiscus syrup recipe and add two cinnamon sticks per cup of water.
The Delight of the Night by Joshua (@a_few_drinks_behind) perfectly combines the smooth notes of Bourbon with the sweet and spicy flavors of homemade coffee syrup and chai tea.
The cocktail consists of only three ingredients, and each must be homemade. So it comes with lots of love but requires a bit of prep time - however, that can be done the day before your Christmas party.
Ingredients
2 oz Toasted Marshmallow infused Bourbon
2.5 oz Chai Tea Half n Half
0.75 oz Cold Brew Brown Sugar Syrup
Toasted Marshmallows for garnish
To infuse the Bourbon, fill a 16oz (500ml) canning jar halfway with toasted marshmallows, then fill it 3/4 up with Bourbon. Seal it airtight and let it sit at 130°F (50°C) for about an hour until the marshmallows fully dissolve.
Then, double-strain the mix into a freezer-safe vessel, let it cool down, and strain again.
For the chai half and half, let two bags of chai tea sit overnight in 8oz (250ml) half n half. -it should be about 8h.
To make the cold brew syrup, use equal parts cold brew concentrate and brown sugar. Heat the mix until the sugar is fully dissolved, then double-strain into a glass or bottle.
Our Christmas spiced Rum Sour is a combination of dark Rum, freshly squeezed lemon juice, homemade syrup, and one egg white.
And if you get the balance of the different ingredients right, I promise once you have tried this recipe, you will want to make it again and again.
We've tasted various Christmas cocktails during the last few years. None were as delicious as this one. It is boozy, full of flavor, sweet, sour, and tastes like Christmas in a glass.
So, if you are looking for a Christmas cocktail for your next Christmas party or family gathering, you found it. Here it is, and it won't disappoint.
Perhaps you already know that Sour Cocktails are among the most popular kinds of mixed drinks. They consist of lemon juice, simple syrup, and a base spirit. - For the classic Rum Sour, that's usually aged Rum. And the same goes for this Christmas version.
Havana Club Añejo Especial is our favorite and awesome value for money. Yet, if you have another favorite brand, that works just as well. -It should be an aged expression, though, and also no spiced Rum. After all, the flavors should not overpower the Christmas syrup.
Mulled wine is delicious and one of the best things about winter. And bringing the Christmasy taste of mulled wine into a Christmas syrup is fun and super easy.
All you need is red wine, sugar, oranges, cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, a splash of Rum, and a few drops of Angostura bitters. Just follow the steps in our mulled wine syrup recipe, and you get a great ingredient with minimal effort.
Should you prefer the taste of Glögg, the Scandinavian version of mulled wine, you can also consider adding cardamom to the mix.
If you've never tried a cocktail with egg white foam, you might find the idea weird at first. But it's actually a common practice and doesn't change the taste, just the texture.
It is optional, but it really takes the cocktail to the next level. It makes the texture much creamier, which is especially perfect for the Christmas Rum Sour.
Vegans can use aquafaba instead of egg white. It is also neutral in taste and works equally well.
This Christmas Rum Sour relies on our homemade mulled wine syrup and on the warm flavors of dark Rum. Also, the lemon juice should be freshly squeezed and not a bottled version to make this cocktail perfect.
For more festive drinks, check out this overview of our favorite Christmas Cocktails.
Just like seeing candy cane decorations, smelling and tasting Christmas spices immediately wakes these cozy, warm, and homely feelings. And with our holiday simple syrup, you can incorporate that feeling into cocktails like a Christmas Old Fashioned, Christmas Punch, and more festive cocktail recipes.
Our Christmas simple syrup is a deep red, spiced, sweet, and boozy syrup that is so delicious. Technically, it is a mulled wine syrup with an extra amount of flavor and booze.
Thinking of Christmas Eve, fragrant flavors of mulled wine, orange, cloves, star anise, and gingerbread come to mind. As the latter doesn't fit the rest of the ingredients, I prefer to make a separate gingerbread syrup.
The base of our syrup is a homemade mulled wine. Hence, For our spiced Christmas syrup, we choose the following ingredients:
On top, we need 1 cup of water, a few ounces of aged rum, and a few dashes of Angostura bitters to marry the flavors and add extra depth and complexity.
The best thing about our spiced Christmas simple syrup for cocktails is that it's so versatile. It pairs extremely well with dark, aged spirits like whiskey, rum, or Cognac but is also great with a vodka or tequila base.
It works in hot cocktails, cold drinks, and also as a festive addition to a glass of sparkling wine. Almost any cocktail recipe that incorporates simple syrup is a potential fit.
Here are some recommended drinks to make with our homemade Christmas syrup:
Our homemade Holiday syrup isn't only a great addition to your cocktail shaker, but you can also use it to bring festive flavors to desserts and breakfast.
Making this spiced Christmas syrup requires balancing a lot of flavors. It's much more complex than making cinnamon simple syrup or herbal sweeteners like rosemary syrup. For that reason, we provide some pro tips and tricks to master the recipe.
Snow falling from the sky, cozy fireplaces, and hot drinks. Each year, the festive season offers a lot to look forward to. But if you want to enjoy a boozy hot cocktail, there is not exactly a large number of attractive choices. To add some variety to your hit list of winter drinks, I have a recipe that will get you warmed up. A delicious, steaming hot Gin cocktail.
But this delicious Gin recipe won't only warm you up on cold winter days. It is so much fun that it hopefully also lifts your mood during the dark season. The name of this drink is “Heißer Kirmes Apfel” which literally translates from German to “hot funfair apple”. It brings together the earthy, sweet aroma of woodruff with citrus and apple in a hot, warming cocktail.
Not everybody is a fan of mulled wine which is why Glühgin is trending for the past couple of years. For all non-Germans: this is a kind of mulled wine but based on Gin instead. It is gaining popularity and inspires many new cocktail recipes based on warmed-up Gin. The recipe I have for you is not exactly a Glühgin, but it picks up the trend.
The base of the cocktail is Elixier Gin. This Gin has a very distinct and pretty strong woodruff taste. And that makes this drink so unique. The mix of woodruff and apple is a real treat. If you aren't familiar with Elixier Gin, you can find some more information in my Elixier Gin article.
On a side note: In Germany, hot alcoholic drinks like this one are very traditional during winter. You can also find delicious mulled wine or Glögg made of exquisite red or white wine at every Christmas Market.
And if you are into the taste of mulled wine, I also have a special Christmas rum cocktail recipe for you. It contains my Christmas syrup which technically bases on mulled wine.
