Celebrate the season of frost and flurries with warm concoctions topped with drifts of fluffy cream or chilled cocktails as white as Santa’s beard. Serve during your holiday gatherings with family and friends. Or savor one all by yourself as you unwind from a busy day, wrapped up in a warm fuzzy blanket in front of the fireplace.
How does Butterbeer Rum, Velvet Espresso Martini, RumChata Hot Cocoa, or Hot Boozy Coffee Sound? These are just a few cocktails included in our roundup of luscious Holiday party drinks. Get ready to make your spirits bright as we celebrate this special time of the year!
Crockpot Butterbeer Rum
"If it can keep Harry Potter warm on a flying broomstick, this adult version should do wonders for toastiness during blustery tailgates or holiday gatherings. "
6 cups water
2 12-ounce cans cream soda
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
½ cup butterscotch syrup
3 cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups spiced rum
whipped cream, for serving
butterscotch candies, for garnish
As easy as making snow angels in your neighbor’s freshly snow-covered lawn. Pour everything into your crockpot except the rum, whipped cream, and candies. Then let it brew on low for 3–3 ½ hours. That’s basically it. Just shut it off, stir in the rum, and pour it into mugs. Top each with a snowy mound of whipped cream and ever so gently place an unwrapped butterscotch candy on top (they sink quickly, but then, the Snitch is supposed to disappear, right?).
Disaronno Velvet Espresso Martini
"The Disaronno Velvet drifts in with a flurry of almond flavor and strong overtones of vanilla and chocolate, lingering like an after-dinner mint. The touch of coffee liqueur adds a nip of bitter to this creamy party cocktail or aperitif."
3 ounces of Disaronno Velvet Cream Liqueur
1 ounce of coffee liqueur (Kahlua recommended)
1 ounce of vodka
chocolate-covered strawberries or chocolate shavings, for garnish
Shake all the liquids in an ice-filled cocktail shaker as you dream of bell-bedecked reindeer leaping over moonlit snowdrifts. Then strain into martini or lowball glasses and garnish with the strawberry or chocolate shavings.
RumChata Hot Cocoa
"This is decadent warmth covered in a white mound of whipped cream, like a drift of snow concealing a hidden delight. RumChata cream liqueur enhances the chocolate with its blend of Caribbean rum, Mexican spice, and Wisconsin dairy cream."
2 ½ cups whole milk
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 ounces chocolate chips (or chopped bittersweet chocolate)
½ cup RumChata (Horchata Con Ron or Peppermint Bark)
1/3 cup warm caramel
whipped cream, for serving
cinnamon sugar, for garnish
cinnamon stick, for garnish
This is traditional cocoa like grandma used to make, but better. In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a slow simmer (not boiling!) over medium heat. Whisk in the sugar and cocoa powder until smooth as Bing Crosby’s voice, then stir in the chips and vanilla until all is melted and creamy. You’ll want to stop here and gulp it down, but don’t. It gets better. Remove from the heat and stir in the RumChata of your choice. Pour into mugs, and top with snowy whipped cream, drizzles of caramel, and sprinkles of cinnamon sugar, or just skip all the toppings and luxuriate in sips of the RumChata-laced chocolate
Hot Boozy Coffee
"Fluffy mounds of whipped cream, a lot of warming liquors, steaming hot coffee, and getting to apply live fire to an orange peel. What more can you ask of a winter libation?"
½ ounce brandy
½ ounce Grand Marnier
½ ounce Kahlua
5 ounces freshly brewed coffee
1 orange peel
½ cup whipping cream
½ teaspoon sugar
If you want to slide past the whole rigamarole of whipping your own cream, just get premade whipped cream. If you want to go old school, pour the whipping cream into a bowl and beat the bejeezus out of it with your mixer till it’s frothy, then add the sugar.
Pour all four liquids into a mug. Use your lighter to warm up the orange peel and let the heat release the oils which turns the peel into a yummy stir stick. The aroma alone will warm your cockles. Plop on a nice drift of sweetened whipped cream and bliss out.
Prosecco Sorbetto
"A stunning cocktail—winter white, cold as an icy pond, and so refreshing, it can also serve as a dessert or a palate cleanser between courses. And it comes with bubbles."
12 ounces frozen lemon sorbet or lemon gelato or lemon ice cream (for a creamier texture)
8 ounces Prosecco
2 ounces chilled vodka
holiday garnish
You’re going to get warmed up just making this one. Scoop the sorbet into a large bowl. Then whisk in half the Prosecco until it’s as smooth as a freshly fallen snowbank. Whisk in the vodka and remaining Prosecco. You should now have a delightfully bubbly kind of slush by now. It’s the kind of thing, when it filled the roads as a kid, meant you’d get a snow day off school. Ah, good memories. Pour into any glasses, even champagne flutes. Hang a candy cane on the side.
White Christmas Cocktail
"When you’re yearning for something simple after all the rushing, prepping, wrapping, and stuffing of the holiday season, make this. It’s as simple as forming a snowball."
6 ounces white creme de menthe
6 ounces Irish cream
2 cups ice cubes
Pour it all into a blender. Push the button and let it run until it’s smooth. Hum a Christmas carol and imagine that ludicrous leg lamp from “A Christmas Story” til you smile. Or if you’re particularly cranky, ferociously jab at the blender’s on/off button. Once the cubes are blended into smoothness, pour into the nearest glass. If you’ve made it thick enough, use it as a dip for a few holiday cookies. Sigh. Now that’s a happy holiday moment.