Spotted in Esquire’s 30 Best Holiday Cocktail Recipes, as Crafted by Expert Mixologists
The best Christmas present is a nice buzz, and our favorite festive drinks will make everyone at your holiday party feel more than jolly.
Christmas cocktails are 99.9 percent about garnishes. You could put out a punch bowl of lukewarm Ocean Spray, and with some pine tree fronds, dried cranberries, and star anise pods scattered about, and people would rave. What’s that other tenth of a percent, you ask? Alcohol. And alcohol is, needless to say, still important. So here’s a collection of cocktail recipes that are more than appropriate for Christmastime and all its merriment. Or rather, strained togetherness after a year packed in tight with stress. Drinks all around!
Here, we’ve got the range: classic cocktails that hit especially well at holiday gatherings, hot cocktails that dissipate family-induced anxiety, punches and nogs for imbibing with a group, and a few wintery cocktail riffs with seasonal flavors woven in.
So from our bar cart to yours, here are 30 cocktails you should absolutely drink this Christmas. Of course, when in doubt, you can always just stick a cinnamon stick in a rocks glass with two fingers of single malt Scotch and call it a day.
El Silencio Piñata de Navidad
Created by the folks at San Patricios in New Jersey, this cocktail is a Mexican-inspired holiday treat.
Ingredients
-
1 oz El Silencio
-
1 oz spiced guava
-
1/4 oz pear brandy
-
3/4 oz lime
-
1 bar spoon apricot liqueur
-
1 dash fire bitters
-
1 dash cinnamon tincture
-
1 dash saline solution
Directions
Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake for about 15 seconds. Strain into a glass over a large ice cube.