I’ve always loved leaning into a holiday or a theme, especially for a party. Food and drinks are an effective way to establish festivity! In this post, I’m sharing some of the festive cocktails I’ve tried this holiday season for you to make for your Christmas parties this weekend and New Year’s Eve gatherings next week!
How to Make Any Cocktail Festive
Cocktails are an element that can easily set the tone of a party! Tried and true drinks like a gin and tonic or old fashioned are definitely crowd pleasers. Take them a step up by giving them a holiday spin.
Add a splash of red juice
Cranberry and pomegranate juices compliment a lot of different classic cocktails and can fit into a Christmas color scheme.
Garnish with pomegranate seeds or herbs
Pom seeds look pretty floating around in drinks – kind of like little glass beads. Even adding them to a glass of champagne works! Harvesting the seeds in a big bowl of water helps with the mess. Adding a sprig of herbs like mint or rosemary also adds some holiday flair.
Give it a cute name
Any cocktail can be made thematic with a fun name! Several of the recipes later in this post are really only festive because of their names. Add “Grinch” to a green drink or “2020” to what you’re serving on NYE!
Okay, so that’s how to make tried and true cocktails for a holiday theme, but sometimes you want a totally new recipe! I’ve compiled all the festive ones I made this year for you to try out. Let me know if you try any of them!
Festive Holiday Cocktail Recipes
I found a bunch of new drinks recipes on Pinterest from halfbakedharvest.com this season. I definitely recommend exploring her site for more ideas. These are the drinks that stood out to me! All of them were a hit.
Holly Jolly Christmas Citrus Cocktail
This cocktail has clementine juice, vodka, St Germaine, and ginger beer. I made a pitcher of these for Christmas Eve and they were delicious. I recommend hunting down bottled clementine juice if you’re making a pitcher to avoid juicing several bags of Cuties.
Spicy Pomegranate Moscow Mule
I mentioned this one back on Friday Five #18, but had to include it here! It’s subtly spicy from fresh jalapeños.
Pomegranate Ginger Paloma
Palomas are one of my favorite tequila cocktails, so I was instantly drawn to this twist on the classic!
Holiday Cheermeister Bourbon Punch
Holiday Hoobie-whatty? I made this bourbon punch also on Christmas Eve. The fresh-squeezed orange juice and zest makes this reminiscent of an old fashioned, but with a twist!
Vanilla Chai Old Fashioned
Another yummy bourbon cocktail. For this one, you make the vanilla chai syrup ahead of time for easy assembly. Delicious!
Alright, that’s the roundup! I hope you enjoy these recipes. Happy holiday, friends!
What festive drinks do YOU like?
I’d love to hear about recipes you like! Comment below!
