Top Ten Christmas Cocktails

Besides family and celebrations, there is another thing that can bring everyone together and put you all in a jolly and festive mood – cocktails! More specifically, Christmas cocktails.

We’ve put together a list of our favorites and added some new ones for 2018. All you have to do is take a deep breath and open up the bar.

1. Spiced Rum Punch with Citrus and Luxardo
Ingredients

• 1 cup High-proof rum
• 1 cup Spiced rum
• ⅓ cup Luxardo maraschino liqueur
• 2 teaspoons Peychaud’s bitters
• ¼ cup Simple syrup
• 1 cup Fresh grapefruit juice
• ¾ cup Fresh orange juice, strained
• ½ cup Fresh lemon juice, strained
• 1 Grapefruit, sliced into rounds
• 1 Blood orange, sliced into rounds
• 1 Lime, sliced into rounds
• ¼ cup Kumquats, sliced into rounds

Directions

1. Combine both rums, grapefruit juice, orange juice, lemon juice, liqueur, simple syrup, and bitters in a punch bowl.
2. Serve punch in 6-oz. glasses filled with ice and garnish with fruit slices.

2. Spirited Spritz
Ingredients

• 3 oz. Champagne
• 1½ oz. Suze
• 1 oz. Club soda
• 1 oz. Fresh orange juice
• Orange wheel and sage sprig (for serving)

Directions

1. Combine Suze, club soda, and orange juice in an ice-filled rocks glass. Stir gently to combine.
2. Top with Champagne; garnish with an orange wheel and a sage sprig.

3. Chambord Kir Royale
Ingredients

• ¼ ounce Chambord
• Champagne

Directions

1. Add the Chambord to a flute and top with Champagne.
2. Garnish with a raspberry and a lemon twist.

4. Uncle Angelo’s Eggnog Cocktail
Ingredients

• 8 oz. Bourbon
• 4 oz. Spiced rum
• 6 Eggs, separated
• 3⁄4 cup Sugar
• 1 qt. Whole milk
• 1 pt. Heavy cream
• 1 grated nutmeg for garnish

Directions

1. In a large bowl, beat together the egg yolks and half a cup of sugar until they turn light in color.
2. Stir in the milk, heavy cream, bourbon and rum.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with the remaining quarter-cup of sugar until they form soft peaks.
4. Fold about a third of the egg whites into the yolk mixture.
5. Serve in punch or tea cups topped with freshly grated nutmeg, folding in more of the egg whites as desired.

5. Fall Spritz
Ingredients

• 1.5 oz. Averna amaro
• 6 oz. Basque-style dry hard cider
• Orange twist (for garnish)

Directions

1. Pour amaro and cider into a glass filled with ice and stir to combine; garnish with orange twist.

6. Cran Royale
Ingredients

• 1 oz. Campari
• 12 oz. Dry sparkling wine
• 2 oz. fresh lemon juice
• Fresh cranberries (for serving)

Cranberry-Thyme Syrup

• 6 sprigs thyme
• 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
• ¼ cup sugar

Directions

Cranberry-Thyme Syrup (can be made 2 weeks ahead, just cover and chill)

1. Cook thyme, cranberries, sugar, and ¼ cup water in a small saucepan over low, swirling pan occasionally, just until sugar is dissolved and cranberries have released their color, 12–15 minutes (do not reduce liquid).
2. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a heatproof bowl or measuring cup and let cool (you should have 4 oz.).

Cocktail

1. For each cocktail, combine 1 oz. cranberry-thyme syrup, ½ oz. lemon juice, and ¼ oz. Campari in an ice-filled cocktail shaker.
2. Cover and shake vigorously until the outside of shaker is very cold, about 20 seconds.
3. Strain into a chilled coupe glass and top with 3 oz. Champagne; garnish with 3 cranberries on a skewer.

7. Grand Coffee
Ingredients

• 1 oz. Grand Marnier, warmed
• 3 oz. Hot brewed coffee
• 3⁄4 oz. Brown sugar syrup, if desired
• Whipped cream for garnish

Directions

1. Pour all the ingredients into a mug or heat-proof highball glass and stir.
2. Spoon about 2 tbsp of whipped cream on top.

8. Coquito Cocktail
Ingredients

• 750 ml. Añejo rum
• 56 oz. Sweetened condensed milk
• 48 oz. Evaporated milk
• 24 oz. Cream of coconut (such as Coco Lopez)
• 4 tsp. Vanilla extract
• 4 tsp. Ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. Ground nutmeg
• 750 ml. White, añejo or spiced rum
• 2 Cinnamon sticks for garnish

Directions

1. Combine all the ingredients except the rum in a saucepan over medium heat.
2. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly.
3. Remove from the heat, let cool, and stir in the rum.
4. Transfer to bottles (making sure that at least one cinnamon stick goes into each bottle), seal and store in the refrigerator.
5. Serve over ice in rocks glasses.
6. Garnish with 2 cinnamon sticks.

9. Timmy’s Brandy Milk Punch Cocktail
Ingredients

• 1 cup Brandy
• 3 cup Milk
• 3 tbsp. Powdered sugar, plus more to taste
• 1 tsp. Vanilla extract
• Grated nutmeg, to taste

Directions

1. Add all the ingredients to a blender and fill with ice.
2. Blend for 20 seconds.
3. Taste, and add more sugar if desired.
4. Strain the mixture into four tall glasses filled with crushed ice.

10. Easy Christmas Punch
Ingredients

• 1 750-ml bottle VSOP-grade Cognac
• 1 cup Sherry
• 6 lemons
• 1 cup Raw sugar
• Freshly grated nutmeg

Directions

1. Fill 4-cup metal bowl with water. Freeze overnight (for ice mold).
2. Remove peels from 4 lemons in strips. Place in medium bowl. Add sugar and muddle. Let stand 30 minutes. Muddle again.
3. Cut peeled and unpeeled lemons in half; juice enough lemons to yield 1 cup juice. Bring 1 cup water to boil in small saucepan; pour over lemon peel mixture and stir until sugar dissolves. Strain syrup into large bowl; discard peels. Mix in lemon juice. Add Cognac, Sherry, and 4 cups cold water. Cover punch and refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours and up to 6 hours.
4. Dip ice mold in hot water to release ice block. Turn ice block, rounded side up, in punch bowl. Add punch. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Ladle into small cups and serve.