30 Christmas Cocktails That Will Spread Holiday Cheer

Under the Mistletoe cocktail — Under the Mistletoe Image:
Liquor.com / Tim Nusog

Add these festive cocktails and punches to your wish list. From traditional recipes like eggnog and hot chocolate to a Negroni riff that tastes like a Christmas tree, they might just be the best way to spread holiday cheer—whether you’re serving them on December 25 or any time during the season.

Christmas Punch

Liquor.com / Tim Nusog

This fruity and refreshing drink combines light rum, cranberry and tart cherry juices, ginger ale, rich simple syrup, fresh ginger, allspice, and nutmeg. Make a batch for the kid’s table: It’s equally flavorful without the booze.

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Eggnog

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You won’t go back to store-bought after trying this delicious mix of eggs, sugar, whole milk, heavy cream, and your choice of rum, bourbon, or brandy. Beating the egg yolks and whites separately before recombining them produces an extra-luscious texture.

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Hot Buttered Rum

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Our recipe for this winter classic has an unexpected ingredient: softened vanilla ice cream. Combined with butter, sugar, and spices, the ice cream creates a smooth batter that won’t become lumpy when you blend it with rum and boiling water.

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Naughty or Nice

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Let your guests decide. This inventive punch from Seattle bar pro Jamie Boudreau serves two and can easily be multiplied. The combination of London dry gin, maraschino liqueur, chardonnay, pinot noir, and ginger ale can be scaled up or down in volume as you please.

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Boozy Hot Chocolate

Liquor.com / TIm Nusog

When hot chocolate cravings strike, skip the powdered stuff and make this recipe with high-quality semisweet chocolate and milk. Spike with your spirit of choice. (We recommend aged spirits like a dark rum or añejo tequila.)

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Glögg

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Try Scandinavia’s answer to mulled wine with this warming big-batch drink. Dried figs and raisins add nutty complexity to a mix of red wine, port, vodka, light brown sugar, oranges, and holiday spices.

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Irish Coffee

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The ultimate after-dinner drink might also be the simplest. Just top Irish whiskey and two teaspoons of brown sugar with freshly brewed coffee, then garnish with freshly whipped cream.

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Bring Me Back Something French

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Add an ounce of absinthe to homemade hot chocolate for a decidedly grown-up twist on the classic. Vanilla whipped cream, sprinkles, and Pocky garnish helps keep things playful.

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Cranberry-Ginger Mimosa

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This simple recipe might become your go-to drink for Christmas morning brunch—or any time of day. Just top Champagne with cranberry juice, ginger beer, and sugared cranberries.

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Wassail

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Wassail is most often made with spiced apple cider, but this richer and nuttier version calls for a base of brown ale and oloroso sherry. It’s just as warming as the original, thanks to apples, lemon zest, a clove-studded orange peel, cinnamon, cardamom, brown sugar, and apple slices.

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Pear Tree Martini

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There’s no partridge in this pear tree, but there are plenty of festive holiday flavors in the mix of spiced pear vodka, St-Germain liqueur, lime juice, and Angostura bitters. Christmas carols optional.

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Tom & Jerry

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This classic recipe dates to 1820s England, but its cozy appeal has lasted well into the 21st century. The irresistible drink combines a rich batter made from eggs, dark rum, and vanilla extract with boiling water, dark rum, cognac, and whole milk.

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Winter Sour

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A low-ABV base of Campari makes this cocktail a great choice for holiday parties where the drinks are flowing all night long. Bar pro H. Joseph Ehrmann shakes the bittersweet amaro with muddled rosemary leaves, clover honey syrup, Meyer lemon juice, and an egg white to produce a drink that’s merry and bright.

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Golden Cadillac

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Cap off a special meal with this retro drink. Equal parts anise-flavored Galliano liqueur, white creme de cacao, and heavy cream produce a rich, herbaceous, and timeless cocktail.

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Stranger in the Alps

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Consider this drink a Christmas tree Negroni. A juniper-forward gin and an alpine amaro add piney and herbaceous notes to the classic mix of gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth. For added depth, the glass is rinsed with a special fir brandy.

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Brandy Milk Punch

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This creamy frozen drink is a classic brunch order at New Orleans’s storied restaurant, Brennan’s. Whether you serve the decadent blend of brandy, milk, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract for your Christmas brunch or save it for dessert, it’s a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.

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The Nice List

Thompson Hotel Savannah

Making one of these may be the easiest way to gain a spot on the nice list. A spiced cranberry syrup adds festive notes to this Cosmopolitan-adjacent mix of vodka, peach mead, and Cointreau.

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Bourbon Lift

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This rich and fizzy drink will indeed lift your spirits. Bartender Erik Adkins combines bourbon, coffee liqueur, heavy cream, orgeat, and club soda, producing a grown-up version of an egg cream.

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Tea & Krampus

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According to central European legend, Krampus is a half-goat, half-demon monster that punishes naughty children at Christmastime. Martin Cate of Smuggler’s Cove in San Francisco combines two rums, blackberry liqueur, allspice dram, lime and pineapple juices, vanilla syrup, and Angostura bitters to produce a tropical-leaning drink that’s much more delightful than its namesake.

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Spiced Eggnog

Jeffrey Morgenthaler

Bar pro Jeffrey Morgenthaler of Pacific Standard in Portland, Oregon, loves all Eggnog, “even the crappy stuff from the grocery store,” he says. There’s nothing crappy about his upgraded version, which he makes in a blender with eggs, brandy, spiced rum, whole milk, heavy cream, and superfine sugar.

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Porto Flip

Liquor.com / Tim Nusog

Port is often consumed as an after-dinner drink, but this festive flip cocktail from bar pro Allen Katz is an even more special option. He combines ruby port, cognac, heavy cream, and a whole egg, then tops the drink with a barspoon of yellow Chartreuse for herbaceous notes.

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Bourbon Milk Punch

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Craving the richness of Eggnog but short on time? You can make this New Orleans classic right in the shaker with bourbon, whole milk, simple syrup, and vanilla extract.

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Love & Murder

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For a loose take on a red-and-green cocktail, mix up this herbaceous combination of Campari, green Chartreuse, lime juice, and simple syrup from Porchlight bar director Nick Bennett. The secret ingredient: a touch of salt.

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Ponche Navideño

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This fragrant and warming punch is a Christmas staple in Mexico. Wherever you are in the world, bring its flavors home with light rum, hot water, apples, pears, tamarind paste, piloncillo, cinnamon sticks, cloves, raisins, and dried hibiscus flowers.

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Fort Defiance Irish Coffee

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Made with a shot of espresso in lieu of brewed coffee, this Irish Coffee riff was at one time a beloved menu item at St. John Frizell’s Brooklyn bar Fort Defiance. Try it for yourself by combining Irish whiskey, boiling water, simple syrup, and espresso, then topping with freshly whipped cream and grated cinnamon.

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Trick Nog

Morgan Schick

This fruity eggnog twist is ideal for a smaller crowd: Although it calls for a few more ingredients than your classic recipe, it skips the time-consuming egg-separation and combines a whole egg right in the shaker with bourbon, Heering cherry liqueur, orange juice, heavy cream, and brown sugar to yield two drinks.

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Apple Cranberry Moscow Mule

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If you already have Moscow Mule supplies on hand, you don’t need much for this seasonal upgrade. Just add cran-apple juice to the classic combination of vodka, lime juice, and ginger beer, then garnish with fresh cranberries and an apple slice.

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Añogo

Jonathan Fong

Bar pro H. Joseph Erhmann adds amontillado sherry and añejo tequila to a rich Eggnog base, creating a nutty and buttery take on the classic. For an extra-special presentation, don’t skip the flamed orange peel.

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Continue to 29 of 30 below.
Rosemary-Pomegranate Soda

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This drink might be spirit-free, but it will bring plenty of holiday spirit, thanks to an herbaceous rosemary simple syrup, pomegranate juice, and club soda. If you also want to serve a traditional cocktail, you can use the homemade syrup for a Rosemary Paloma.

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Under the Mistletoe

Liquor.com / Tim Nusog

Gin drinkers will embrace this cocktail, which combines the spirit with muddled cranberries and oranges, cranberry juice, and club soda. It also makes a festive alternative to cranberry-juice drinks like the Cape Codder.

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30 Cocktails to Make for Christmas

Spread holiday cheer in liquid form.