Easy to Make Artful Holiday Cocktails from Sweet Peppermint to Herbal Botanical Flavors That Will Dazzle Your Guests

Dec 27

It’s more than stop lights that are turning a bright red and green this Holiday season! 🎶

When, along with your friends and family, Mr. and Mrs. Claus are invited guests to your Holiday Cocktail Parties, you want to shake up some truly special, delicious and festive drinks.

I’ve created these three pretty, tasty, and easy to make Holiday cocktails to brighten your Happy Hour toasts and barscapes when entertaining at home.

I’m gifting a drink menu that offers both candy sweets and an herbal, botanical selection, to bring joy to any palette. The drinks are made with spiced (not hot) spirits that warm you, some seasonal bubbles, along with sweet notes of mint and candy, these party cocktail ideas are Holiday visions of Yuletide joy to toast the Season with rousing extra “Cheers!”

Peppermint Twist 🍭

Ingredients:

½ Jigger Candy Cane Simple Syrup
1 Jiggers Appleton Estate Signature Blend Rum
1 Jigger Cardamaro ~ A wine-based aperitif, infused with cardoon & blessed thistle, with undertones of spice, aged in oak
1 jigger Velvet Falernum ~ A Caribbean treat, the sweet & spicy Barbados rum-based liqueur contains flavors of ginger, lime, vanilla, nutmeg,and almond, along with cloves, cinnamon and allspice. It may be thought of as a spicier version of orgeat syrup. The Falernum adds depth, texture.
Polar Bear Mango Seltzer Water, Jigger or two
Dash of Apple bitters or Angostura bitters
Dash of Champagne or sparkling wine

Method:

Rim Martini Glass in crushed peppermint candy

Put all ingredients except for the bubblies, in a cocktail shaker with ice; Shake

Pour into the rimmed glass, top with seltzer and champagne. Or one or the other. I’ve been doing “halfvies” for awhile now.

Garnish:

Peppermint candy held on the rim with a cute Santa clip

If you’re feeling more of a green vibe than red emanating from your bar cart, then you’ll all set to “Go” green with this festive cocktail.

Sweet & Naughty Minty Green Fairy 🧚

Ingredients:

1 Jigger Green Creme de Menthe*
1 Jigger Candy Cane simple Syrup
2 Jiggers White Chocolate Liquor (or 1 of cream and one white chocolate liquor)
½ Jigger Cheeky Cocktail Orgeat Syrup

Method:

Put all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled half-way with ice. Shake.

Pour into a Nick & Nora glass. I love mine. They have a ribbon-like glass etching that makes them a particularly glamorous vessel for holiday drinks.

Garnish:

Rim a Nick & Nora glass with crushed candy canes

Mint leaves or chocolate bon-bon clipped with Santa cocktail “clothespin”

*if you want to tone down or go lighter green, use half green Creme de Menthe and half white (clear) Creme de Menthe. And a wee bit more Cheeky Orgeat.

Garden to Glass Herb Botanical

Ingredients:

1 Jiggers Velvet Falernum
2 Jiggers Green Chartreuse*
2 Jiggers Matcha Tea
Cheeky Hot Honey mix
Dash Orange Bitters
Dash Modern Bar Cart Iki Bitters. **

*Green Chartreuse has bold, herbaceous, peppery, and mint notes, as well as flavors of anise and licorice. Still made by monks, created in 1840, is produced using 130 botanicals and aged in oak. Herbal, medicinal, complex in character Chartreuse has a secret recipe but we do know that 130 plants, bark, roots, spices and flowers are used to create this magical elixir. Initially, it was intended to be used medicinally, as it is rich in immune-strengthening, disease-preventing, anti-inflammatory, and digestive properties.

** The Japanese Iki Bitters were gifted to me by Modern Bar Cart some years ago. Their bespoke, crafted bitters are the best. The Iki Bitters are so perfect for this and other herbally, botanic drinks. It is made from Alcohol, Water, Wasabi, Ginger, Green Tea (karma !)Seaweed, Sesame Seeds, Shiitake Mushrooms, Gentian. It is that special…

I was a guest on the Modern Bar Cart podcast, pre-release of my book, Art of the Garnish. I found the link to the show while researching the bitters for you. You can still listen to the interview. Talk about a throwback! This is a fun cocktail conversation if I do say so myself.

And one of the featured drinks on the episode is the classic Pisco Sour, made with Macchu Pisco, of course.

Method:

Put all ingredients in a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice.

Shake and strain into a martini glass or an Old-Fashioned rocks glass over a holiday ice cube.

I use Santa Cubes.🧑‍🎄

I featured one of my vintage glasses with gold designs.

Garnish:

Sprig of Rosemary, Mint, or Black Licorice strands. Or all three!

Art of the Garnish

Besides garnishing your drinks, you can adorn your table, bar cart or island top or bar ~ wherever you are serving your drinks.

Create some Holiday Magic with a tabletop or barscape composition. The visual details will add to your special Christmas moments, creating a memory that will last all year.

Remember, The Eyes Drink First! 🍹

You can use classic accessories or re-purpose some for the chic Yuletide seasonal celebrations.

I enjoy bringing out my holiday cocktail napkins, coasters, garnish clip ons, and crystal. You can also use pretty tree decorations and fairy lights, too.

And my all-time favorite nostalgia bar decor: lava lamps! I have two in our speakeasy.