Holidays are looking a bit different this year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t spread EXTRA holiday cheer! Dust off your Christmas sweaters, holiday boots, and get your Zoom ready because this year we are getting extra creative (because obvs we have the time!) Not to mention, I’m sure we all could benefit from a good stiff drink!

Spiced Mexican Hot Chocolate:

This is an unique take on a holiday classic! Chef Pati JInich ensures you’ll have a healthy and fun holiday season with this delicious spiced Mexican hot chocolate.

Ingredients:

6 oz Gran Centenario Añejo Tequila

4 cups of Milk

6 oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate

½ tsp Cayenne Chili Powder

1 Cinnamon Stick

Sugar

Directions:

Add milk, chili powder, and cinnamon to a large sauce pan. Mix and heat at medium-low temperature. Add chocolate, then swizzle and stir with a traditional Mexican molinillo or whisk until dissolved and frothy. Place 1.5 oz tequila in each mug and fill to top with finished hot chocolate. Add sugar to taste. Makes 4 servings.

Spiced Hot Chocolate by Jaime Salas, Milagro Tequila Brand Ambassador:

If you like something enough, why not add it twice?! This spiced hot chocolate by Milagro Tequila is noteworthy!

Ingredients:

·       1.5 Parts Milagro Anejo

·       3 Parts Taza Guajillo Chili Chocolate

·       Heavy Cream

·       1 Pinch Chili Powder

Directions: 

Build in a clear mug or other drink vessel suitable for hot beverages. Top with whipped cream and chili chocolate shavings.

Dirty Negroni:

The holiday season is here, which means it’s time to celebrate life’s special moments. 1800 Cristalino, 1800 Tequila’s new, ultra-premium expression, is the perfect gift for tequila-lovers who appreciate complex añejos. Combining a 200-year-old Añejo tequila recipe with a port wine cask finish, 1800 Cristalino offers a crystalline expression packaged in an elegant and eye-catching, luxe glass bottle that is unlike any other Cristalino on the market.

Ingredients:

· 1oz 1800 Cristalino

· 1oz Aperitive Liquor

· 1oz Vermouth

· 3 barspoons of Olive Juice

Directions:

Stir well on ice and serve on the rocks with olives and an orange slice.

The Supercharged Hot Toddy Bar:

2 oz. Aged Whiskey

0.5 oz Spiced Cranberry Syrup

3-4 oz. Hot Water

0.5 oz Lemon Juice

For Spiced-Cranberry Syrup:

1 Cup Fresh Cranberries

1 Cup Essentia Water

1 Cup Sugar

2-3 Cinnamon Sticks

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, bring all ingredients except sugar to a light simmer until spices start to release aromas and cranberries start to split. Add sugar and stir to dissolve (no need to bring to a boil). Set aside and let cool. Strain into a glass jar and save in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Guillotine’s Nouveau Carré:

Just in time and perfect for the holidays, this harmonious blend of wine and spirit gives you elements for an exciting evening filled with blissful adventure. Sweet, yet perfectly rounded by a top off of red wine and garnished with red and green finger grapes, this is especially made for those nights you wish to remember.
Ingredients:

2 oz Guillotine Originale

1 oz Lemon Juice

.75 oz Saint Germain
Directions:

Shake & Pour

Top off with 1 oz Red Wine

Garnish with Green Finger Grapes & Red Grapes

Santa’s Nightcap:

I came across this DELICIOUS cocktail recipe from Half Baked Harvest and it has got to be the epitome of ‘Christmas’ beverage! It includes: chai tea, milk, cinnamon, ginger, honey, and a good splash of bourbon, what more could you ask for besides some holiday music and a nice fire?

Ingredients:

• 8 chai tea bags

• 4 cups whole milk

• 1/3 cup honey

• 2 cinnamon sticks

• 2 inch piece of fresh ginger

• 1 1/2 cups bourbon

Directions:

1. Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large pot. Remove from the heat, add the tea bags, cover and let steep for 15-30 minutes. Remove the tea bags and stir in the milk, and honey. Place the pot over medium heat. Add the cinnamon sticks and ginger, cook stirring often until the mixture is steaming. Stir in the bourbon.

2. Ladle the drink into mugs. Dust with cinnamon if desired. Drink up!

3. Alternately, you can chill the cocktail and serve cold over ice.

Cran-Spiced Martini by Trevor Schneider, Reyka Vodka Ambassador

The Cran-Spiced Martini is a fun holiday twist on a classic Cosmopolitan! This one is definitely being added to the cocktail rotation this holiday season, and beyond.

Ingredients:

·       2 parts Reyka Vodka

·       1 part cranberry 100% juice

·       ¾ part Vanilla spiced syrup

For the vanilla spiced syrup:

Add 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, ¼ tsp. ground black pepper, 5 tsp. allspice, 1 cinnamon stick (2 ½"). Bring to a boil in a pot. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Let cool completely. Fine strain and add ½ oz vanilla extract.

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients into shaker with ice. Shake, strain into martini glass & garnish with skewered cranberries.

Savage 75:

Who doesn’t love a good French 75?! This yearly fun spritz provides the perfect about of fizz to spruce up any holiday blues this time around. The glitz and glam of this beverage is also perfect for NYE!

Ingredients:

·       1 ¼ parts Sailor Jerry Savage Apple

·       ¾ part Lemon Juice

·       ½ part Simple Syrup

·       2 parts Champagne

Directions:

Build all but champagne in tin and shake with ice, strain into champagne flute, top with champagne. Garnish with lemon twist.

“Cafe de Managua” by Sebastien Derbomez, William Grant & Sons Brand Advocacy Manager

Cafe de Managua is perfect for Christmas morning! Unwrap your gifts with a beverage where a little goes a long way!

Ingredients:

·       2 Parts Flor De Cana 7

·       1 ½ Parts Espresso

·       ½ Part Salted Caramel Syrup

·       Top with Barista Edition oat milk (froth the milk)

Directions:

Shake & Strain, pour into iced latte glass. Garnish with toasted marshmallow.

Bringing together two of the most social drinks, Cafe Agave Spiked Cold Brew is the perfect after-dinner pick-me-up to cap off the holiday! Made with super-premium ingredients, including 100% Arabica Colombian Coffee and agave fermented wine, this gourmet spiked cold brew is equivalent to drinking ½ cup of coffee and 1 cup of wine. Cafe Agave comes in a variety of coffee house flavors – Espresso Shot, Caffe Mocha, Salted Caramel, and Vanilla Cinnamon – and is now available throughout the US at Walmart and online retailers.

Blazing Glory” by Sebastien Derbomez, William Grant & Sons Brand Advocacy Manager

Ingredients:

·       2 parts Hudson Whiskey Short Stack

·       ½ part Tempus Fugit Crème de cacao à la vanille liqueur

·       1 Lemon peel

·       1 Cinnamon stick

Directions:

Add the Whiskey & cinnamon stick directly into a warm sniffer glass and rest the bowl of the glass on a stand or on an old-fashioned glass so it lies on its side supported by the rim. Flame the Whiskey and carefully move the glass back to an upright position sitting normally on your work surface. Express the oil of the lemon peel directly into the glass then drop the peel into it. Pour in hot water (this will extinguish any remaining flame) and the liqueur. Stir, and serve.

Casillero del Diablo Pinot Noir Mezcal Mule:

Who knew wine could be the one item to step up your ‘mule’ game?! Handcrafted exclusively for Casillero del Diablo by Dan Magro, mixologist and author of “Suck It Up: Extraordinary Cocktails for Everyday People,” this Pinot Noir Mezcal Mule is far from ordinary.

Ingredients:

·       2 parts mezcal

·       Casillero del Diablo Pinot Noir

·       1 part lime juice

·       4 fresh cranberries

·       Ginger Beer

Directions:

Pour Casillero del Diablo Pinot Noir into large square ice cube trays and freeze overnight. Combine cranberries, lime juice, and mezcal in a shaker. Muddle until thoroughly blended. Fill with ice, and shake vigorously. Strain into a rocks glass over a Casillero del Diablo Pinot Noir ice cube. Top off with ginger beer. Carefully light a sprig of rosemary allowing it to crackle for a few seconds and generate small smoke streams. Garnish cocktail with smoking rosemary sprig.

Whatever your cocktail of choice is we hope you have a great holiday with you and yours!