Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

7 Cocktails To Really Get Into The Holiday Spirit

By

When all the candles are lit and the stockings are hung, it’s time to kick back with your loved ones and some cocktails and enjoy the holiday season. We’ve collected some of the best drinks around to celebrate the season, wherever you are.

Basil Hayden’s Shining Light Spice
(Created by Kathryn Weatherup, Austin, TX)

  • 1 parts Basil Hayden’s Bourbon
  • 1 part Amaro Montenegro
  • ½ part Licor 43®
  • ½ part Fresh Lemon Juice
  • ½ part Fresh Grapefruit Juice
  • 1 Lemon Twist (for garnish)
Recommended Videos

Method: Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a fresh twist of lemon.

Holiday Rye Martini

  • 5 oz Belvedere Pure
  • .5 oz Dry Vermouth
  • 1 Star Anise
  • 1 Cinnamon Stick
  • 1 Clove

Method: Combine Belvedere, vermouth and spices in mixing glass with ice. Stir for 25 seconds and strain in to a chilled glass. Garnish with the same spices that were stirred and twist with an orange peel and discard.

Merry Cherry 

  • 1 ½ parts Courvoisier VSOP Cognac
  • ½ part Cherry Heering Liqueur
  • 6 black cherries
  • Dash of gomme
  • Soda water
  • Mint for garnish

Method: Muddle cherries in a mixing glass before adding all the other ingredients. Shake well and strain into an ice filled rocks glass; top with soda water. Garnish: Sprig of mint and single cherry

Fennel 75
(Created by Matt Grippo of Blackbird, San Francisco)

  • 3/4 oz Tequila Don Julio Blanco
  • 3/4 oz Fennel Liqueur
  • 1/4 oz Lime Juice
  • 1/4 oz Raw Honey Syrup
  • 1 Dash of Orange Bitters
  • Top with Sparkling Wine
    Fennel Frond for Garnish

Method: Combine Tequila Don Julio Blanco, fennel liqueur, lime juice, raw honey syrup and orange bitters in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well. Finely strain contents into a flute over ice. Top with sparkling wine. Garnish with fennel frond.

Related: The Only Whisk(e)y Guide You’ll Need This Holiday Season

Bacardí Party Punch

  • 750 mL bottle Bacardí Superior rum
  • 1 L cranberry juice
  • 2 L ginger ale, chilled
  • 8 oz. orange juice
  • 1 oz. lime juice
  • 1 ½ oz. lemon juice

Method: In a large container, combine rum and fruit juices. Chill. Just before serving, pour into large punch bowl. Add ice and gently stir in chilled ginger ale. Garnish by floating orange, lemon and lime slices on top.

Hendrick’s Garden Elixir
(Created at the Driftwood Room, Miami)

  • 2 parts Hendrick’s Gin 
  • 3/4 parts Fresh Lime
  • 3/4 parts Agave Syrup
  • 2 Bar Spoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 3 muddled Basil Leaves
  • 2 Watermelon Balls Pressed
  • 5 Cherry Tomatoes

Method: Muddle, Shake and Double Strain. Serve in martini glass. Garnish with a half-tomato and basil leaf

The Humboldt
(Created by Erik Eastman)

Method: Stir gin, vermouth, pear liqueur and bitters over clean ice for at least 30 seconds.  Strain into a champagne flute or coupe glass.  Top with 2 or 3 ounces of the sparkling wine.  To garnish, with a sharp knife remove a coin size piece of lemon peel from a fresh organic lemon, and squeeze the oils from the lemon twist onto the surface of the drink. Add the twist to the drink and enjoy!

Sam Slaughter
Sam Slaughter
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Sam Slaughter was the Food and Drink Editor for The Manual. Born and raised in New Jersey, he’s called the South home for…
Breakside celebrates 15 successful years in craft beer
Breakside brewery, barrel aged, b-side, brewing, beer,

One of our favorite west coast breweries is turning 15. Breakside, the award-winning Portland brewery behind outstanding ales ranging from IPA to pilsner to barrel-aged beers, is having a birthday bash all week long and beyond. Special beers will be poured this week and a collaboration beer is about to be dropped.

The brewery just celebrated the opening of its latest taproom, set just across the Columbia River in Vancouver. On May 13th, Breakside will celebrate at its flagship Dekum location with throwback beers and special menu additions like Mediterranean mussels. The next day, the brewery will host a party at its Slabtown location in NW Portland.

Read more
Coffee shops, it’s time to add decaf nitro cold brew to the menu
A missing piece at every coffee shop
Nitro cold brew

Nitro cold brew remains one of my all-around favorite coffee drinks to order. It's truly never disappointed me. Every sip is smooth, creamy (without any actual cream), and has the perfectly velvety texture. When I'm out running errands or traveling, I love treating myself to nitro cold brew because I don't make it at home. Unlike an iced americano or a regular cold brew, which I make at home, making nitro cold brew requires the infusion of tiny nitrogen bubbles.

As much as I love nitro cold brew, I've identified one major problem. The caffeine in nitro cold brew hits hard -- especially if you slurp it down as fast as I do. This drink's smooth and velvety nature makes it so easy to drink quickly. The average nitro cold brew contains between 200 and 300 mg per serving, more than enough to make you feel jittery. Even as a caffeine addict, I find the caffeine in a nitro cold brew to be a bit too much (especially if I've already had another coffee that day). After experiencing the caffeine jitters from nitro cold brew one too many times, I've wondered: Why isn't decaf nitro cold brew a thing? I've searched dozens of coffee shop menus and have never found decaf nitro cold brew on a menu.

Read more
Is there really such a thing as the best merlot wine?
The objective answer is no, but the subjective answer is yes
Merlot being poured into a glass

Those of a certain age might remember Paul Giamatti’s character in the 2004 movie Sideways ("If anyone orders merlot, I’m leaving."), and the subsequent tanking of that particular varietal expression. Was that fair or accurate? No. Are there garbage merlots? You better believe it. But merlot is a fantastic grape, wonderful on its own and fabulous in a blend -- and this leads to the question: Is there such a thing as the best merlot wine?

If you asked me, I’d say it was a toss-up between two famous producers from Bordeaux’s "right bank" -- in other words, wines made primarily with merlot. My first response would be any wine produced by Château Pétrus, especially a Grand Cru. Pétrus, famous since the 19th century, is located in Bordeaux’s subregion of Pomerol. It makes stunningly good wines solely from merlot grapes grown in its blue clay terroir: a wine that’s lush, voluptuous, and silky -- with a hint of earthy truffle.

Read more