Easy holiday cocktail recipes: Santa Clausmopolitan, peppermint espresso martinis and more
'Tis the season to mix up a festive cocktail and raise a glass of holiday cheer!
We know culinary aficionado Stanley Tucci will be serving up a Tanqueray No. 10 martini for a Christmas cocktail, though his classic Negroni recipe has the perfect holiday hue, but for anyone else looking to jazz up their drink lineup, we've got you covered.
Social media feeds are filling up with seasonal sips like snow globe mocktails and so "Good Morning America" found a few that fit every palate preference, from bright and tart to creamy and sweet.
Easy Christmas cocktail recipes
Check out all the recipes below to recreate at home this holiday season.
Frozen Snow Globe Mocktail or Cocktail
Food creator Meg Quinn tested out this nonalcoholic option that's amassed millions of views on TikTok and Instagram for its DIY frozen pine tree effect.
The drink starts with freezing a sprig of rosemary in a small bit of water at the base of a stemless wine glass. Once frozen, you can choose to leave it as is and fill with sparking water to set the snow-like scene or add pops of color with pomegranate arils or cranberries to float in the drink.
Quinn wrote in the caption of her post that this works "with any clear cocktail like a vodka soda or vodka tonic," and ultimately is up to any individual taste preferences.
Christmas Ornament Cocktail
Click here to get the full recipe and instructions and see how to assemble these simple drink-filled ornaments.
Holiday Cake Stand Cocktail with Peppermint Candy Rim
Check out Ereka Vetrini's oversized confection-turned-cocktail recipe here.
Batched Peppermint Espresso Martinis Recipe
Julianna McIntosh, known for her cocktail blog Join Jules, shared a couple festive libations with "GMA" from her 25 days of cocktail series on social media.
"The holidays are my favorite time of year and every year I always have so many drink recipe ideas that sometimes even 25 days isn’t enough," she said of her ongoing recipes. "I started doing this every year because I find so much joy in getting everyone excited about the holidays the best way I know how, in cocktail form."
"My most popular holiday cocktail so far is the Batched Peppermint Espresso Martinis," she said of the drink video that reached over 1.6 million views on Instagram alone. "It’s simply just a twist on the espresso martini, making it easy for batching and the best holiday twist with peppermint syrup."
Serves 4
Ingredients
1.5 cups vodka, or vanilla vodka
1 cup cold brew
1 cup coffee liqueur
4 oz peppermint mocha syrup (full recipe on IG)
1 cup ice
Directions
Rim glasses with chocolate syrup and crushed candy canes.
Place in the freezer to chill.
Add all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
If you don’t have peppermint syrup, I suggest using 1-2 tsp of peppermint extract!
Pour & enjoy!
Persimmon Mezcal Sour Recipe
McIntosh told "GMA" that this riff on a classic sour is her "go-to holiday cocktail," made with a homemade persimmon syrup and persimmon puree.
Ingredients
1 egg white
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Grapefruit Juice
1 oz persimmon purée
1/2 oz persimmon syrup
1 oz tequila
1 oz Mezcal
Ice
Garnish: persimmon slice
Directions
Add ingredients to a cocktail shaker and dry shake.
Add ice and shake again.
Strain into a chilled coupe glass.
Garnish!
Christmas Tree Tonic
"If you like gin and tonics, this is a perfect festive alternative," Nicole Greenwell, lead bartender at George Bistro and Bar told "Good Morning America." "Cucumber and gin are two peas in a pod, so it made the perfect garnish for this for the delightful tipple. The drink is crisp, refreshing and great for sipping."
Ingredients
.5 oz gin of choice (we use Damrak)
1 oz Ruby Red Grapefruit juice
.5 oz. St. Germain Elderflower liqueur
3 oz tonic water (we use Q Drinks)
Directions
Add all of the ingredients into your favorite glass and top with ice.
Use a y peeler to cut a long thin slice of cucumber, fold it back and forth and use a cocktail pick to hold it in place.
Add a dehydrated starfruit to the top and voila!
Gin-glebell Martini
Just like the tried and true martini, but with a little holiday sparkle.
Ingredients
1/2 parts Monkey 47 (or gin of choice), chilled
1/2 parts Lillet Blanc, chilled
3 parts Mumm Sparkling Brut Prestige
Garnish: Rosemary Sprig, Castelvetrano olive
Directions
Simply build by combining all ingredients in a chilled coupe glass, top with the champagne and add the garnishes. Serve and enjoy!
Rosemary Pear Sparkler
Brunch and the Beach blogger Lindsay Castner shared this simple herbacious sparkling cocktail with "GMA" to toast the holidays.
Ingredients
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup honey
1 sprig rosemary
2 pears pureed
Champagne or prosecco
Directions
Start by bringing water and honey to a boil.
Remove from heat and add rosemary sprig.
Let seep for 2 hours. Remove rosemary sprig and chill in refrigerator.
Add 1 ounce of syrup and 1 ounce of pear puree to a champagne glass.
Top off with champagne or prosecco and garnish with a rosemary sprig.
Check out eight other holiday cocktail recipes from her blog here and more on her Instagram here.
Santa Claus-Mopolitan
Karri Perry of Blue Ribbon Kitchen created this signature cocktail with cranberry and coconut shavings that looks just like Santa's hat.
Ingredients
1 bottle of cranberry juice
1/2 cup cranberry juice
1/2 cup white peach cranberry juice
1 ounce triple sec
1/2 ounce vodka
For the rimmed glassesA squeeze of lime juice
Light, clear corn syrup on the outside of the glass rim
Flaked, sweetened coconut and white sanding sugar
DirectionsRimming the glass can be done ahead of time and will be sturdier if left to dry up to 3 hours.
Coat the edge of the glass with corn syrup, sprinkle sugar and coconut, then sit the glass upright to dry.
Shake cocktail ingredients with ice, strain and pour into rimmed glass.
Garnish with fresh cranberries.
Holly Jolly Christmas Sangria
Makes: 12 servings
Ingredients
1 bottle Red Sangria (this recipe uses Mija)
2 cans canned peaches (15 oz each)
1 bottle sparkling apple cider (25.4 oz)
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup Bourbon (this recipe uses Wheel House)
1 cup cranberries
3 cinnamon sticks and 4 star anises for garnish
Directions
Combine red sangria, canned peaches with the juice, sparkling apple cider, orange juice, whiskey bourbon and cranberries in a large pitcher.
Mix together with a large spoon and add cinnamon sticks and star anise.
Refrigerate for 1 hour prior to serving.
(This can be made up to 3 days prior to serving).
An earlier version of this story was first published on Dec. 21, 2020.
