The Naughty List: Sleigh Your Holiday Hosting With These 4 Drinks
The tree is trimmed, the lights are up, and the holiday playlist is on repeat. The only thing missing? A drink in hand that looks as festive as it tastes.
Whether you are hosting a big holiday bash or just cozying up by the fire, a themed drink elevates the mood instantly. Here are 4 memorable ideas for your holiday hosting.
Disclaimer: The names of the drinks featured in this post are used solely for fun and thematic purposes for a holiday celebration. These recipes are intended only for adults of legal drinking age in your region. Always know your limits, and please, never drink and drive.
The Olde Saint Nick
A beautiful, tri-color layered shot that looks and tastes just like Christmas (seriously, like eggnog and candy canes). Don’t change the order of the layers or it won’t work.
Bottom Layer: Grenadine
Middle Layer: Green Crème de Menthe
Top Layer: Bumbu Cream
The Trick: Take a bar spoon (or a regular teaspoon) and turn it upside down so the curved back is facing up. Place the tip against the inside of the glass, just above the last layer.
Instructions:
Pour the Grenadine into the bottom 1/3 of a shot glass (you don’t need the spoon for the bottom layer)
Slowly pour the Crème de Menthe over the back of the spoon. This gently disperses the liquid so it sits on top rather than mixing. You probably don’t have pour spouts at home (neither do I, they are a pain to clean), just put your thumb over the hole in the bottle to let it out slowly.
Repeat the spoon process with the Bumbu Cream for the final layer. The Bumbu bottle is awkward for a thumb - all good, back of the spoon, go slow.
The Grinch Margarita
"You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch..." but this drink is nothing but nice. This is a bright green, melon-forward twist on the classic margarita. It’s sweet, tart, and dangerously drinkable.
Ingredients:
1 oz Tequila (Blanco works best to keep the color bright)
1 oz Melon Liqueur (like Midori)
1/2 oz Fresh Lime Juice
Splash of Limeade
Garnish: Salt for the rim and a lime wheel
Instructions:
Run a lime wedge around the rim of your rocks glass and dip it into coarse salt. Fill the glass with ice.
In a shaker filled with ice, combine the tequila, melon liqueur, and fresh lime juice. You can also go directly into a glass and just stir.
Shake vigorously (20 seconds is the rule). Again you can just stir, and by the way this is for all clear liquid and juice drinks, shaking is for incorporating heavy ingredients, like syrups etc.
Strain into your salt-rimmed glass.
Top with a splash of limeade.
The Jack Frost Spritz
Designed to look like a frosty winter morning. It combines the piney notes of gin with sparkling bubbles and a bright icy-blue hue. It’s light, fizzy, and perfect for toasts.
Ingredients:
2 oz Gin
1/4 oz Blue Curacao
2 oz Sparkling White Wine (Prosecco or Champagne)
Lemonade (to top)
Garnish: A lemon twist or frozen blueberries
Instructions:
Fill a large wine glass or goblet with plenty of ice.
Pour in the Gin and Blue Curacao.
Add the Sparkling White Wine.
Top the rest of the glass off with Lemonade and give a quick stir to mix that brilliant blue color.
Garnish with a lemon twist to highlight the citrus notes, or drop in a few frozen blueberries to look like little ice chunks!
The Merry Mule (Cranberry Moscow Mule)
Sometimes you need something tall, bubbly, and refreshing to cut through all the heavy holiday food. This festive twist on the Moscow Mule adds a splash of holiday red and a tart cranberry bite.
Ingredients:
2 oz Vodka
1/2 oz Fresh Lime Juice
2 oz Cranberry Juice (unsweetened is best)
Ginger Beer to top
Garnish: Fresh cranberries and a sprig of rosemary
Instructions:
Fill a copper mug (or highball glass) with crushed ice.
Pour in the vodka, lime juice, and cranberry juice. Stir gently.
Top with ginger beer.
Garnish with floating cranberries and a rosemary sprig (smack the rosemary between your hands first to release the piney aroma!).
Pro tips:
Lime Juice: ALWAYS use real lime juice.
Get a stainless steel lemon and lime squeezer: Most drinks you’ll make take 0.5 oz of lime Juice. How much is that? Every lime will produce approzimately 1 oz of lime juice (that means squeeze half a lime into your mix).
The Ice Matters: Use fresh ice. Old ice is gross and will change the flavour.
Which one of these are you making first? Cheers!
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Disclaimer: The names of the drinks featured in this post are used solely for fun and thematic purposes for a holiday celebration. These recipes are intended only for adults of legal drinking age in your region. Always know your limits, and please, never drink and drive.
