As the nights get colder, we tend to seek new ways to warm ourselves up from the inside out. It’s time for summer’s poolside seltzers and rosé to move aside, but what will flavor the fall and winter this year? Let us be your spirit guide for hosting and toasting this season.
Sugar & Spice: Sweet & Spicy Cocktails Reign Supreme
As the holidays approach, we’re all craving the dessert-ified flavors of pumpkin and chocolate, seasonal fruit flavors like apple and cranberry and a little bit of spice. You can satisfy these cravings with spirits like Crown Royal Regal Apple, Vanilla and Salted Caramel flavored whiskies to spice (and sweeten) up your life — and your cold-weather cocktails.
Grandpa’s Whisky Apple Pie Cocktail
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If you’re craving some seasonal, spiced sweetness, try Grandpa’s Whisky Apple Pie Cocktail. Fusing the flavors of sweet caramel, spicy cinnamon, crisp apple, and warming whiskey, this cocktail carries all of the coziness of good old-fashioned apple pie. Get the recipe.
Coffee & Coffee Flavors Give Your Cocktails a Kick
Espresso martinis have been all the rage this year, and we all have that friend who’d love an Espresso Martini Cocktail Kit as a holiday gift. As a gift to yourself, or as a crowd-pleaser at your holiday party, you can give the popular cocktail a festive twist by using chai or even eggnog. You can also enjoy buzzworthy coffee flavors in a White Russian or a Coffee Old Fashioned livened up with chocolate liqueur, chilled espresso and orange bitters.
Chocolate Bonfire Baileys Cocktail
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Instead of chestnuts roasting on an open fire, how about some s’mores? Get toasty with a Chocolate Bonfire Baileys Cocktail. It features the coffee-infused sweetness of an espresso martini, but with a decadent, chocolatey, marshmallowy twist. As Dean Martin would say, it’s a marshmallow world in the winter. Get the recipe.
Classic Cocktails are Updated with Seasonal Flavors
The summer spritz craze could make way for a cranberry-infused holiday spritz option. Plus, with flavored vodkas contributing their own seasonality, add some additional flair to your classic vodka martini with flavors ranging from autumnal pumpkin spice to festive cranberry and peppermint. And while margaritas are typically summer cocktails, seasonal elements like blood orange, pear or nutmeg – and maybe some 21Seeds Valencia Orange Tequila – can help smooth the drink’s transition from summer to fall.
Mistletoe Margarita
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Shake your margarita into the holiday season by making it a Mistletoe Margarita. Mix your tequila with the flavors of classic lime, luxurious coconut, and a little Falernum liqueur for spice, and pucker up. Get the recipe.
‘90s-Era Cocktails Are Making a Comeback
The recent ’90s nostalgia can be made modern with a plant-based White Russian, or even made seasonal with some Baileys Apple Pie Irish Cream Liqueur. The resurgence of the martini goes beyond espresso martinis with pumpkin spice martinis, appletinis or the festive cranberry flavor of the cosmopolitan.
Ketel One Cosmo
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Throw back to the ‘90s with a Ketel One Cosmo. Cranberry and orange make the classic cocktail festive. All you’ll need is to mix a few for your friends, and turn on Home Alone or Mariah Carey’s Christmas album, and you’ll be transported back in time. Get the recipe.
Don’t Discount Non-Alcoholic Spirits
If you decide to participate in Dry January or make a New Year’s resolution to drink less alcohol in 2023, you don’t have to give up fun drinks. You can replace your vodka with a non-alcoholic version of the spirit. The non-alcoholic market is growing increasingly innovative with non-alcoholic spirits, and many bartenders are putting more thought and effort into their non-alcoholic cocktail offerings.
PaNOma
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Make a PaNOma your celebratory non-alcoholic cocktail as you ring in the new year, and beyond. This alcohol-free twist on the classic Paloma will get you in the festive (non-alcoholic) spirit with Seedlip Spice 94 and zesty grapefruit. Get the recipe.
This article is sponsored by The Bar.
