We Discovered 11 Holiday Cocktails To Drink All Winter Long

Welcome to the cozy season, and year-end entertaining. We spent the past few weeks shaking and stirring amazing concoctions created by experts in the field. Our findings? These holiday cocktails are not only delicious, but need to be consumed beyond December. Here are 11 specialty drinks that are absolute crowd-pleasers your guests will love.

Apple Claus

By Laura Moore of The Epicurean Hotel Edge, (Tampa, FL)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 oz Four Roses Bourbon Small Batch
• 3/4 oz Apple Cinnamon Tea syrup
• 1/2 oz Lemon Juice
• Dash of angostura bitters

METHOD:

Shake and strain into a chilled coupe and top with sparkling wine (prosecco, champagne or Apple Cider.) Garnish with an orange twist or apple slice.

Cornucopia

INGREDIENTS:

• 1.25 oz Ardbeg 10-Year
  • .5 oz Appleton Reserve Jamaican Rum
  • .5 oz Ruby Port
  • .5 oz pomegranate syrup
  • .25 oz Creme de Violette
  • .25 oz lemon juice
  • 2 blackberries
  • small handful of fresh thyme
  • dried pomegranate

METHOD:

Muddle blackberries and thyme in mixing pitcher. Combine and stir the rest of the ingredients. Strain into rocks glass on one iceberg-shaped cube. Garnish with dried pomegranate and thyme.

Knob Creek® Orchard

By Kyle Davidson (Chicago, IL)

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 parts Knob Creek® Bourbon
• 1/2 part simple syrup
• 1/4 part maple syrup
• 3/4 part lemon juice
• 1 dash Angostura® Bitters

METHOD: 1. Put all ingredients in a shaker tin, adding Knob Creek® Bourbon last. 2. Fill half the shaker with the largest ice cubes available. 3. Shake well and strain the moment it gets cold to avoid over dilution. 4. Strain into a chilled rocks glass with ice.

Knob Creek ®Maine Event

By Kyle Davidson (Chicago, IL)

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 parts Knob Creek® Rye
• 1 part sweet vermouth
• 1 whole fresh cherry
• Rinse of coffee liqueur
• 1 dash Angostura® Bitters

METHOD: 1. Muddle 1 cherry in a mixing glass. 2. Add Knob Creek® Rye, sweet vermouth and Angostura® bitters to the glass, and let it sit about a minute. 3. Fill the glass with the largest ice cubes available and stir until cold. 4. Put a dash of coffee liqueur around the inside of a chilled, stemmed glass. 5. Pour the cold drink into a rocks glass, using a strainer to catch any cherry bits.​​

Basil Hayden’s Harvest Sour

By Scott Lobianco, Chicago

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 parts Basil Hayden’s® Rye Whiskey
• 1/2 part Sweet Vermouth
• 3/4 part Cinnamon Syrup
• 3/4 part Lemon Juice
• 5 Dark Cherries
• 2 dashes Aromatic Bitters

METHOD:1. Add cherries to a cocktail shaker and muddle. 2. Combine all ingredients into cocktail shaker with muddled cherries. 3. Add ice and shake. 4. Strain into a chilled coupe glass.

Basil Hayden’s Fall Shandy

By Scott Lobianco, Chicago

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 parts Basil Hayden’s® Bourbon
• 1/2 part Aperitivo
• 1/2 part Simple Syrup
• 1/2 part Lemon Juice
• 2 parts Citrus IPA
• Orange Twist (for garnish)
• Mint Leaf (for garnish)

METHOD: 1. Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker except the IPA. 2. Add ice, shake and strain over ice into a chilled collins glass. 3. Top with IPA and garnish with an orange twist and mint leaf.

Knob Creek® Havemeyer

By Kai Parrott-Wolfe (Brooklyn, NY)

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 parts Knob Creek® Rye
• 3/4 parts espresso
• 3/4 parts amaro
• 1 heaping bar spoon of orange marmalade
• Flamed orange twist (for garnish)

METHOD: Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake and strain over rocks. Garnish with a flamed orange twist.

Knob Creek® The Winter Snap

By Kai Parrott-Wolfe (Brooklyn, NY)

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 parts Knob Creek® Rye
• 1/2 part ginger beer
• 1/2 part honey syrup*
• 1/2 part lemon juice
• 1 lemon wheel (for garnish)

METHOD: Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake with ice and strain into rocks glass with ice. Garnish with a lemon wheel.

*Honey Syrup: Combine equal parts of warm water and honey. Mix until uniform. Chill

Wake Up & Dance

INGREDIENTS

• 2 oz Khortytsa Platinum Vodka
• Real Italian Maraschino Cherries
• 1 oz. Chilled Espresso
• 1 oz. Milk
• 5 oz. Heavy Simple Syrup (2 sugar : 1 water)

METHOD: Add Platinum, espresso, milk, heavy simple syrup, chocolate bitters, and ice. Shake. Fine strain to a coupe.

Garnish: Cherries

Clever Club

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 oz Khortytsa Ice
• 5 Raspberries
• Egg White
• 0.75 oz. Lemon Juice
• 0.5 oz. Heavy Simple Syrup (2 sugar : 1 water)

METHOD: Chill your glass. Drop five raspberries into a shaker. Add Khortytsa Ice, egg white, lemon juice, and simple syrup. Dry shake (no ice). Add Ice. Shake. Fine Strain into a cocktail glass.

Garnish: Raspberries

The Unknown

INGREDIENTS

• 2 oz Khortytsa Hot Honey Pepper
• 3 Cherry Tomatoes
• 4 Basil Leaves
• 0.5 oz. Lime Juice
• 0.5 oz. Ginger Syrup

METHOD: Apply salt on a glass rim. Drop tomatoes and basil into a shaker. Muddle, add lime juice, ginger syrup, vinegar, and ice. Shake and fine strain into prepped glass.

Garnish: Cherry Tomato

Photos: Courtesy