Anyone who knows me knows that I’m kind of a holiday freak. No matter how busy I am, I find a way to funnel my creative energy into making my home festive with crafts, decorations, music and especially cocktails. Can you blame me? For me, the holidays are a time of entertaining for family and friends. What a better way to bring everyone together than to serve an array of specialty seasonal cocktails? Toast to life, togetherness and health, and watch everyone smile as they sip on your adorable libations topped with fun sprinkles, spiked toppings and creative touches. Everyone loves a great cocktail!
It’s time to get planning and prepping, so get your Pinterest Holiday Cocktail Board started and enjoy the fun! Here’s a list of my favorite cocktail inspirations for this season. Cheers!
Place 6 ginger snap cookies in a food processor and blend. Pour blended cookies onto a small plate. Use a lemon wedge to wet the rim of your cocktail glass (works well over ice, too!) and dip the rim onto the plate of cookie crumbs and set aside. In cocktail shaker add bourbon, cherry and lemon juice, simple syrup and a tiny dash of ground cinnamon. Shake all ingredients vigorously in your tin until it turns frosty cold. Strain the ingredients into your coupe glass. Use a plastic and silver colored cocktail fork to pierce the cherry and place on top of your glass with a sprig of rosemary.
Add simple syrup, fresh lemon juice (about half a lemon), pomegranate juice, Napoleon Mandarin, and vodka and to an empty shaker and add ice. Shake for 30 seconds. Pour into the glass of your choice up or over ice. Enjoy!
Warm up your spiced apple cider on the stovetop and keep on simmer. Pour yourself a cup and add half a shot to a shot of cinnamon roll vodka. Garnish with a cinnamon stick and apple slice. How easy is this?!
Make *rosemary-orange peel simple syrup. In a cocktail shaker, combine vodka, cranberry juice, triple sec, lime juice and simple syrup with a handful of ice. Add your shaker tin top securely to your shaker and shake for about 10 seconds. Strain ingredients into a frozen martini glass and garnish with a small sprig of clean rosemary and a long orange peel. Gently squeeze the orange peel over the drink before placing in the glass to express it's oils and bring out its scent. Enjoy!
*To make a small batch of rosemary-orange simple syrup for 10-12 cocktails, boil 3/4 cup of water with 3/4 cup of granulated sugar along with 2 rosemary sprigs and 5 long orange peels over medium low heat until sugar is dissolved. Let syrup sit for 20-30 minutes before you strain the mixture (removing rosemary sprigs and orange peels) with a sifter into a container for future use. Keep refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
1. In a small saucepan, combine blackberries, sugar, and water. Bring to a boil on high heat, and then reduce to a simmer and let cook for approximately 12-15 minutes. The blackberries will become soft and bright in color and a pinkish purple syrup will form. Take off of the heat and drain the blackberries, keeping the syrup in a separate bowl. Set both aside and allow to cool.
2. Once blackberries and simple syrup are cooled, spoon about 4 tablespoons of syrup into the bottom of each champagne flute (this recipe makes 4 drinks) 3. Top with champagne and garnish with fresh blackberries or the cooked blackberries, and a sprig of rosemary.
