2025 Holiday Cocktail Recipes

The holidays are upon us! 

Haul out the holly and deck your menus with festive holiday cocktail recipes. 

We've collected some holiday cocktail recipes to help you get in the "spirit," starting with this crowd-pleaser from Diageo feature Baileys new Chocolate Liqueur:

holiday cocktail recipes

Baileys Chocolate Martini

Ingredients:

2 oz Baileys Chocolate

1 oz Ketel One Vodka

0.5 oz Simple Syrup

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to cocktail shaker.
2. Shake and fine strain into coupe/martini glass.
3. Garnish with shaved Belgian chocolate. 

holiday cocktail recipe

Santa’s Little Helper

Ingredients:

1 oz Egg White

0.75 oz Simple Syrup (1:1)

0.75 oz Lemon Juice

2 oz Second Sip Gin

0.75 oz Mulled Wine (float)

Directions:

1. Dry shake, then shake with ice.
2. Strain into a coupe.
3. Float mulled wine over the top.

holiday cocktail recipe

Kardamom Bun

Ingredients:

2 oz. Brown Butter Rum + Bourbon

• 250 g butter
• 750 ml dark rum
• 250 ml bourbon

0.5 oz. Cardamom Demerara

• 100 grams cardamom seeds (dark round seeds only)
• 1 liter water (by weight)
• 2 liters demerara (by weight) 

0.5 oz. Lemon Juice

0.5 oz. Stout

1 Drop Salt n Peppa

• 150 grams water
• 30 grams salt
• 30 grams black pepper

1 Dash Cardamom Bitters

2 Dash Angostura Bitters

Directions:

For the Cardamom Demerara:

1. Toast cardamom seeds until aromatic.

2. Warm water in a pot, add demerara and toasted cardamom seeds.

3. Mix until the sugar is melted.

4. Store overnight with seeds, strain the next day.

For the brown Butter Rum + Bourbon:

1. Brown butter in small batches using a frying pan on stove top, mix with rum and bourbon in a cambro.

2. Put cambro in a sous vide wash at 65 degrees for two hours.

3. Freeze overnight, strain.

For the Salt n Peppa:

1. Mix hot water with ingredients.

2. Immersion blend, strain.

For the cocktail:

1. Dry shake all ingredients except stout, then shake with ice.

2. Pour stout into a mug with a large cube, then strain shaken ingredients over the stout.

holiday cocktail

Jack Frost

Ingredients:

1.5 oz Vanilla vodka

0.75 oz Blue curaçao

1 oz Piña colada mix

0.75 oz Pineapple juice

Directions:

1. Shake with ice.
2. Serve over rocks in a 12 oz cup.

holiday cocktails

Twilight Tea

Ingredients:

1 ½ oz. rye whiskey

1 oz. The Perfect Purée Cranberry Puree, thawed

1 oz. Earl Grey tea syrup

• 3 earl grey tea bags
• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup of sugar

½ oz. lemon juice

½ oz. Amaro

¼ tsp. orange flower water

Directions:

For the Earl Grey Tea Syrup:

1. Bring water to a boil then remove from heat.
2. Add Earl Grey tea bags and steep for 3-5 minutes.
3. Return to heat and add sugar.
4. Stir until sugar is dissolved and syrup thickens slightly, about four minutes.
5. Let cool before using.

For the cocktail:

1. In a cocktail shaker combine all ingredient with ice and shake.
2. Strain over fresh ice into a Collins glass.
3. Garnish with a lemon slice, cinnamon stick, and cloves.

holiday cocktail recipes

California Cranberry Rosé

Ingredients:
4 ounces California rose
2 ounces cranberry juice
2 dashes orange bitters ( or more to taste)
Ice
Fresh cranberries for garnish, optional

1. Directions:
   Fill a wine glass halfway with ice.
2. Add two dashes of orange bitters
3. Pour the cranberry juice to fill the glass 1/3 full.
4. Fill the remaining 2/3 with rose and stir gently.
5. Top with fresh cranberries and serve.

holiday cocktails

Broken Pav

Broken PavLove dessert but wish that you could drink it too? This is the drink for you. Pav (short forpavlova) is an iconic Kiwi dessert often made during the festive season—so of coursewe had to turn it into a cocktail.SkillAdvancedStylesBrightDecadentTechniqueShakenIngredients2 oz vanilla-infused Broken Shed Vodka1 oz fresh lemon juice1 oz simple syrup1 oz heavy creamBroken PavLove dessert but wish that you could drink it too? This is the drink for you. Pav (short forpavlova) is an iconic Kiwi dessert often made during the festive season—so of coursewe had to turn it into a cocktail.SkillAdvancedStylesBrightDecadentTechniqueShakenIngredients2 oz vanilla-infused Broken Shed Vodka1 oz fresh lemon juice1 oz simple syrup1 oz heavy creamIngredients:

2 oz vanilla-infused Broken Shed Vodka

1 oz fresh lemon juice

1 oz simple syrup

1 oz heavy cream

1 egg white

3 drops orange blossom water

4 oz cold seltzer

Garnish: freeze-dried fruits

Vanilla-Infused Vodka

• 500 ml Broken Shed Vodka
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthways

Directions:

For the vanilla-infused vodka:

1. Add the vanilla bean to a glass container.
2. Cover with Broken Shed Vodka and let sit at room temperature for three days, shaking occasionally.
3. Strain through a cheesecloth-lined sieve and store in the refrigerator.

For the cocktail:

1. Dry shake all the ingredients (except the cold seltzer), then shake again with ice for five minutes.
2. Double strain into a pint glass, then carefully pour the cold seltzer down a barspoon into the bottom of the glass.
3. Garnish with freeze-dried fruits.

holiday cocktail recipe

Santa Clausmopolitan 

Ingredients:

3 oz of Rosa Regale Red

1 oz vodka

1/2 oz grenadine

Directions:

1. Shake over ice.
2. Strain into a glass and top with Rosa Regale Red.
3. Garnish with white cotton candy.

holiday recipes

Café Cabana

1 oz. Real McCoy 3 Year Aged Rum

1/2 oz. Veritable Coffee Liqueur

1/4 oz. John D. Taylor's Velvet Falernum

1 oz. Fresh-brewed espresso (or cold brew concentrate)

3/4 oz. Pineapple juice

1/4 oz. Cream of coconut

1/4 oz. Lemon juice

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients with cubed ice & shake very cold.
2. Serve up in a coupe with a pineapple leaf garnish.

Are you registered for our Crave and Crave on the Menu newsletters? Sign up today!

Plan to Attend or Participate in the 2026 Bar & Restaurant Expo, March 23-25, 2026, Las Vegas, Nevada. Register now!

To book your sponsorship or exhibit space at our events, fill out our form.

Also, be sure to follow Bar & Restaurant on Facebook and Instagram for all the latest industry news and trends.