In 2019 I ranked Christmas Films (Die Hard won, obviously). In 2018 I ranked Christmas Songs (“All I Want for Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey won, obviously). I’ve also ranked the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials and Christmas Tree Decorations. What will I do this time?
Holiday Drinks!
And, before you say, “Look, that alcoholic Ed is doing ANOTHER alcohol list,” well… ermm… I’m covering all drinks here. Not just alcoholic ones (But you’re not exactly wrong either).
10. Hot Toddy
Being a fan of whiskey, you might be surprised I rank the Hot Toddy at the bottom of these 10 drinks. After all, a hot toddy is whiskey, with hot water, honey, and lemon. Well those are not at all my flavor profiles that I think go well with whiskey. The hot water makes the whole thing taste watered down, the honey makes it watered down and too sweet. I’d prefer to go a different direction if I’m having a Holiday drink.
9. Winter Sangria
A sangria?! In winter?! Yes, this is a thing. And honestly it makes sense. How much different is a sangria from a mulled wine? It’s basically just its cold cousin, served with some ice. Don’t orange peels and cinnamon sticks see, equally as tasty in December as they do in June?
8. Snowball Cocktail
This is a fairly simple one with three ingredients: sparkling lemonade, lime juice, and advocaat (a Dutch brandy-based liqueur with a creamy texture). Okay, four ingredients if you include ice cubes.
7. Holiday Punch
This one is ranked low because it’s pretty common, but also pretty generic. Obviously you have a fruit-base that is spiked (hence punch). But what is the fruit base? What is it spiked with? Is it a warm punch of a cold punch (more on that later)? If you work at a job where you’re allowed to have a holiday party, chances are a “holiday punch” will be served, even if it is just Cranberry juice, sprite and vodka. Lots of ways to go with this one, and no clear one recipe.
6. Peppermint Coffee
A few months after Starbucks whips out the pumpkin spice in August, you know autumn is turning to winter because then we move from pumpkin spice to peppermint. Maybe I’ll get like one peppermint latte a year just because I feel like I should in December.
5. Hot Buttered Rum
If you want a warm liquor-based cocktail, this is the way to go instead of the hot toddy. Why? It’s in the name my friend: butter.
4. Mulled Cider / Wassail
I cannot be the only one who heard “here we go a’ Wassailing and had no clue what people were talking about. But it means going around and being merry and singing while drinking wassail. To be truthful – wassail does not HAVE to be mulled cider. It could be any warm, mulled, holiday drink that you enjoy during the act of wassailing. It could be mulled wine. It could be warm mulled punch. It could even be warm mulled ale! But the most traditional form of it is indeed apple-based, and thus I’m ranking it as the same thing as mulled cider. Now you know.
3. Mulled Wine
I just mentioned mulled wine and here it is – ranking slightly above mulled cider. A mulled wine is a Christmas market staple and it’s hard to think of going to some Christmas market in Europe without having a mulled wine. Oh, also included in this is Glögg, which I’m sure some people would say is technically different or a unique subset that should be ranked separately because it’s actually a mix of mulled wine with other harder liquors like rum/whiskey. That DOES sound awesome, although if you believe it’s different than mulled wine because the mix of ingredients – essentially you’re arguing that it’s a warm punch again (see #7).
2. Hot Chocolate
This doesn’t have to be spiked or anything. Just a hot chocolate. And I’m not talking Swiss Miss packets with those strage hard “marshmallows” in them. I remember my mom would make it from scratch using Hershey’s cocoa powder, sugar, milk, and vanilla extract… and it would be a reward for going out and shoveling on a snowy day. Hey, remember when it used to snow before global warming? Those were the days.
Like hot chocolate, this doesn’t HAVE to be spiked – it’s perfectly delicious on its own without alcohol. But, like, uhh… you’re gonna want to go ahead and add in some rum or some whiskey anyway. I’m just sayin. Also, like with Glögg-to-mulled wine, there is a sub-category of eggnog here that I’m electing to rank as part of eggnog rather than a separate entity – Coquito (basically Puerto Rican coconut-flavored eggnog). It is also very delicious.
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