Holidays are a fun and exciting time to get together with friends and family. Celebrate the festive occasion with fun holiday drinks. There are a variety of special and creative holiday drink recipes that can be used during Christmas, New Year's, Valentine's Day and Thanksgiving.
Christmas
Christmas is a magical time of the year, full of warmth and happiness. One Christmas drink that is sure to warm the body and spirit is warm cinnamon-orange cider. The cinnamon-orange cider requires 1 tbsp. of honey, 1 1/2 tsp. of whole allspice, 2 tbsp. of cinnamon candies, 2 cups of orange juice and 64 oz. of apple cider. Warm the apple cider, allspice and orange juice either on the stove top or the microwave, just make sure that all ingredients come to a boil. Then take out the allspice and mix in the honey, and it's ready to be served.
Glögg is a classic Christmas drink that has Scandinavian roots. Glögg requires 2 bottles of dry red wine, 1 3/4 cups of brandy, 1 1/3 cups of vodka, 1/3 cup of sugar, 1 orange cut into fourths, 1 cup of pitted prunes, 1 3/4 cups of raisins, 10 whole blanched almonds cut in half lengthwise, 2 cups of water, 1 piece of ginger root, 2 cinnamon sticks, 7 crushed cardamom pods and 10 whole cloves. You put the cloves, cardamon, cinnamon and ginger root into a cheesecloth bag and tie it shut, then boil the 2 cups of water in a 4-quart pan and put in the cheesecloth bag, spice, almonds, raisins, orange pieces and prunes. Let them come to a rapid boil, then reduce heat and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. After, remove the bag, orange pieces and prunes and mix in the rest of the ingredients. Cover the pot and let it come to a rapid boil. Fill cups with a few raisins and almonds and pour the warm Glögg on top.
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a joyous time of year when the leaves are changing colors, the air is beginning to become crisp and delicious smells float out from the kitchen. A wonderful thanksgiving beverage that incorporates one of the holiday's star foods, the cranberry, is cranberry-apple spritzer. The cranberry-apple spritzer features fresh apple slices, mint sprigs, 1 cup of cranberry-apple juice, 1 cup of cold sparkling water and 2 cups of chilled non-alcoholic wine or 2 cups of chilled white wine. Pour the wine or non-alcoholic wine, sparkling water and cranberry-apple juice into an ice-filled shaker and stir well. Strain the mixture into a glass and garnish with apple slices and mint sprigs.
Valentine's Day and New Year's
Valentine's Day and New Year's are romantic holidays. The beverage of choice for these holidays is a beverage that is classy and celebratory. There is no better beverage for theses holidays then champagne. However, there are other classy, celebratory beverages that can be consumed on these holidays. A great drink choice for Valentine's Day is referred to as Sex and Candy and is made by combining equal parts lemon-lime soda and peach schnapps. Just stir both ingredients together and enjoy. If you want to try something other than champagne this New Year's eve, try a drink called Aviation, which has 2 oz. of fresh lemon juice, 1 oz. of gin and 2 dashes of maraschino liqueur. Mix the juice and gin and dash the maraschino liqueur on top and enjoy.
Tags: apple cider, apple slices, apple slices mint, beverage that, Christmas drink