Holiday Drink Recipes to Save Your Christmas Party

When I was very young, my father's family would get together every Christmas Eve in my grandparent's basement for a party. My entire extended family, second cousins and long-time family friends included, would attend. My father has 9 brothers and sisters, and most of them were married with two or three kids. It was a huge party. There were games and sing-a-longs, they made the children put on plays, the oldest cousins narrating biblical events and the youngest dressed as farm animals.

Fast forward 20 years or so and even the youngest of my cousins are in Junior High. My father has stepped up and now hosts the party himself. We aren't as close as we once were and without the songs and organized performances we were running out of things to say to each other.

Luckily, during the hiatus of this treasured family tradition, I graduated from college and promptly started bar tending. Behind two feet of sticky polyurethaned wood, I learned a few things about getting a party started. So, I made a few drinks and I like to think I put the "merry" back in my family's Merry Christmas.

The first winter cocktail I concocted to rock their socks off was a "bomb" style drink, meaning you drop a shot of something into a beer or other beverage and then drink the whole thing quickly. I discovered it while bar tending on a quiet winter evening with a few seasoned bartenders in attendance. We were discussing holiday drink recipes and "A Christmas Story" was born. My family members are born and raised Clevelanders so we are partial both to the movie "A Christmas Story" and the Great Lakes Brewing Co.'s Christmas Ale. This drink was a hit.

A Christmas Story
.5 oz of Bailey's Irish Cream
.5 oz of Crown Royal Whiskey
6 oz. of Great Lakes Christmas Ale

Drop a shot glass of ½ Baileys and ½ Crown Royal into a pint glass half full of Christmas Ale. Chug.
(Do not operate automobiles, heavy machinery, or Red Rider BB guns after consuming.)

Now, this was a family party and that first drink was a real doozie. I had to come up with something to bring things back down, and make sure people didn't pass out before the gift exchange. My grandmother never wore one of those glittery, sequined, light-up, Xmas sweaters - but a lot of her friends from church do. My next libation honors that warm, fuzzy, sparkly grandma feeling.

Grandma's Gold Sparkle Christmas Outfit
Ice
1.5 oz Vanilla Vodka
Ginger Ale

Fill a glass with ice, add one shot of Absolut Vanilla and fill the rest of the glass with Sprite. Garnish with as many gaudy red and green plastic or sparkly foil things on a stick you can find.

My winter cocktail recipes may have tasted Christmassy, but my family would not let up until I could make something that looked like Christmas.

O' Christmas Tree
Ice
1.5 oz. Midori Melon Liqueur
Sprite
3 Maraschino cherries

Fill a glass with ice, add one shot of Midori and fill the rest of the glass with Sprite. Top with cherries like shiny red bulb ornaments trimming your tree. It's red and green- it's a crowd-pleaser!

Bonus recipe:

Upside-down Xmas Tree

Ice
1 oz Midori Melon Liqueur
Splash of Sprite
.2 oz Jagermeister
Maraschino cherry

Combine Midori, Ice and Sprite in a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously for about 15 seconds. Really make a show of it. Strain into large shot glass, or small rocks glass. Slowly pour a little Jager as close to the side of the glass as possible without spilling until you have a satisfactory "trunk" floating at the top of the glass. Take the shot, eat the cherry, blow your underage cousins' minds.