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Do you have a favorite holiday drink? Indulge at home this winter with our festive cocktails. Try these fun and fragrant drinks—from our Ho, Ho, Ho Cocktail to mulled wine, spiced cider, eggnog, a Christmas punch, and more!
1. Traditional Wassail For centuries, going back to Anglo-Saxon times, holiday revelers have wished each other, “Wes ha!”—Be Whole!—while sharing this drink. Wassail traditionally contained roasted apples, which would swell up and burst apart in the hot punch.
2. Light Wassail Even children will enjoy this spicy punch, which you can adopt as you wish. Taste as you go, adjusting the sugar to find a mixture you especially like.
3. Mulled Wine This creates a delightful aroma. Use burgundy or any other full-bodied wine.
4. Cranberry Punch Chill all the ingredients before making this colorful holiday punch. If you prefer, use unsweetened cranberry/raspberry juice and sweeten to taste with superfine sugar.
5. Mulled Cider Hot cider fills the house with a delicious fragrance. Make it for brunch or just to have throughout a holiday.
6. George Washington’s Christmas Eggnog We get the word nog from noggin, a small, wooden cup that English tavern owners used for serving drinks. Once you taste homemade eggnog, you’ll never again settle for the variety sold in cartons.
7. Non-Alcoholic Eggnog From the chef: “This recipe has been served by my grandmother every Christmas I can remember. I’m spoiled on it now and cannot tolerate commercial eggnog. Enjoy!”
8. Ho, Ho, Ho Cocktail Garnet red in color and filled with bubbles, our festive Ho, Ho, Ho Cocktail fairly shouts “Happy Holidays” from its glass.
9. Christmas Punch This punch is not only pretty but flavorful as well. A very good nonalcoholic punch. Make plenty—it’ll go fast.
Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana. Read More from Catherine Boeckmann