Cocktail of the Week: Christmas Cocktails

For our holiday edition of Cocktail of the Week, we’ve rounded up a selection of Christmas cocktails created by some of our favorite hotels around the world.

Campfire Hot Chocolate, Nobu Hotel Shoreditch, London

• 30ml Talisker Skye
• 35ml Baileys Luxe
• 25ml full cream
• 15ml spiced golden syrup
• Toasted marshmallow
• Spiced raspberry powder

This winter warming drink is being served at Nobu Hotel Shoreditch throughout the festive season. To create the cocktail yourself, combine all the ingredients in a pan, heat without bringing to the boil and pour into a coffee cup. You can add whipped cream and garnish with a toasted marshmallow and dusting of spiced raspberry powder.

Chubby Honey Egg Nog, Hotel Arts Barcelona

• 12 large eggs
• 500g organic honey
• One tsp fresh-grated cinnamon
• Two tsp fresh-grated nutmeg
• 10oz Torres 15
• 12oz Amontillado sherry
• 36oz whole milk
• 24oz organic heavy cream
• Grated nutmeg

If you’re in the Spanish city over the holidays, head to the Hotel Arts Barcelona bar for its tempting take on the indulgent classic. To make chubby honey egg nog at home, first beat the eggs until smooth. With the mixer on slow, add cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar until fully dissolved, then slowly add the Torres 15 brandy, Amontillado sherry, milk and cream. The cocktail is best refrigerated overnight and finished with fresh grated nutmeg.

Frankincense Fizz, Corinthia Hotel London

• 40ml Ford’s gin
• 15ml Quaglia Chinotto liqueur
• 25ml orange juice
• One egg yolk
• 20ml (1:1) sugar syrup
• 20ml lemon juice
• 5ml Frankincense water
• One orange slice
• Soda water to top

You’ll find this seasonal cocktail in the sophisticated Bassoon Bar of Corinthia Hotel London, but if you’re not passing through the city at this time of year, make the Frankincense Fizz in your own kitchen. Add all the ingredients except soda to a shaker. Shake with ice cubes and strain into a champagne flute. Top with soda and, for the best effect, garnish with edible gold spray.

S’mores Tradition, Montage Beverly Hills

• 1 oz Remy Martin XO
• 3/4 oz Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur
• 1/4 oz Godiva Dark Chocolate Liqueur
• 1/2 oz chocolate syrup
• One egg white (it can be substituted by aquafaba)

Cozy up with this cocktail at Montage Beverly Hills or try creating your own S’mores Tradition at home. Reverse dry shake (shake over ice then strain and shake again without ice) all the ingredients, then strain them into a snifter glass. You can top this with cracker crumbles and a toasted marshmallow on a stick. At Montage Beverly Hills, this is served with three small s’mores truffles on the side.

Alpine Spritz, The London Edition

• 40ml Grey Goose
• 10ml Green Chartreuse
• 10ml Oakmoss Syrup
• 25ml citric acid
• Soda (to top)
• Two dashes absinthe (optional)

Try the Alpine Spritz in the Lobby Bar of The London Edition. If that’s too far for you to go, you can make the seasonal drink yourself by shaking together the vodka, chartreuse, oakmoss syrup and citric acid, then pouring in a white wine glass over cubed ice. Top the drink off with soda and garnish with a mint sprig and a light dusting of icing sugar.

Vieux Carre, Rosewood Sand Hill, California

• 1oz Hennessy VSOP
• 1oz George Dickel Rye
• 1oz Carpano Antica Vermouth
• 0.25oz Benedictine
• Two dashes Angostura bitters
• Two dashes Peychauds bitters
• Lemon twist to garnish

This festive season, Rosewood Sand Hill is hosting a cozy winter pop-up in collaboration with Hennessy, and the Vieux Carre cocktail is one of the pop-ups signature drinks. Make the cocktail in your own home by adding all the liquid ingredients to a mixing glass (add the bitters last), adding ice and stirring for dilution. Strain this into a rocks glass with a large ice cube and express a lemon twist over the cocktail to finish.

A Winter’s Night, Gleneagles, Scotland

• 125ml of a light red wine
• 5ml grapefruit juice
• 7.5ml honey
• Three dashes of Angostura bitters
• Four cloves
• One star anise
• One stick of cinnamon
• Five Szechuan peppercorns

Try this wintery cocktail named after the poem by Robert Burns at luxury Scottish hotel, Gleneagles. To make the warming drink, you need to slowly heat all the ingredients together in a pan, stirring regularly. Once it reaches the desired temperature, strain the mixture into a glass and garnish with a cinnamon stick. You can add a wedge of grapefruit to garnish if desired.

Let it Snow, Hôtel de Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel, Paris

• 7oz Elyx vodka
• 8oz Aperol
• 7oz cranberry juice
• 7oz lime juice
• 3oz cinnamon syrup
• Coconut shavings
• Cinnamon sticks
• Redcurrant berries

Hôtel de Crillon created this seasonal signature cocktail for guests to enjoy in the sophisticated Les Ambassadeurs bar over the holidays. To create the cocktail at home, coat the rim of a glass with coconut shavings, then mix the vodka, Aperol, cranberry juice, lime juice and cinnamon syrup together in a cocktail shaker and pour over ice into the glass. Garnish your drink with a cinnamon stick and redcurrant berries. At the Parisian hotel, this cocktail is picture-perfect.