Mulled wine will get your guests in the holiday spirit
Christmas is the time of year to spend time with family and friends, so host a gathering to enjoy good food, fine drinks and companionship. Select traditional and fun drinks for your Christmas party that will get your guests in the holiday spirit. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
Select Christmas Cocktails
1. Serve your guests eggnog, the most well-known Christmas drink. Traditionally, eggnog is a rich drink made from milk, cream, beaten eggs (for froth), sugar, nutmeg and a dark liquor like rum, whiskey or brandy. Cinnamon and allspice can also be used for flavor, and the drink can be topped with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
2. Warm up your Christmas party with hot mulled wine. This wintertime favorite is made from heated red wine, spiced with cloves, cinnamon sticks, sugar and lemon or orange zest. The wine and spices must be slowly steeped but never boiled, and the spices strained before pouring. Remember to serve hot mulled wine in mugs instead of wine glasses, which could break with high temperatures.
3. Treat guests to a savory cup of hot buttered rum. A familiar Christmas drink that really spreads the warmth of the season, the basic ingredients of hot buttered rum are brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg and, of course, rum. Spice things up by throwing in a few cloves, or make the drink even richer by adding vanilla ice cream.
Choose Non-Alcoholic Christmas Drinks
4. Offer non-alcoholic versions of Christmas drinks to guest who are abstaining from alcohol. These virgin cocktails are also great for kids, and often the only variation to the recipe is omitting the alcohol. Warm drinks like hot apple cider, hot cocoa with peppermint and spiced teas are also excellent options.
5. Enjoy the oddly-named but tasty drink called a Wassail at your Christmas party. Wassailing is another world for caroling, and this drink is named after the drink that the carolers would carry with them to keep warm. Although recipes can vary, it is basically a hot apple cider with other fruit juices such as orange or pineapple juice added, along with cloves, cinnamon, sugar, lemon juice and often pieces of cut-up fruit.
Find Recipes for Christmas Drinks
6. Use the Internet to find great recipes for Christmas drinks. Traditions vary by area and country, and you will discover a huge variety of recipes on cooking and Christmas websites. Take the time to search and compare different recipes, from old favorites to recipes created by other website users, and decide which you would like to try for your Christmas party.
7. Browse the drink sections of cook books to find recipes for Christmas drinks. Most cook books will give some background on each recipe, so you will be able to determine which drink recipes are traditional for Christmas. Cook books featuring recipes exclusively for Christmas also exist, and these often have a wide selection of both traditional and creative Christmas drinks.
Tags: Christmas party, your Christmas, your Christmas party, your guests, apple cider, Christmas drink