Festive Cocktails To Enjoy This Holiday Season

With Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's just around the corner, here are details and recipes of festive cocktails from hotels and resorts from the tropics to the mountains.

Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands (Photo credit: Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa)

• Cocktail: Coquito-Ho-Ho
• Description: House rum blend, coquito mix (condensed milk, coconut, cream, spices), citrus meringue foam, nutmeg
• Quote: “The Coquito-Ho-Ho is our riff on the Coquito cocktail, a kind of eggnog of Puerto Rican / Caribbean origin. Using a mix of light and heavy pot-still Jamaican rums, dark Bermudan rum as a base, the traditional creamy coconut flavours are lifted with local fresh coconut, seasonal spices and then topped with a bright house-made citrus meringue foam.” - Jim Wrigley, Beverage Manager
• Recipe (ingredients + instructions):
• Glass: Toddy
• Garnish: Cinnamon stick & nutmeg grated
• 2oz House Rum blend (Goslings, Appleton Rare 12 yr, Smith & Cross)
• 4oz Coquito mix (Fresh coconut, Coco Lopez, cream, vanilla, spice)
• Top with Citrus Meringue foam

Tampa Marriott Water Street and  JW Marriott Tampa Water Street (Tampa, Florida)

• Cocktail: That’s Amaro
• Description: “A blend of Woodford Reserve Kentucky Bourbon balanced with the Italian favorites Disarrano Amaretto and Montenegro Amaro with a slight hint of Autumn spice perfect for the festive season. This is a nod to the song “That’s Amore”.” - Sean Noddin, Bartender
• Recipe:
• ¾ oz Woodford Reserve
• ¾ oz Disarrano Amaretto
• ¾ oz Montenegro Amaro
• 1oz lemon juice
• ½ oz egg white
• ¼ oz 5 spice simple syrup

Kimpton Surfcomber Hotel (Miami, Florida)

• Cocktail: Naughty JRJ
• Description: diplomatico rum, baileys, caffe borghetti, espresso vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon
• Recipe (ingredients + instructions):
• Fill goblet with ice
• 1 oz diplomatico rum
• 1 oz baileys irish cream
• 1 oz caffe borghetti
• 1 oz of la colombe espresso
• 1 oz of vanilla syrup
• Add a chocolate rim
• Top with cold whole milk foam and ground nutmeg

The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe

• Cocktail: Spirit of the Sierras
• Description: Offering an immersion in the essence of Lake Tahoe, the new Spirit of the Sierras Signature Cocktail will be served in the property’s Living Room restaurant. Served on a wooden tray from repurposed wood gathered from the Tahoe Forest, the smoked cocktail features locally distilled spirits and uses frozen rocks from the Truckee River in place of ice cubes. The property will donate $1 from every cocktail served to reforestation efforts in the Tahoe area.
• Recipe (ingredients):
• 5 oz Westward Cask Strength American Single Malt Whiskey
• .5 oz Laird’s Bottled in Bond Apple Brandy
• .25 Amaretto Disaronno
• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
• 1 dash Bitterman’s Xocolatl Mole Bitters
• Instructions: add all ingredients to mixing glass. Add ice and stir rapidly and strain over large cube into double old-fashioned glass. Express orange twist over cocktail and slide into cocktail. Place cocktail on serving tray and add ‘forest garnish’ around cocktail; cover with glass dome. Lift dome enough to insert smoking gun hose and fill dome with thick white applewood smoke.

The Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas

• Cocktail: Caribbean Coquito
• Description and quote: “A fusion of traditional eggnog and frosty coconut drinks that everyone loves to sip on at the beach - the true history of Coquito is unknown. While the drink can’t be traced back to a specific person or event, there are strong implications that Coquito was brought to the USVI during the height of the Puerto Rican migration. Some theories include the idea that Spanish colonizers brought their own eggnog recipe and began to infuse it with Local Rum! Later, some coconut came into play, which led to a recipe that is much like what you can enjoy on your Island holiday.”
• Recipe (ingredients):
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 (15 ounce) can cream of coconut
• 1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
• 1 (13.5 ounce) can of coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla, or 1 vanilla bean, split and seeded
• 2 whole cinnamon sticks
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 2 cups rum
• Ground nutmeg, Ground Cinnamon for garnish (optional)
• Shredded coconut to rim glass (optional)
• Instructions: Place the sweetened condensed milk, cream of coconut, evaporated milk, coconut milk, vanilla, cinnamon sticks, and nutmeg (all the ingredients except the rum) in a large saucepan. Warm over medium-high heat until just starting to simmer. Remove from heat, cover, and let infuse for 30 minutes. Remove the cinnamon sticks and the vanilla bean (if using) and pour the mixture into a punch bowl or pitcher. Chill this in the fridge for at least 2 hours or for up to 3 days. Shake and serve neat or over ice in small portions. Garnish with grated nutmeg or ground cinnamon as desired. Feel free to add a coconut rim.

New Orleans Marriott (New Orleans, LA)

• Cocktail: Cherry Trailblazer
• Description and recipe:
• 2 oz Buffalo Trace Bourbon
• .75 oz Cherry Heering
• .25oz Simple syrup
• 2 dashes Regan’s orange bitters
• Instructions: Add all ingredients into mixing glass, stir lightly with ice. Strain cocktail into rocks glass with fresh ice. Glass: DOF Garnish: cherry

Driftwood Room at Hotel deLuxe (Portland, OR)

• Cocktail: Driftwood Glugg
• Description and ingredients: Glugg is a traditional Scandinavian holiday wine, and a long-standing tradition at the Driftwood Room – with a twist! Each batch is simmered in the kitchen for hours to enhance the flavors of the cocktail’s full-bodied red wine, Port, liquors, bitters, orange rind, honey, and various holiday spices.
• Quote: “Served hot, the aroma of winter spices and a touch of sweetness from the honey hit you first. Whether you’re looking to celebrate the holidays or just warm up on a chilly night, Driftwood Glugg is your drink." - Spencer Sollom, Bar Manager.