Holiday Hosting Secret: The Signature Cocktail

Serve a signature cocktail at your holiday bash to add a personal touch to your fete and show off your hosting savvy.

From: Holiday Party Planner

Related To:

Better Bartending

Make like the savviest of holiday hosts and serve a signature cocktail at your party rather than stocking a full bar. A display of prefilled glasses or a colorful punch bowl makes for a stunning drinks station and allows you to communicate a theme to your guests. (They'll never know how much money you saved.) Supplement your personalized drink with less pricey wine and beer.

Coal in Your Stocking Cocktail

Despite its name, this vibrant cocktail from Alie Ward and Georgia Hardstark is more like a sippable gift. Dark, smoky whiskey and bitters are brightened by triple sec, candied citrus peels and a maraschino cherry –– like a fruitier take on a Manhattan.

Get the Recipe: Coal in Your Stocking Cocktail

Ginger Rum Shandy

Chuck Hughes spices up his shandy for the holidays by adding rum to the beer-and-fruit-juice classic combo. Apple juice and slices as well as both grated and peeled ginger give it a distinctly wintry-warm flavor profile.

Get the Recipe: Ginger Rum Shandy

Cranberry-Orange-Cinnamon Vodka Tonic

Spicy cinnamon vodka contrasts with citrusy orange in this surprisingly warm and spicy concoction. Muddled cranberries add an extra tangy punch and make for a visually appealing glass.

Get the Recipe: Cranberry-Orange-Cinnamon Vodka Tonic

Lemon Raspberry Fizz

Limoncello –– the liqueur made by steeping lemon peels in vodka for a couple weeks –– is synonymous with celebration in Italian culture. Here, Giada De Laurentiis combines the tart beverage with Champagne (though any sparkling white will do) and berries for a bright, bubbly flute.

Get the Recipe: Lemon Raspberry Fizz

Chocolate Espresso Martini

Dessert? Pick-me-up? Knock-you-down? This drink, which combines complimentary espresso and chocolate, is sure to satisfy all three of those descriptors and add an indulgent punch to your holiday affair.

Get the Recipe: Chocolate Espresso Martini