“I always love a holiday cocktail that infuses warm spices—cinnamon, cloves, fresh nutmeg,” says Corey Newton, the former lead bartender at the Garden & Gun Club in Atlanta. “But sometimes it’s nice to take a break from your classic holiday flavors.” Thinking outside the box, he developed the Christmas Vacation, a punch-like drink that, while Christmas colored, takes bright, acidic cues from more tropical, vacation-inspired sips.
“The recipe is really straightforward,” Newton says. “But definitely make sure you have a nice, very dry Champagne to top it with, as well as some fresh cranberries for garnish to give it that nice festive look.” While the cocktail works great in small batches, it can easily be scaled up to serve at your next holiday soiree: simply multiply the recipe by ten.
