The Best Winter Cocktails to Make This Season

There is a particular pleasure in a well-made winter drink: the warmth in your hands, the smell of spice, the sense that the cold has been kept firmly outside.

Below are the 24 cocktails we think are most worth your time this season, grouped by the mood they suit rather than by spirit. About half are served hot and half cold, because a winter cocktail is defined by its flavours as much as its temperature. Each links through to a full recipe.

What makes a drink a winter cocktail

Before the list, it is worth being clear about what these drinks have in common, because it is not simply that they are hot.

Three things recur. The first is baking spice: cinnamon, clove, star anise, nutmeg and allspice, which carry aroma much further in a warm liquid than in a cold one and which the nose reads as winter before the tongue gets involved. The second is orchard and dried fruit: apple, pear, orange peel, cranberry, fig, the flavours that were historically available in December in northern Europe and that still taste like the season. The third is weight. Summer drinks are built to refresh, which means acid, dilution and length. Winter drinks are built to comfort, which means more sugar, more body, richer spirits and shorter serves.

Temperature is a fourth variable rather than the defining one. Roughly half the drinks below are served cold and are no less wintry for it. A cinnamon old fashioned served over one large ice cube belongs to this season as clearly as a pan of mulled wine does.

What separates a good winter cocktail from a heavy one is balance. Sweetness needs acid against it, richness needs something bitter or aromatic, and anything served warm needs to stay well below the boil. That last point matters more than any other single technique, and the warm cocktails guide covers it in detail.

The everyday classics

These are the drinks to know by heart. Short ingredient lists, no special equipment, and each one is a template you can vary once you have made it a few times.

Hot Toddy

If you make one winter drink, make a hot toddy. Whisky, honey, lemon and hot water, soothing and endlessly adjustable, and genuinely useful when a cold is coming on. Eight minutes from kettle to glass. Hot Toddy

Cinnamon Old Fashioned

The winter old fashioned: bourbon, homemade cinnamon syrup and a perfumed strip of orange peel over one large ice cube. Cold, spirit-forward and unmistakably seasonal. Five minutes and the most grown-up drink on this list. Cinnamon Old Fashioned

Winter Dark and Stormy

Dark rum and ginger beer with fresh lime, a dash of Angostura and a cinnamon stick left to steep. The Bermudan classic with the heat turned up. Three minutes, and it works as well in December as in July. Winter Dark and Stormy

Hot Whisky Mac

The fastest drink here. Scotch, Stone’s ginger wine and hot water, nothing else, three minutes. The ginger wine does the work of sweetener, spice and body all at once. Hot Whisky Mac

The festive centrepieces

Nothing fills a house with Christmas like a pan of something spiced. These are the drinks that scale, and the ones to make when people are coming over.

Mulled Wine

The English classic: red wine warmed with orange, lemon, cinnamon, clove and bay, often lifted with brandy or port. Thirty-five minutes, most of it unattended, and it holds at low heat for an evening. Mulled Wine

Glühwein

Its German market-stall cousin, leaning sweeter and more clove-forward, with star anise and a whole studded orange. The defining drink of the Christmas market and worth making properly at home. Glühwein

Feuerzangenbowle

The theatrical one. A rum-soaked sugarloaf is set alight above a pan of spiced red wine and drips caramelised rum into the bowl below. Twenty-five minutes and a genuine spectacle. Make it once with an audience. Feuerzangenbowle

Wassail

The traditional British spiced cider punch, with a baking apple roasted until soft, brown sugar, cinnamon, clove, ginger and nutmeg. Older than most of the drinks here and still one of the best. Wassail

Smoking Bishop

The Dickens punch, made with ruby port, red wine and clove-studded oranges roasted and left overnight. Thirteen hours of mostly waiting, and the result is deeper and less sweet than any mulled wine. Smoking Bishop

Glühbier

Mulled beer, which sounds unlikely and is very good. Dark beer or bock warmed with honey, cinnamon, clove and orange into something malty and rounded. Fifteen minutes and a talking point. Glühbier

The after-dinner treats

The drinks that sit between a cocktail and a dessert, and the ones most likely to end an evening well.

Irish Coffee

Hot coffee, Irish whiskey and brown sugar under a float of softly whipped cream. The definitive after-dinner warmer. The float is the whole trick, so pour it slowly over the back of a spoon. Irish Coffee

Spiked Hot Chocolate

Real dark chocolate at 60 to 70 percent melted into milk and cream with brown sugar and a pinch of flaky salt, then spiked with rum, bourbon or orange liqueur. Nothing like the powdered version. Spiked Hot Chocolate

Lumumba

Rich cocoa laced with brandy under softly whipped cream, and a fixture of northern European Christmas markets. Lighter and quicker than a chocolate-based drink, which is exactly why it travels. Lumumba

Winter Espresso Martini

Vodka, coffee liqueur, fresh espresso and a whisper of cinnamon-vanilla syrup, shaken to a silky foam. Cold, sharp and the right answer when the room needs waking up rather than settling down. Winter Espresso Martini

White Russian

Vodka, coffee liqueur and double cream built over ice. Three ingredients, three minutes, and an indulgence that has never really gone away. White Russian

The festive classics that are served cold

Snowball Cocktail

Advocaat, fresh lime and sparkling lemonade with a maraschino cherry. Unapologetically retro, genuinely delicious, and the drink most likely to be requested by anyone over sixty. Three minutes. Snowball Cocktail

Sidecar

Cognac, Cointreau and fresh lemon shaken to a frost in a sugar-rimmed coupe. Citrus-forward and polished, and a useful reminder that not every winter drink has to be sweet or warm. Sidecar

Mistletoe Martini

Juniper-led gin with elderflower liqueur and pure cranberry, sharpened with lime. Jewel-bright and properly festive without the sweetness that usually comes with it. Mistletoe Martini

Blood Orange Negroni

Gin, sweet vermouth and Campari lifted with fresh blood orange juice. Blood oranges peak from December to March, which makes this genuinely seasonal rather than a summer drink in a scarf. Blood Orange Negroni

The modern warm serves

The part of the category that has changed most. Lighter, drier and spirit-forward, for anyone who finds mulled wine too heavy.

Hot Apple Gin

A ready-to-serve warm gin-and-apple drink in a stemmed glass with an apple slice and a pinch of cinnamon. Five minutes, no pan, and a genuine alternative to a mulled drink rather than a variation on one. Hot Apple Gin

Mezcal Warmer

Smoky mezcal with warm orange juice, agave, lime and a whisper of chilli. Short, spirit-forward and with a long finish. The least traditional drink on this page and one of the best. Mezcal Warmer

Hot Spiced Sake

Sake warmed with fresh ginger, star anise and yuzu, sweetened with a little honey. Served at around 55°C, cooler than everything else here, and the cleanest drink in the guide. Hot Spiced Sake

The alcohol-free options

Alcohol-Free Hot Toddy

Strong black tea with honey, lemon, fresh ginger and cinnamon. It keeps the shape of a toddy, with ginger supplying the warmth the whisky would have. Alcohol-Free Hot Toddy

Alcohol-Free Mulled Wine

Red grape juice and strong hibiscus tea with the full spice bill. Fragrant, deep red and, importantly, made as its own recipe rather than as mulled wine with something missing. Alcohol-Free Mulled Wine

How to choose

If you are cooking for a crowd, pick something from the festive centrepieces: they are made in a pan, they hold their heat and they do not need you standing at the counter. If it is two of you on a Tuesday, the everyday classics are all under ten minutes. If dinner has just finished, go to the after-dinner section and nothing else.

A rough guide by occasion:

• A cold weeknight, two people. Hot Toddy or Hot Whisky Mac. Under ten minutes, ingredients you already have.
• Eight people arriving at seven. Mulled Wine or Wassail, started an hour before and held at low heat.
• Christmas Day, mixed ages. Snowball Cocktail for the traditionalists, Alcohol-Free Mulled Wine for everyone else.
• After a long dinner. Irish Coffee if people are staying, Winter Espresso Martini if they are going on somewhere.
• You want to show off. Feuerzangenbowle, which is a fire hazard and a genuine spectacle, or Smoking Bishop if you can plan a day ahead.
• Something nobody else will serve. Mezcal Warmer or Glühbier.

One practical note on quantities. For a warm punch or mulled drink, count on roughly 200ml per person for the first hour and about half that for each hour after, which is one bottle of wine for every three to four guests over an evening. Make less than you think and top the pan up rather than letting a large batch sit and stew.

And if you want the whole category explained rather than a list, start with what is a winter cocktail, then move to the best warm winter cocktails for the technique or glühwein alternatives if mulled wine is not your thing.

Where to go next

Browse the full recipe collection, pick a drink by occasion, or read up on the ingredients that define the season. For a party specifically, our guide to the best Christmas cocktails for a party covers quantities and timing.