Our 31 Best Hot Winter Drink Recipes To Spread Holiday Cheer

For when you can’t decide between a boozy nightcap or a creamy hot chocolate. Get the recipe for Venezuelan Chocolate-Rum Drink »

If a coffeemaker upgrade relegated your old percolator to the attic years ago, here’s another use for it: cocktail hour. Thrifty housewives have long repurposed the pot to make aromatic punches. The percolator continuously cycles hot liquids, which infuses spices and concentrates juices, making for a fragrant winter drink. Get the recipe for Spiced Percolator Punch »

For this hot version of the White Russian, bartender Isaac Shumway of San Francisco’s Tosca Cafe ditches the vodka, mixing brandy and coffee liqueur with a hot coffee-cream mixture, and topping with cappuccino-like crown of frothed cream. Get the recipe for White Nun »

This cider concentrate makes your kitchen smell divine. It’s good drizzled over pancakes, added to homemade vinaigrettes or used as a ham glaze. For a quick, warming drink, spoon three tablespoons into a large mug and fill with just-boiled water. This recipe comes to us from Marisa McClellan, author of Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year-Round. Get the recipe for Mulled Apple Cider Concentrate »

With roasted and ground cacao nibs, milk, and warming spices, this traditional Caribbean “tea” is more of a hot chocolate. Get the recipe for Cocoa Tea »

Robby Haynes of Analogue in Chicago gives mulled apple cider some extra kick with spicy Old Overholt rye whiskey and a zippy demerara syrup accented with vanilla bean, cardamom, and blade mace. Get the recipe for Cabin Fever »

Hot and Heavey Grog

In this warm drink, Alex Bachman of Billy Sunday in Chicago adds a mix of Jamaican and St. Lucian rums to a dry red wine reduction flavored with quince, chamomile, and bitter cacao nibs to balance the fruitiness. Get the recipe for Last of the Ancient Breed Cocktail »

In central Europe, winter parties are fueled by this mulled wine. A fruity red wine works best for this richly spiced punch, so try a bright-cherry merlot or a jammy syrah. Get the recipe for Kuhano Vino »

On Greece’s Cyclades islands, this sweet, anise-flavored drink is said to boost libido. Get the recipe for Rakomelo »

Canelazo Ecuadorian Tea Cocktail

In 1475 in the Scottish Highlands, the Earl of Atholl captured a rebel leader by spiking his well water with honey, whisky, and oatmeal. Lucky rebel. Get the recipe for Atholl Brose »

This British punch has its roots in a pagan rite in which revelers toasted to apple trees to ensure the harvest. The name comes from the Old Norse ves heill and Old English was hál, meaning “be fortunate,” which is how we feel when we drink it.
Get the recipe for Wassail »

Laced with cinnamon, lemon, and Angostura bitters, this gin-based drink is a brisk, warming twist on a toddy. Get the recipe for Pearman’s Toddy »

This variation on a toddy combines calvados, a French apple brandy, with hot cider for a drink that’s autumn in a glass. Get the recipe for Calvados Hot Toddy »

Cardamom gives this Indian drink a bright, piney sweetness tempered by a creamy base of evaporated milk and black tea. Get the recipe for Spiced Tea (Masala Chai) »

Our simplified version of the flaming coffee cocktail served at Arnaud’s in New Orleans uses strong black coffee spiced with whole cloves and citrus peels. Orange curaçao and brandy give it a sweet, boozy kick. Get the recipe for Arnaud’s Café Brûlot Diabolique »

Named for the New Jersey birthplace of Laird’s Apple Brandy, this toddy gets bittersweet complexity from cardoon-flavored amaro. Blow out the burning bourbon that floats atop the drink, then stir it in. Get the recipe for Colts Neck Toddy »

The warm spices in chai echo the flavor of a typical clove-infused toddy. The addition of cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, and flinty black pepper, coupled with the tannic tang of the tea, made this warming drink even more appealing. Get the recipe for Hot Chai Toddy »

Honey adds unique depth as a sweetener for hot cocoa, balanced by a pinch of salt. Get the recipe for Honeyed Hot Cocoa »

We love nibbling dark chocolate alongside a glass of red wine; the two flavors combined in a warming hot chocolate is an unexpected treat. Get the recipe for Bittersweet Hot Chocolate with Red Wine »

Nutella stirred into hot chocolate lends a luxurious texture and great, chocolate-hazelnut flavor. For an extra dose of hazelnut, add a splash of Frangelico. Get the recipe for Nutella Hot Chocolate with Hazelnut Liqueur »

White chocolate is the perfect canvas for warm, winter spices such as cardamom and nutmeg. Get the recipe for Hot White Chocolate with Cardamom »

The winning combination of marshmallow fluff, peanut butter, and chocolate makes an over the top cup of cocoa. Get the recipe for Fluffernutter Hot Cocoa »

White chocolate and Frangelico combine for a sweet, creamy drink that makes a perfect winter nightcap; all it needs as embellishment is a dusting of freshly grated nutmeg. Get the recipe for Hazelnut White Hot Chocolate »

Salted hot milk chocolate is enhanced with just a touch of Irish whiskey and a generous dollop of whipped cream. Get the recipe for Irish Hot Chocolate »

The best early morning breakfast to be found on the street of any Mexican city is a nice hot cup of chocolate caliente with some churros, sweet tamales, or fresh-baked sweet goods from a bakery. Made from just chocolate and milk or water, it’s a simple, rich drink. Get the recipe for Mexican Hot Chocolate (Chocolate Caliente) »