* The holidays bring on more reasons to raise a glass
* Cocktail recipes, history lessons, and luxe barware
* Upgrade your at-home bar game before the holiday season
With the holidays coming up, chances are, your alcohol consumption frequency is about to skyrocket. Between entertaining guests and hosting distant relatives throughout the new year, festivities and celebrations call for adult-friendly libations. To prepare, we’ve created a guide to all things cocktails for your reference. Cheers!
Spirits
Bourbon
Bourbon vs. whiskey…what’s the difference? Don’t serve the dark-hued liquor without knowing a thing or two about its heritage. See below to find out more about bourbon and the best ways to serve/drink it.
Lift Your Spirits: How to Upgrade Your Drink With Baby Bourbon
Moonshine
You don’t have to run hooch out of a backyard still or swap secret codes with some cagey two-bit characters to get in a “Blind Pig” in order to enjoy swigging some absolutely all-six Moonshine. See below for our guide to enjoying the best modern day moonshine liquors you can swill without risk of nasty business, like getting run-in or going blind from isopropyl poisoning.
Bomb Bootleg: The 3 Best Moonshine Liquors You Can Legally Swig
Rum
What better way to toast to the holidays than with a rum-spiked cocktail or dessert? Follow link below for 4 delicious rum recipes that you can try at home using the original Captain Morgan Rum and the LocoNut liqueur.
Raise a Glass to Rum With These 4 Recipes
Craft Cocktail Recipes
Don’t serve up basic well drinks this season. You don’t have to be a bartender to make a great mixed drink. Take your cocktail expertise to the next level with our help. All you need is a shaker, the right glassware and these cocktail recipes.
Related Stories
Cocktails to Make to Have a Happier Happy Hour
Low-Cal Cocktails
There’s probably nothing more relaxing than unwinding at home after a long day with a well-deserved drink. But if you’re trying to maintain or lose weight, alcohol can be a caloric foe, with some mixed drinks on par with the calorie count of a small meal. Read our story below for the best cocktails for guilt-free indulgence this season.
Light Drinking: The 7 Best Low-Calorie Cocktails to Make at Home
Unique Cocktails
Our guide to 10 unique drink recipes, complete with step by step instructions will have you creating and concocting your own unique blends and entertaining in style without ever having to leave your home. Click through to read the full recipes and to purchase the suggested alcohol of choice for each drink. Bonus: order online and the bottles are conveniently delivered straight to your door.
Stirred, Not Shaken: 10 Unique Cocktail Recipes for Savvy Sippers
Casual Drinking
Hangover Hacks
It happens to the best of us: One drink leads to two, then another two. . . and before you know it you’re waking up to a headache, dry mouth and waves of nausea that just won’t quit. See below for 9 hangover hacks to recover the morning after a night of overindulgence.
Hangover Hacks: 9 Easy Ways to Recover the Morning After
Carry-on Cocktails for Travel
The anticipation of a vacation can lead to in-flight restlessness that can be hard to ignore. Why not get the party started as soon as you hit 30,000 feet? That’s totally possible with these delicious cocktail mixer packets. Whether a mid-flight pina colada is your cocktail of choice or a Moscow mule is the best way to get in the holiday mood, these cocktail kits include everything you need to turn the tired drinks sold onboard into tasty in-flight treats.
Sky High: 7 Carry-On Cocktail Kits For Your Next Plane Trip
Guilt-Free Cocktail Mixers
Some cocktails come with calorie counts of up to 600 calories — the same as a small meal. While there are several options for drink mixers on the market, they are often laden with not only sugar and sodium but also unhealthy additives and preservatives. Check out our post to discover the easiest, all-natural cocktail mix-in for delicious cocktails in just minutes.
Guilt-Free Cocktails Have Never Been Easier
Beer & Wine Based Cocktails
The owners of LA restaurant, Red Herring, share their recipes and tips for making beer and wine-based cocktails. They’re fuss-free and just as delicious as their liquor-based counterparts.
Three New Cocktails From Red Herring — This TV Producer’s Hot LA Restaurant
Sangria
With fall officially upon us, it’s time to send another summer off in style. While sangria may be thought of as a traditionally summery drink, we’ve got a new take that will make it seasonal appropriate for fall. The trick: a splash of Alizé Passion. Find out the best recipes to whip up with this fruity liqueur this fall below.
An Easy Transitional Sangria Recipe
Barware
Bar Tools
Whether you’re a beginner mixologist or a craft cocktail connoisseur, it’s time to raise the bar on your bar. No more lame libations or over-used glassware. See our guide below for eight essentials for upping your cocktail game at home.
Raising the Bar: 8 Essentials for Upping Your Cocktail Game at Home
Bar Carts
Bar carts not only store your spirits, but they also allow you to free up cabinets in other areas and keep your most eye-catching liquor on display. Peruse our selected carts below and find yourself an affordable serving aide to take your hosting game to a whole new level. They’re all under $100.
Bring Me My Booze: The 8 Best Bar Carts Under $100
Luxe Bar Accessories
Whether you love to entertain or simply like to enjoy an evening cocktail in an elegant setting, adding some sleek barware to your current set-up will give your dining area a sophisticated and luxurious update. If you like to experiment with trying different craft cocktails or simply stick to wine, we have 10 items that will elevate your at-home bar game to a (nearly) pro level.
Tool Bar: 10 Essential Items for a Classy Home Saloon
Shot Glasses
Take shots with an extra touch of class at your next get together, using this set of hand-blown shot glasses. Whether you’re at a friend’s house for a dinner party or having a pre-drink at home, this set of colorful glasses is sure to impress. See below for more details on these colorful shot glasses.
Down Your Next Shot From A Hand-Blown Shot Glass
Mood Glasses
Whether you’re into wine or a fancy cocktail, why not have that drink in a glass that makes you or anyone else who joins you smile a little bit? We have found five great quality drinking glasses to fit your mood and/or drink of choice.
SPY Guide: 5 Drinking Glasses That Reflect How We Truly Feel
Stemless Champagne Glasses
Standard stemware can feel a bit fussy and sometimes even over the top. After all, not every occasion requires such flights of fancy, but grabbing a pack of Solo cups isn’t quite warranted either. So grab any one of these stemless picks for your next celebration instead.
SPY Guide: 6 Stemless Champagne Glasses to Cheers To
Wine Racks
Whether you’re a novice collector or you just like buying in bulk, having a wine rack (or two) isn’t a terrible idea. Other than keeping your bottles of wine in neat order, you may actually be preserving some of them by storing them somewhat properly. See below for our favorite wine racks under $50 to shop now.
Nice Rack: 5 Best Wine Racks Under $50
Oak Bottle Micro Infuser
Chances are that some of your favorite wine and spirits are aged in oak barrels, or are at least introduced to oak wood chips during the aging process. If you’re wondering why that is, it’s quite simple: oak makes everything taste and smell better. If you’re looking for an oaking vessel of your own to use at home, then click link below to find out more about this at-home oak infuser.