Blogmas Day Twenty Two- The Best Holiday Beverages

Christmas is in the air!! 

Sparkles are everywhere!!
And with that comes a bunch of fantastic festive beverages for us to consume and enjoy!

One of my favourite parts about this time of year is all of the absolutely amazing food and drink that you can only truly appreciate during this time of year. Whether it’s a hot drink to warm you up on a cold winter’s night, something with a bit of caffeine to get you through your morning, or even something cold and fresh to stop you from melting in the summer heat, I absolutely love the fact that Christmas comes with its own range of beverages. So, I thought it might be fun to go through some of the best holiday beverages (be it hot, cold or whatever). Let’s see how many of them you enjoy drinking during the holiday season 🙂  

Chai latte 

Don’t throw snowballs at me for putting a tea at the top of this list! It’s literally my favourite drink, even when it’s not Christmas. Seriously, I have an addiction. I might need help … I drink it all the time, and it’s my go-to hot beverage of choice (when I’m not going for my normal mug of green tea). Chai lattes are by far the best holiday beverages because I think they capture all that is Christmas. They are warm, comforting, sweet and flavoured with those definitive Christmas spices. It’s an excellent drink for any tea fan, spice fan (not spicy spices like turmeric but more like festive spices like ginger, cinnamon and cloves), or creamy, frothy drink fan. Not recommended for people who have issues with milk though because it is a relatively milky drink. In short though, chai lattes are the best!! 

Hot Chocolate 

Probably the ultimate classic, hot chocolate is definitely one of the most consumed hot beverages during Christmas. It’s a drink that never dies and can never truly leave a person’s heart is hot chocolate. There is just something so comforting about a steaming mug of chocolatey goodness, topped with something super sweet and super delicious. Hot chocolate is an excellent wintery drink because it warms you right up and puts a smile on your face because who can help but smile when you taste hot and chocolate at the same time? 

Another great thing about it is you can so easily change it up to suit your needs. Not that the classic had anything wrong with it, but sometimes it can be nice to take an old favourite and add a few bells and whistles to make it new and exciting. There are so many ways to mix up the classic hot chocolate recipe if the standard cup just isn’t doing it for you anymore. You can use white chocolate, add different flavours like strawberry or toffee. You could give it a kick by spicing it up – ever heard of Mexican hot chocolate. Add cinnamon, Nutella, caramel, marshmallows, fruity flavours, peppermint, or even a tot of whiskey (not for underage drinkers please – non-alcoholic hot chocolate is more delicious in my opinion).  At the end of the day, though, you really can’t beat a classic, and whether you are a young child or an adult, everyone will reach for a cup of hot chocolate eventually.

Mulled wine 

THIS BEVERAGE SHOULD NOT BE CONSUMED BY UNDERAGE COLD PEOPLE LOOKING FOR A HOT DRINK (because this blog does not promote that kind of thing, no underage drinking here). Right, now that that is out of the way, just for safety reasons, mulled wine can actually be a very satisfying drink to warm you up. IF you are of age. Mulled wine has a way of warming your entire body in just one sip, and if you just think you can only drink standard mulled wine, you’ll be surprised to know that there are many ways to spice it up (pun was definitely intended). You could add some cinnamon or orange, or anything really, to this toasty and tasty winter staple. Especially if you are wandering through a market, having a small cup of this in your hands will definitely keep the chill off long enough for you to get home to a real heater. Sadly we might not be wandering through many markets, but it’s a nice way to warm yourself up at home too. 

Gingerbread latte 

A seasonal special, this one is only around this time of year and is perfect for all those who enjoy coffee, gingerbread or both! Seeing as there is plenty of gingerbread baking in every second oven at this time of year, I suppose it is more than appropriate for us to translate that love into our hot beverages. Now I’m not much of a coffee drinker, but I’m definitely a fan of this drink. That might just be all the gingerbread flavouring talking though … 

Spiced apple (and cranberry) punch 

Another popular flavour at this time of year is spiced apple and cranberry. We have cranberry sauce, hot apple cider, apple pie and more. These fruits are definitely in the spotlight over Christmas so I figured I had to add this drink. Now I was going to add spiced apple cider (hot or cold, but hot is better) but I thought this was a more fun alternative because it’s a combination of both so you get the sweet and the tart with a little bit of spice. This is high up on the list of Christmas drinks for me because unlike the rich hot beverages, this one is so refreshing so it’s especially delicious if you live somewhere hot. It’s light, refreshing, and you can do an alcoholic and non-alcoholic version depending on your audience. If you’re looking for a punch to make for your Christmas party, I’d highly recommend trying this one out. 

Pumpkin spiced latte 

Who doesn’t love pumpkin?? For those who don’t know I absolutely adore pumpkin and a great thing to do around the autumn (well … autumn/winter) season is to have a pumpkin-spiced scavenger hunt. Well, a pumpkin spiced latte counts right? Another unfortunate thing is that I don’t get to experience much pumpkin-spiced anything in South Africa, so I make sure to overload whenever I’m overseas and get the chance. Sadly, pumpkin seems to be quite an unpopular food choice in the UK (I don’t understand it at all), but at least there are still pumpkin spiced lattes. Autumn is usually when the weather starts to chill off, and pumpkins start appearing, so if you’re looking for a tasty, seasonal hot beverage, then why not try a pumpkin spiced latte? It’s hot, is really a flavoured coffee drink, tastes like pumpkin and has a bit of festive spice to it. Plus, it really does taste like Autumn in a cup, doesn’t it? And the flavours are so easily adaptable to Christmas (pumpkin pie … helloooooo!) so it’s a perfect alternative if you aren’t a fan of other flavoured lattes like the gingerbread or eggnog ones. 

Eggnog

Okay to be honest, I haven’t had much experience with eggnog and it’s definitely not one of my favourites but it’s so popular all around the world I felt I would be booed off the blogosphere if I didn’t add it so here it is! Eggnog is also up there as being an absolute classic – it’s an American drink and has become such a popular Christmas drink because of the warm temperature and the Christmassy flavours and spices. It’s another one of those that can be with or without alcohol, but it’s more of an acquired taste than other Christmas drinks (I think probably because of the eggy flavour – it’s definitely not one of my favourites but I can appreciate it for its festiveness). Side note though, am I the only one not a huge fan of eggnog? 

Buck’s Fizz 

Apparently this is a classic British beverage on Christmas. The rest of the world might know this as a Mimosa (but this one has a greater champagne to orange juice ratio) and it’s quite a delicious one to have for a Christmas day brunch. This is a strictly alcoholic beverage though so again, NOT FOR THOSE UNDERAGE WE ARE NOT PROMOTING UNDERAGE DRINKING HERE!! That being said, it is a really refreshing drink to have, and the perfect beverage to use for a toast during a festive meal. Plus you could consider it healthy because of the orange juice, because you’re getting your vitamin C levels up. 

And voila!! These are definitely a combination of the best, and most popular beverages to have during Christmas but what do you think? Are there any of these that you absolutely love? Are there any favourites you have that I may have missed out on? Be sure to let me know in the comments section because I’d love to chat about what your favourite Christmas drinks are. 

This is all the jollyness I have for you all today though, but I hope you’re enjoying the Blogmas posts and they are getting you in the holiday spirit. If you enjoyed this post, please don’t forget to like, subscribe, comment and share with your friends! 

Lots of Love

Blondey on a Mission xxx