Make Your Holiday Brunch Even More Jolly!
This holiday season, we're thankful only to be catching Cabin Fever if all goes well. Here in Carlsbad, California, it looks like we'll be confined to our homes for the holiday, but on a lighter note, that means no need for a designated driver! We figured we could take our time crafting a couple of cocktails while we unwrap gifts this year. By the time you try each of our boozy holiday brunch drinks, being stuck inside for the holidays will never have looked so good.
Typically, the drinks we offer at our events through Personal Touch Dining are Spring or Summer themed since our event season ends mid-November. We get rave reviews over their Grapefruit Mojito, and they even offer "Logo Cocktails" now! These are the newest way to send a message while delighting your impressed guests! Imagine each of these holiday drinks with your signature logo on top for the perfect viral social media post. Make your friends Grinchy-green with envy over your immaculate custom cocktail presentation this season!
If you're like us, we're looking to take the nostalgia of a perfect Rancho Christmas and mix in a little extra fun. The joy of Christmas morning is something we’ll never forget, and now that we’re a little older, celebrating with an adult beverage sounds incredible. We’ve collected our favorite recipes for every kind of Christmas brunch beverage we could think of, but if we left one out, let us know!
Christmas Coffee
Sleepy Christmas mornings need coffee, no buts about it. So, get ready for our special recipe because this is not your typical holiday Starbucks run. We figured a peppermint mocha might be played out since we’ve all been slurping these down since November 6th this year in hopes that they’d raise our post-election, quarantine-warn spirits. Instead, we went for a chocolate caramel brulee feel that’s like drinking a strong hug!
INGREDIENTS
4 ounces strong coffee
1 1/2 ounces amaretto liqueur
1 1/2 ounces coffee liqueur
1 ounce butterscotch schnapps
1 ounce creme de cocoa
fresh whipped cream
grated chocolate, for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS:
Combine strong coffee and liqueurs in a glass. Stir to combine and top with fresh whipped cream. Garnish with grated chocolate.
Serve warm or over ice.
Christmas Morning Mimosa
Brunch and mimosas go together like Santa and the color red! This super easy recipe adds depth of flavor to your everyday mimosa as well as a bit of holiday color to your cheeks!
INGREDIENTS
4 ounces of champagne
2 ounces of orange juice
1/2 ounce Amaretto
1/2 ounce grenadine
INSTRUCTIONS:
Pour the orange juice and Amaretto into a wide-mouthed champagne glass. Add champagne to top it off.
Slowly pour in the grenadine until it settles to the bottom of the glass, and serve!
The Grinchy Mary
Ok, we’re pretty obsessed with how light and easy to drink this is! This drink requires a bit more prep than the others we listed, but it’s undeniably worth it. Tomatillos have a slightly more acidic, slightly less sweet flavor than ripe and unripe tomatoes. Overall, the flavor is more vegetal and bright, and the interior texture is denser and less watery. The Grinchy Mary ends up being easier to drink than a traditional bloody, and with some fun bright red garnish, it’ll be a work of art!
(Not a vodka fan? Trade it out for some Blanco tequila and rim the glass with Tajin to transform it into the Grinchy Maria!)
INGREDIENTS
1 cup yellow cherry tomatoes, halved
3 tomatillos, chopped and husked (1½ cups)
½ green apple, chopped
1 jalapeño, stemmed and chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1 sprig each parsley and cilantro
1 small clove garlic
1 teaspoon each salt and Worcestershire
½ teaspoon green hot sauce
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
⅛ teaspoon celery seed
4 ounces vodka or Blanco tequila
TO SERVE:
Garnish with your choice of green and red veggies (such as lime wedges, red cherry tomatoes, miniature pickles, red peppers, spicy pickled green beans, and celery sticks!)
Horseradish
Hot sauce
Salt (or Tajin for extra color and spice, especially if you have it with tequila!)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Add all ingredients, except vodka, to a blender and blend until smooth, scraping down the blender's sides as needed.
Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve; * discard solids.
Fill two glasses with ice and pour 2 ounces of vodka into each glass. Divide tomato mixture between glasses and stir to combine—season with additional lime juice, horseradish, Worcestershire, hot sauce, and salt to desired taste.
We love the idea of a topping bar for guests to dress their own Grinchy Marys to their taste!
***Does that seem like too much work for your Christmas Morning?***
(Try making the bloody mix the night before and chilling it overnight in the fridge! Or, better yet, get it premade. Check out The Dirty Mary (Farm-to-Table Bloody Mary Mix) from Food52.com! It’s 32 ounces of deliciousness, and they take care of combining all of the ingredients so that you can relax!)