Christmas Brandy Cocktails Recipes: 4 Perfect Winter Warmers

Christmas and drinking go hand-in-hand, so there’s no time like the present to increase your cocktail repertoire with our selection of brandy cocktails. Whether you’re planning a winter wedding and want your cocktail menu to pay homage to the season, or you just want to sip on something hot and delicious at home — these winter warmers are the perfect choice during the festive season.

Here are the 4 Christmas Brandy Cocktails Recipes:

Hot Buttered Brandy

The first of our brandy cocktails, the Hot Buttered Brandy, is a simple recipe that serves two, takes just five minutes to make and will warm you up on even the chilliest winter night. Although this is brandy cocktails post, it’s worth noting that you can adjust the recipe to make a Hot Buttered Rum or a Hot Buttered Gin — use any spirit that you think could work. Ingredients:
  • 250 ml of water
  • 125 ml brandy
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp butter
  • 1 clove
  • 1 small cinnamon stick
Instructions:
  1. Put the water, butter, sugar and spices in a small saucepan and simmer on a low heat
  2. Stir continuously until dissolved and mix in the butter
  3. Divide the hot mixture into two glasses of your choice (ideally brandy glasses)
  4. Top each glass with half of the brandy (62.5ml to be exact)
  5. Stir and serve immediately.

Docteur du Miel

Another quick, easy, and delicious cocktail is the Docteur du Miel. It’s one of many brandy cocktails that bear the various flavours and characteristics of Cognac, but it incorporates lemon and syrup for a sweet citrus aftertaste. Ingredients:
  • 2 tbsp Cognac
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1 tsp simple syrup
  • The juice of half a lemon
  • Hot water
Instructions:
  1. Mix the honey, cognac, lemon, and simple syrup
  2. Stir
  3. Add hot water.
Making this tasty cocktail could not be more simple!

Riesling Hot Toddy

If you’re particularly fond of white wine, but you’re looking for a Christmas cocktail that has some kick to it, the Riesling Hot Toddy is perfection in a glass. What is a white wine-based cocktail doing in a brandy cocktails blog post, we hear you ask? Well, the aforementioned “kick” is delivered by two simple yet effective teaspoons of brandy. We stock a vast-range of Riesling wine and brandy, which is perfect for creating a cocktail that best suits your specific preferences. Ingredients:
  • 4 cardamom pods
  • 2 tsp brandy
  • 1 (75 cl) bottle of Riesling
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 lemon, halved
  • Lemon zest strips
Instructions:
  1. Toast cardamom pods in a skillet on medium-high heat until fragrant, which should take around three minutes. Use a mortar and pestle (or whatever you have at home) to crush the pods gently.
  2. Combine Riesling, brandy, cardamom pod, honey and bay leaves in a saucepan. Squeeze the lemon halves into the liquid, bring it to a gentle simmer and reduce the heat to the lowest setting for 45 minutes. Strain and pour into four cups, before garnishing with lemon zest.

Architects and Kings

Josh Relkin, a bartender from Chicago, developed this toasty cocktail. The combination of coffee, spicy bitters and herbal amaro give this cocktail a bitter and unique taste — it’s definitely one to add to your recipe book. If you decide to top it off with whipped cream, this drink makes for an ideal post-dinner dessert-style cocktail. To make the demerara syrup, combine 150 grams of demerara sugar with 240 ml of water in a saucepan and stir. Bring to a simmer and stir until the sugar dissolves. If you want to make more demerara syrup for a batch of cocktails, you should note that it will keep in the fridge for one week. Ingredients: Instructions:
  1. Combine the rye whiskey, Amaro, apple brandy, Angostura bitters and demerara syrup in a small saucepan and stir. Heat until it’s steaming, but make sure it doesn’t boil.
  2. Run your serving glass under a hot tap to warm it and then dry it off. Pour the delicious cocktail mixture into the glass and add hot coffee. Serve hot and add a single dollop of whipped cream (if you choose)