Social Media Mixologist Reveals Her Top 10 Favorite Viral Christmas Cocktails to Enjoy This Festive Season

Last updated on December 20th, 2024 at 11:14 am

A social media mixologist has revealed her Top 10 favorite viral Christmas cocktails she recommends Happily readers enjoy at home over the festive period. 

Lauren Milovich, 35, from Los Angeles, California, has received millions of views across her social pages @thatsthespirits, with her Christmas-themed mixers regularly going viral. 

Lauren’s interest in mixology started more than a decade ago when she worked as a bartender crafting stunning cocktails for her customers.

This year, Lauren shared her Top 10 list, which started with a White Christmas Margarita and included the likes of a Rudolph’s Sour and Clark’s Eggnog Espresso Martini, the latter a fun take on the drink (and glass) from the cult movie “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” 

Others on Lauren’s list include a Christmas Cookie Martini, a Dirty Santa, Christmas Tree and Tonic, and a Grinch Spritz.

Coming up with such Christmas cocktail themed ideas is all part of the fun, Lauren said, and she encourages anyone to try her cocktail creations at home. 

She told us: “I was a bartender a lifetime ago – I’m not a world-renowned mixologist by any means and if I can do it, I feel like everybody can do it 

“The best part about it is that it just brings people together, it’s a fun excuse to gather around and sip on something delicious and pretty. And I love being able to do that for people!” 

1. GRINCH SPRITZ 

Lauren says: “I love basing themes on different iconic Christmas films, so the Grinch Spritz is one of my favorites. 

“I take a strawberry and cut it into a really pretty little heart and put it on the top. And it symbolizes the Grinch’s heart, of course, and it’s just a beautiful and festive and fun Christmas cocktail.” 

2. CANDY CANE MARTINI 

Lauren says: “Candy Cane just screams Christmas. We all know and love them and so I thought why not drink it? 

“The star of that is I made a homemade candy cane syrup – just sugar, water, and a couple of candy canes and it’s just so easy and you can add it to all sorts of things, to cocktails, to mocktails, to coffee, over ice cream, however you syrup. 

“I crushed up candy canes and put them with some vanilla frosting and then garnished the little mini candy cane. Just so cute, a beautiful color and very festive.” 

3. CLARK’S EGGNOG ESPRESSO MARTINI 

Lauren says: “Christmas Vacation is my whole world – I love that movie so much. 

“I got to utilize Clark’s iconic moose mug and I knew I wanted to do something with eggnog because of course that’s just so symbolic to the film. 

“So I added a twist and turned it into an espresso martini, which is having such a moment right now.” 

4. ORNAMOSA TREE 

Lauren says: “I purchased little ornaments that have screw on tops, and you can put whatever liquid in them. 

“I poured pomegranate juice and some red edible glitter and placed it on top of a champagne flute filled with champagne and some pomegranate arils. 

“When you’re ready to serve, all you have to do is pour it in and enjoy. 

“It’s a beautiful shimmery red conversation piece and it’s a way to kind of prepare a Christmas cocktail for a bunch of people at one time, which we’re all doing over the holidays as it is.” 

5. WHITE CHRISTMAS MARGARITA 

Lauren says: “My white Christmas margarita has kind of become somewhat of a tradition for me. It was actually the first recipe reel I ever created almost three years ago. 

“I did a terrible job at it at the time, but it was so much fun for me to kind of really dive into it. It’s just a reminder of how far I’ve come. 

“You get all of those holiday colors, bunch of those holiday flavors, and it’s simple and beautiful and I will do it forever.” 

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6. DIRTY SANTA 

Lauren says: “One of my favorite drinks is the Shirley Temple – I love it so much and every season I try to find some sort of way to riff off of it. 

“And so for Christmas, I turn it into a dirty Santa, which is basically a dirty Shirley – it’s a Shirley Temple with alcohol. 

“I rimmed it with coconut and a little cherry to look like Santa’s hat and it is so cute it has been a hit for a couple years now.” 

7. CHRISTMAS COOKIE MARTINI 

Lauren says: “It typically uses vanilla frosting and sprinkles and so I got to really play with how I wanted those placed. 

“It combines favorite flavors. I used bourbon, almond liqueur, a little bit of heavy cream and simple syrup, and it’s incredible and sweet and delicious – it’s really fun as a dessert cocktail or just over dinner.” 

8. THE HOLIDAY 

Lauren says: “One of my favorite holiday films is The Holiday. I watch it a million times over the season and so I absolutely wanted to turn that into a recipe. 

“And it was so simple and so beautiful – you kind of get that red, green and white holiday coloring. It’s just stunning – a classic Christmas cocktail.” 

9. RUDOLPH’S SOUR 

Lauren says: “Rudolph’s Sour was so much fun. It’s a twist on an amaretto sour, which is actually one of my favorite cocktails. 

“And I got to have fun with the garnish. It’s just a Luxardo cherry, but it gets to act double as Rudolph’s nose. And that’s just fun and festive.” 

10. CHRISTMAS TREE & TONIC 

Lauren says: “It’s a riff off of a gin and tonic so uses gin and tonic and lime juice. 

“I added rosemary syrup, which is kind of really utilizing those holiday flavors. I love rosemary; it smells incredible and tastes incredible. 

“It’s so fun and simple and looks really festive! 

“I love a theme, I’m a big theme gal, and so Christmas is the perfect opportunity to really lean into that.” 

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