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Happy almost Christmas Eve!
I’m sharing my last Christmas Drink Saturday post a day early. I wanted to give you guys time to fully prepare and plan for these cocktails tomorrow, because trust me, you NEED them in your life this Christmas Eve.
These are basically a very um, well, naughty Chai tea spiked with a good amount of bourbon, cinnamon, and ginger. This is the perfect nightcap for Santa to warm up to after his very busy night…or for the rest of us “normal” people to drink while relaxing by the tree, sitting by the fire playing board games, or just watching a good Christmas movie with a warm cocktail in hand. Pretty sure the family is already looking forward to this moment.
Before I dive into the details of this drink, can we just talk holiday stuff for a quick second. As I’m sitting here writing this post, I realized that we have yet to chat about holiday traditions. I’m a HUGE sucker for traditions and love them all. It would not be Christmas without my cousins here, snow on the ground, lots of cookies, the brothers snowboarding in the backyard (technically my front yard), friends around, chaos galore, Dad being the real life Grinch of the family, gingerbread house making, and plenty of Christmas movies.
We do other things as well, but those up there are guaranteed to happen every year. Our traditions are pretty simple and nothing crazy creative, but they are fun and we love them. That said, I think we could always use some new ideas. I’m dying to know what you guys are going to be up to this holiday weekend? What does your family do? What do you eat? Do you play games? Play in the snow? Go on family hikes? Like what!? Tell me please! My curiosity is killing me. 🙂
Alright, so back to Santa’s Nightcap. First of all, how cute is that name? I am in love with it. In fact, I had the name down before I even had the recipe concept down…but that came pretty quickly afterwards. To me, nothing screams more “Santa” like than this nightcap. I feel like it’s full of everything he loves.
Chai tea, milk, cinnamon, ginger, honey, and a good splash of bourbon. I feel like Santa would be a bourbon guy, I mean, right? Seems fitting, not sure why, but it does!
Here is how this nightcap goes down, it’s pretty easy! Just brew up some chai tea, add some milk, honey, fresh cinnamon, ginger and then a little bourbon. Simple as that, but oh so good. I made a pretty giant batch because my family is all about a good nightcap and we have some major Chai and bourbon drinkers in the house at the moment. The great news is that this is perfect to make ahead and keep in the fridge. You can warm it up before drinking or serve it over ice. Either way it’s delicious.
I made a batch on Wednesday and it was gone by the time everyone went to bed. Told you, we have some serious chai and bourbon drinkers in the house…plus there are about twelve people (with more on the way) currently sleeping at my parent’s house, so getting rid of food and cocktails is a pretty easy thing to do right now.
In other, somewhat random news, I’ve started planning out healthy January, I’m kind of excited about it! No boring eats here! In other not so random news, I still have a couple posts I need to get moving on for next week…oooops. What do you guys want to see for New Years?!? Tell me what you’re looking for and I will try to make it!
OK and guys, that’s it from me until after Christmas. No Saturday or Sunday post because tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I am going to be busy making this beef tenderloin, these potatoes, this bread, this cocktail, and my mom’s Death By Chocolate.
What are you guys making?!?
OH and then obviously I will be capping off the night with this nightcap…what do you think my chances are of getting Santa to join the Gerard family for a drink?
Santa's Nightcap.
Ingredients
- 8 chai tea bags
- 4 cups whole milk
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 inch piece of fresh ginger
- 1 1/2 cups bourbon
Instructions
- Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large pot. Remove from the heat, add the tea bags, cover and let steep for 15-30 minutes. Remove the tea bags and stir in the milk, and honey. Place the pot over medium heat. Add the cinnamon sticks and ginger, cook stirring often until the mixture is steaming. Stir in the bourbon.
- Ladle the drink into mugs. Dust with cinnamon if desired. Drink up!
- Alternately, you can chill the cocktail and serve cold over ice.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Have a very Merry Christmas everyone! See you next week!
PS. be sure to follow along on Instagram as I will be posting many Insta stories of my family’s Christmas craziness.
Happy Holidays!
Could you use a chai concentrate for this recipe? Looking forward to making it tomorrow night for Mrs Claus.😉
Hi Suzanne,
Sure, I don’t see why not! Please let me know if you give this recipe a try! Merry Christmas! xx
This was good!
Thanks so much, Christina! So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Cheers! xx
My husband and I are friends with Trevor! I ordered one your books and my husband recognized the name! No clue it was in relation! So tell brendon and Trevor, Megan and josh bishop said hi!
Lol will do Megan!! Too funny! Thanks for reaching out! xT
Perfect for New Years too! Delicious!
Hey Miranda,
Awesome! I love to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a go! Happy New Year!? xTieghan
I just have to say, EVERYTHING you post I absolutely swoon over! You take the best photos of food, and you make the most creative recipes! You put the food network to shame! Thank you for everything you do, and brightening people lives with your amazing recipes.
Thank you so much for your kind message Mary, it means a lot:) xTieghan
Made this today while we put up the Christmas tree, it’s not too early!
It was absolutely divine! Plan on making this for the family for Christmas Eve. Thanks Tieghan!
Awh I am so happy to hear that! Thank you Natasha!
It was love at first photograph! This is the cutest beverage everr!! Cannot wait to make this, although christmas may be over for yet another year, I will have no trouble making this anytime of the year! Happy New Year! xx
Honestly it is perfect anytime of the year haha! Thank you Samantha!
No wonder Santa’s always such a jolly fellow! 😉 This looks like the perfect nightcap for anybody on a cold winter night… gonna have to test this one out!
Santa and the fam were happy with this one! Hope you love it!!
These look delicious! Thanks for sharing! Merry Christmas =)
So happy you like it! Thank you Sara!
Hi, Tieghan, my name is Santa, Santa Claus, can I have my drink, now? Have a Merry Christmas qith all your loved ones!!
http://bloglairdutemps.blogspot.pt/
Haha! YES!! Merry christmas Ruth!
Hi Tieghan
I am curions to know your menu for Christmas. Are you coking? If yes what will you be cooking?
Have a nice Christmas
Hi Christine! I am making beef tenderloin (the recipe I posted earlier this month), along with potatoes, veggies, a salad, rolls, death by chocolate, Chex Mix, blue cheese bread, and cookies!! Lots of food! Have a Merry Christmas!
Hi Tieghan!
Like all your recipes, this looks delish! Can’t wait to try it out! This past week, I’ve made your brie pull-apart bread, pomegranate punch, and have the vanilla bean sugar cookies in the fridge (still need to find time to make the frosting! 🙂 ). I love that your recipes are all very accessible, even to the not so experienced cooks out there like myself, and that they all have a little ingredient twist or two that makes the dishes (or drinks) so unique! I just love this aspect of your cooking!
For the new year, I am excited to see where your healthful food ideas go! I am interested in trying to incorporate substantially more seasonal fruits and veggies in my main dishes and not just as sides. I think this could be an interesting avenue to explore! I am also keen on trying to make more recipes using coconut oil and fun sauces such as tahini.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family!
WOW! You have been making a bunch!! So happy you like them all!
I am so into trying more healthy recipes!!
Merry christmas Kristen!!
Have a great Christmas, Tieghan!!
Thanks Natasha! Merry christmas!?
Christmas is so magical in our home and our Advent calendar is ridiculously fun and one of our favorite traditions. Love this drink, what a perfect way to end Christmas evening!
Sounds amazing Matt! So happy you like it! Thanks so much! Merry christmas?
would love to know what your family’s Advent calendar tradition specifically consists of!
Love the name Tieghan! And it sounds totally delish too! We’re changing tradition up this year and we all flew down to Charleston, SC to spend Christmas together with our son Sean. We went out for some delicious southern BBQ for dinner and plan on just relaxing and enjoying our time together. Sounds like you and your family have lots of fun planned too! Have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Changing it up sound so fun! Its all about being with family so thats awesome!
Thanks so much Mary Anne! Hope your christmas is amazing (: