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An Easy Christmas Tablescape + My Christmas Menu.
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Welcoming in Christmas with this Holly Jolly Christmas Citrus Cocktail. A delicious mix of vodka, St. Germain (elderflower liquor), and fresh squeezed winter citrus juice. All mixed together and topped with bubbly ginger beer and extra festive pomegranates. It’s so simple, refreshing, cheerful, and beyond good. Serve this festive cocktail pitcher style for friends and family this Christmas.
Welcome to the very last Christmas cocktail of the season. It’s crazy to look back at all the cocktails I’ve shared since October (a new one every single Saturday!). But I think my favorites have been the December cocktails. You guys know I love setting the scene and making my recipes look just as good as they taste. But with drinks I love going above and beyond.
I’ve had so much fun being creative and thinking up different cocktails this year. Let’s do a l little recap of some of my favorites…
Gingerbread White Russian...deliciously sweet and dessert worthy.
Chai Old Fashioned…the coziest a cocktail can get.
Spicy Pomegranate Moscow Mule…my family’s favorite of the bunch.
Holiday Bourbon Cheermeister Punch…love. love. love. this one is my favorite.
Christmas Snowstorm Margarita…a mix of both wintry and tropical.
From years past…the North Pole Cocktail, Pomegranate Ginger Paloma, and everyones favorite White Christmas Mojito.
And then, we have today’s cocktail. The cocktail that took me forever to name. The cocktail that’s the easiest to make. And the cocktail that turned out to be one of the prettiest, and that’s loved by all.
Inspired by the all the in-season winter citrus. This cocktail is heavy on the freshly squeezed citrus juice, sweetened with ginger beer, and made boozy with a mix of vodka and St. Germain (elderflower liquor). Just mix everything up in a cocktail glass or pitcher, top with fizzy ginger beer and festive pomegranates, and done. Simple and perfect.
I used clementine juice, but blood orange juice, or even grapefruit juice are both really great options. If you go with blood oranges, you’ll end up with a very festive red cocktail. You can easily make this ahead of time for all your holiday parties. Just be sure to add the ginger beer right before serving so that it does not lose any of it’s fizz!
Or…mix up just one drink as a late night night-cap on Christmas Eve. Everyone can agree that Santa deserves a yummy drink after all that work. Enjoy!
If you make this cocktail, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Holly Jolly Christmas Citrus Cocktail
Servings: 1 makes drink
Calories Per Serving: 105 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces vodka
- 1/2 ounce St. Germain (elderflower liquor)
- 1/3 cup fresh squeezed clementine or blood orange juice
- ginger beer, for topping
- pomegranate arils, for topping
- 1 sprig fresh thyme or mint
Instructions
- 1. Fill a cocktail glass with ice. Add the vodka, elderflower liquor (if using), and clementine juice. Top with ginger beer. Add the pomegranates and thyme or mint. Enjoy!
Holly Jolly Christmas Citrus Cocktail Pitcher
Servings: 4 , can easily be doubled
Calories Per Serving: 303 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 cup vodka
- 1/2 cup St. Germain (elderflower liquor)
- 1 1/2 cups fresh squeezed clementine or blood orange juice
- 2 12 ounce ginger beers
- 4 fresh thyme sprigs or mint leaves
- 1 arils from 1 pomegranate
Instructions
- 1. In a large pitcher, combine the vodka, elderflower liquor (if using), and clementine juice. Chill until ready to serve. 2. Just before serving, add ice, ginger beer, and pomegranate arils. Serve garnished with thyme or mint.
Christmas Eve cocktail! Amazing!
So delicious and festive!
Hi Dee,
Thank you so much for making this recipe, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Merry Christmas!?? xT
Hi
What is another substitute for German liquor
Hi there,
Elderflower liquor has a very unique flavor, so I would just skip it if you can’t find any:) Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
Oh my gosh! this cocktail drink is amazing! This is one of your drinks I was eyeing last year, but I was pregnant LOL. So glad I was able to try it this year! I am in no way a cocktail expert, but this definitely made me feel like a pro! I LOVE how well balanced it is with the alcohol and sweetness from the citrus, neither one feels overpowering to the other. I don’t think I’ve ever had elderflower liquor before this, but it definitely tastes amazing without it being too ‘flowery’ thanks so much! Will be my go to for future holidays.. I’ve already shared it with some friends to try! Happy Holidays!
Hey there,
Awesome! Love to hear that you liked the recipe, thanks a bunch for trying it out! Happy Holidays! xx
Hi!
I am making this for a holiday party tonight (!) and I’m wondering if I can mix the vodka, st germain and juice a few hours beforehand? I would add the gingerbeer as we’re are serving the drinks (and I loved the idea of freezing pomegranate seed into ice cubes, so am doing that too!)
Thanks!
Hey Jennie,
Totally! That will work well for you. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
I made this recipe (the pitcher recipe) x5 so that it could be served at a holiday party we were invited to. I used tangerines because unfortunately I could not find clementines or blood oranges where I live (NJ).
My husband and I sampled it before bringing it over, and it was OUTSTANDING. It reminded me of the flavor of an Orangina. It was refreshing, and once the St. Germaine and vodka (we used Tito’s) mixed and chilled with the tangerine juice, and you literally could not smell or taste the alcohol. That’s a sign of a truly sophisticated and yummy cocktail!
We brought over the mix in a gallon pitcher (it fit perfectly) and had cans of ginger beer for topping and the mint and pomegranate seeds for garnishing. We had directions posted on the pitcher so the guests knew how to make their drinks.
At the end of the party, the pitcher was EMPTY, and we were getting RAVE reviews on how good it was.
Thank you for ALWAYS nailing every cocktail recipe I try!
Here is my adaptation to serve 20 people:
3 1/2 cups of St. Germaine (the entire bottle!)
5 cups vodka (we used Tito’s)
7.5 cups of blood orange/clementine/tangerine juice (I ended up juicing 3 bags of tangerines which yielded 6 1/2 cups- still tasted great!)
10 12oz cans of ginger beer
2 packages of mint leaves
2 packages of pomegranate seeds (we used Trader Joe’s)
Hey Ashley,
Happy Sunday! Thanks a lot for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Also, thanks for sharing what worked well for you, I am sure this will be super helpful for some this holiday season. xTieghan
Hi! This looks delicious. I’m wondering if you have tried it with Gin? Would it be OK to substitute the vodka for Gin?
Hey Ani,
I think gin would work well here. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
We made this as the cocktail at our NYE party, and it was a huge hit. Thanks for another delicious drink!
Thank you Morgan! I am so glad this turned out so well for you!! xTieghan
One of my favorites so far and easy to make in a large quantity. I was lucky enough to find blood orange juice and thought that really made the taste and color outstanding. Definitely saving this recipe= thanks!
Thank you so much Liz! Thank you so much! xTieghan
Served this as the signature drink for a Christmas party and froze some of the pomegranate seeds in water to make ice cubes. Huge hit!
Wow YES! I love that idea! Thank you for trying this! xTieghan
This was the perfect Christmas Eve drink! Everyone loved it. Thanks!
I am so glad everyone loved this Rebekah! Thank you so much!
wonderful citrus cocktail, thank you and beautifully photographed as always
I am so glad you loved this! Thank you Sabrina!
I have made so many of your fab recipes, each wonderful and truly worthy of applause! Thank you for all of your hard work to give us such cooking joy! Also, oh my goodness…your photographs…exquisite. I thought I would make this cocktail for my sister when we have our upcoming holiday visit. Question: to what do you refer to as “ginger beer”? Like non alcoholic Reed’s? Or a beer beer flavored with ginger? Happy holidays Tieghan!
Hi Patricia! I usually use non alcoholic ginger beer! I am so glad you have been loving my recipes! Thank you!
What a great combo, I especially like the addition of ginger beer, I think that it will add real complexity to the flavor profiles of the drink. Yum! ..I think I’d better add a few things to my grocery list…
Thank you so much!
Sounds delicious….but what would you use instead of ginger beer? I just can’t get that taste to work for me!
I recommend using a sparkling water! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much and happy Holidays!! xTieghan ?
I just want to say you have outdone yourself this Christmas. So many beautiful recipes. Also, do you ever think of opening a restaurant so the rest of the world could enjoy your food and drinks? Merry Christmas!
Hi Dana! I would love to someday, but for now I am happy where I am at! I hope you have a Merry Christmas!