The Santa Clause Smash.

Celebrating the man of the season with The Santa Clause Smash. Homemade ginger honey syrup, mixed with sweet pomegranate, warming bourbon, winter citrus, a touch of vanilla, and fizzy ginger beer. This festive cocktail makes for the most perfect cozy winter cocktail that Santa…and all…will love. Make the syrup ahead of time to keep in the fridge to mix up a quick drink at a moment’s notice. Or serve family and friends with the punch version.

This final Christmas drink Saturday requires the most festive drink of the year. Enter The Santa Clause Smash. It’s warming, it’s cozy, has a little bit of kick, and it’s as sweet as can be…just like Jolly old Santa himself.

Yes, I’m being so cheesy right now, but Christmas is only three days away, so it’s OK. Embracing the season and all of the holly, jolly happiness that it brings!

Like a lot of my Christmas recipes, I had this one in my head all December long. The Santa Clause movie is probably one of my favorite Christmas movies. Therefore, I knew I wanted to create a drink inspired by not only The Santa Clause movies, but by jolly old Santa himself.

For whatever reason, I always see Santa as a bourbon kind of guy. I don’t why, but that’s just the picture I have painted in my head. I guess because bourbon is warming and cozy? Who knows, but to me, Santa is a bourbon guy. And then, of course, his drink needs to be red, so in comes the pomegranate. And that’s kind of how I built this drink. It’s simple but so delicious.

The Details.

Start with the gingery syrup. I make this with honey, fresh ginger, lemon, and mint. It has all the things you need to fight off those winter colds…so really this cocktail is kind of like preventative medicine. It will heal all of your wintery blues.

Go with me on this.

I add a splash of vanilla for an extra special touch and depth of warming wintery flavor. Plus, vanilla just makes me think sugar cookies, which of course makes me think of Santa.

Next, mix up the Santa Clause Smash. Shake together a little pomegranate juice, bourbon, lemon, and that gingery syrup. My special Christmas touch to these drinks though?

GINGER BEER. You can never have too much ginger beer. It’s my favorite cocktail mixer and adds that final layer of sweetness. It’s not traditional in a bourbon smash, but it’s so much better than using plain seltzer and adds something special. Of course, if you prefer, you can use regular seltzer. Either way, these drinks are going to be very good.

Serving guests? Make the Santa Clause Punch. I know so many of you are entertaining over the next couple of weeks, so I made sure to include the punch recipe too!

Looking for more holiday cocktails?

Here are all of my favorites, not only from this year but from years past as well!

the north pole cocktail
white christmas mojito
sparkling Christmas party punch
spicy pomegranate moscow mule
christmas sangria
holly jolly Christmas citrus cocktail
the spicy sweet grinch cocktail
jingle bell cranberry paloma
cranberry bourbon sour
holiday cheermeister bourbon punch
vanilla chai tea white Russian
vanilla chai old fashioned
Rudolph’s rockin’ pomegranate jingle juice punch
gingerbread white Russian
pomegranate ginger paloma
spiced cranberry rosé spritzers
buddy the elf cocktail
Santa’s nightcap
blood orange champagne mule
poinsettia spritz punch

 And with that, I think we’re ready for the holiday festivities to begin! The question is, which cocktails (or cocktails…) will you be making?

If you make the Santa Clause smash, 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 tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!