7 Christmas Cocktails, From Cranberry Mojitos to Warm Mulled Wine

The Christmas drink table can be a pale cranberry mojito over ice, a pitcher of pink bubbles, or a mug of warm wine with orange and cinnamon. Which one belongs there depends on how you want to serve it.

These seven cocktails all contain alcohol. Choose by spirit, flavor and serving style, then use the linked creator recipe for ingredients, quantities and method.

Susannah Brinkley Henry combines light rum, white cranberry juice, lime, mint and simple syrup, then tops the drink with club soda. Whole cranberries and fresh mint give the pale glass its holiday color without turning the drink red.

The tall iced serving looks lighter on the table than the creamy cocktails below. Its pale cranberry base lets the mint and a few whole berries show through the glass. Susannah's complete recipe includes the syrup and proportions.

Michael Wurm Jr. pairs bourbon and unsweetened cranberry juice with lemon and a rosemary-sage syrup. The drink sits over ice in a short glass, its red-brown color broken by a modest herb garnish.

The rosemary-sage syrup is what separates this from a simple bourbon-and-cranberry pour. Choose it for a short, herb-led drink rather than a sparkling pitcher. Michael's source includes the syrup method.

Michael's Jingle Juice combines whipped vodka, pink Champagne or sparkling rosé, and cherry lemon-lime soda. The pale pink punch is served over ice; cranberries are an optional garnish.

This is the only cold sparkling pitcher punch among the seven. Mulled wine is also made in a batch, but it is heated and poured into mugs. Jingle Juice keeps the shared drink cold and bubbly.

Michael mixes vanilla vodka, white-chocolate liqueur, white crème de cacao and half-and-half. Honey holds coarse white sugar to the rim, giving the ivory drink a small crystalline edge.

The coarse sugar rim gives the pale glass a little sparkle. This is the dessert-style choice when you want white chocolate to lead, while the darker coffee drinks below offer a different finish.

Michael heats red wine, apple cider, brandy and honey with cinnamon, orange, cloves and peppercorns. The deep ruby drink is served in heatproof glasses or mugs, with orange or cinnamon as a finish.

Unlike the iced drinks, this one is assembled in a large pot and poured into heatproof mugs. It is another group choice, with a heating method to follow on Michael's complete recipe page. The warming step does not turn it into a nonalcoholic drink.

Michael's drink brings vanilla vodka and coffee liqueur together with half-and-half and a homemade syrup of molasses, ginger and cinnamon. He shakes the ingredients and strains them into an iced rocks glass.

The homemade molasses-and-ginger syrup supplies the gingerbread note. Together with coffee liqueur and cream, it makes a short spiced drink, quite different from the cooler peppermint espresso choice below.

Michael's primary recipe uses vodka, espresso and peppermint-mocha coffee liqueur, with a small addition of cream as an option. Honey holds crushed candy cane to the rim of the shaken drink.

Michael also gives an alternative using regular coffee liqueur and peppermint extract. Compare the two versions on his page before deciding which ingredients to use. The drink stays coffee-led whichever route you choose.