The Woodlands’ Best Holiday Cocktails — Top Bartenders Share Their Favorite Seasonal Drinks
With Secret Recipes For Entertaining at Home
BY Laura Landsbaum //
Bartender Zach Hayes is behind the bar at Truluck's The Woodlands on Hughes Landing. (Photo courtesy of Truluck's)
Bartenders in The Woodlands area are creating some spectacular seasonal sips that will have you dreaming of sugarplums. They are not afraid to share their special drink recipes either. After all, it’s the holidays.
These are the Best Holiday Cocktails In The Woodlands:
Truluck’s Nutcracker Rum Punch
As a bartender at Truluck’s Ocean’s Finest Seafood and Crab restaurant in The Woodlands, Zach Hayes is all about making experiences memorable. The holidays provide a chance to get creative too.
“Holiday drinks can experiment with spice in a way that feels nostalgic,” Hayes tells PaperCity The Woodlands. “Truluck’s has a special Nutcracker Rum punch that balances spice and sweet to give guests a flashback to the holiday punch bowl commonly found in their family’s home as a child.”
This spice filled cocktail is balanced with fruit and honey bringing a flavor packed drink that is as flavorful as it is comforting. The drink has a base of Appleton Estate Signature Rum mixed with framboise liqueur, honey syrup, lime juice and allspice liqueur.
Hayes suggests holiday hosts bring out the iconic punch bowl this season and treat their own guests to some special holiday magic too. After all, nostalgia is never out of style.
The Allen
Marcoza Trattoria’s By the Fireside
At Marcoza Trattoria in Creekside Park, bartender David Aguilar has created a winter cocktail that captures the season’s spirit with both craft and comfort. His smoked old fashioned, aptly named By the Fireside leans into what he believes a true holiday drink should do — bring warmth, even when served cold.
“Holiday cocktails are all about evoking that fireside feeling,” Aguilar says. “People want something that tastes like the season. Cozy, comforting and a little nostalgic.” By the Fireside delivers exactly that.
Aguilar builds the drink with notes of cranberry and cinnamon, brightens it with fresh citrus, and finishes it with a final flourish: a cinnamon-chip smoke that drifts upward like a chimney on a winter night. The result is a cocktail that doesn’t just nod to the holidays. It seems to glow with them.
The drink joins Marcoza’s holiday season menu. Aguilar enjoys crafting flavors that offer a pause during the year’s busiest stretch.
“People want an escape this time of year,” he says. “Something that lets them slow down, settle in and enjoy the warmth.”
By the Fireside is less a cocktail and more a cozy winter evening served in a glass. Want to try it at home? Aguilar shares the recipe:
— Two ounces.Bulleit Bourbon
— 0.75 ounces cranberry and cinnamon simple syrup
— Three dashes Aromatic bitters
— 0.25 ounces fresh lemon juice (for balance)
— one sprig of rosemary and fresh cranberries for garnish
— cinnamon stick chips
How to create:
— Add simple syrup, three dashes of bitters and Bulleit Bourbon to a large rocks glass.
— Add ice.
— Stir gently.
— Garnish with a spring of rosemary and a skewer of fresh cranberries.
— Smoke the drink.
To smoke the drink with a smoking gun: Cover the glass with a dome or plastic wrap. Fill the dome with smoke and let sit for 30 seconds to one minute. Without a gun: using a kitchen torch, light a small pile of cinnamon chips on a fireproof dish. Invert the glass over the smoke and trap it for 30 to 60 seconds.
Phat Eatery’s Cranberry Delight
Phat Eatery’s bartender Kirby Kippley’s Cranberry Delight brings a refreshing drink to what can be a hectic season. Kippley’s been behind the bar in The Woodlands nearly since Phat Eatery‘s opening day, and she boasts five years’ experience as a mixologist.
“We crafted this cocktail for my family’s holiday season,” Kippley says. “We wanted something that was nice and refreshing after a long day of family time and cooking delicious feasts. It’s a vodka based drink which makes it an easy sipper. The rosemary infused simple syrup adds a nice little touch of the holiday season.”
Kippley garnishes the drink with cranberries and dried orange for a pop of color.
The Woodlands Waterway Marriott
Rob Kelley has been behind the bar at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott hotel for the past 23 years.
“During the holidays, especially since it’s been unusually cold in Texas, hot coffee cocktails are extremely popular,” Kelley says. “Irish coffees and other warm drinks always become guest favorites this time of year.”
This veteran bartender loves bringing spices into drinks to evoke warmth in even the coldest drink — like adding chai to a White Russian for a comforting, wintery touch.
Kelley is passionate about his cocktails and the evolution of classic drinks.
“I like putting a seasonal spin on classics,” he notes. “Using spiced rum in an old fashioned adds a holiday twist and a cranberry Moscow Mule is always a hit making it festive, refreshing and still familiar. When I first started bartending, the old fashioned wasn’t ordered very often. When it became popular again, we used to muddle the fruit and top it with an orange flag.
“Now the trend has shifted to no muddling, using cherry juice instead, serving it over fat ice, and sometimes adding smoke. It’s fun seeing a timeless drink keep reinventing itself.”
If you’re entertaining for the holidays, and looking for a batch cocktail, Kelley recommends a holiday sangria: red wine, brandy, oranges, apples and cinnamon sticks. If you’re making individual drinks, he argues that “an espresso martini is a no-brainer. It’s simple, crowd-pleasing and festive.”
When you stop by The Woodlands Waterway Marriott hotel, look for Christmas decor, holiday playlists and even fun touches like an Elf on the Shelf to get everyone immersed in the festive spirit.
These holiday cocktail spots in The Woodlands are sure to keep The Grinch at bay this Christmas season.
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