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Boston's Best Holiday Drink Ideas From Local Mixologists

Holiday Cocktails
(credit: Thinkstock)

Boston serves up holidays with flair, especially when it comes to its cocktails. The Boston Common is decked out with decorations, a locally famous manger scene and huge tree that Nova Scotia sends down in thanks for Boston's assistance during the Halifax Explosion. With all of that holiday fun, it's no wonder Boston's bartenders know how to spread the holiday cheer. The flavors of the holiday are plentiful, so grab the ingredients and spread the cheer one drink at a time.

Cheri Cornell
99 Restaurant and Pub
2 Accord Park Drive
Rockland, MA 02370
(781) 871-4178
www.99restaurants.com

Just off Route 3 south of Boston, 99 Restaurant features one of the area's best bartenders. Cheri Cornell has been serving up drinks at this local chain for 15 years and knows a thing or two about what should go in a holiday drink. Her nutcracker martini is a tasty version of a drink that has been the subject of a flavor craze with such renditions as the appletini. Look for mint, spices and eggnog in holiday cocktails with Cornell's amazing recipes below.

Related: Boston's Best Places to Create Your Own Christmas Gifts

Nutcracker Martini
2 oz. Kahlua
2 oz. Baileys
2 oz. Frangelico
2 oz. Stoli Vanil

Just like any other martini, pour all of the ingredients into a martini shaker over ice. Shake thoroughly and then strain the drink out into a martini glass. One can use several garnishes for this concoction. Some put a lime twist or a cherry on top. Hosts who want to get a little kitschy may toss a miniature candy cane in the drink hooked over the edge of the glass.

Toasted Eggnog
2 oz. Kahlua
2 oz. Amaretto
4 oz. eggnog
Shaved almond bark
Ground cinnamon

Pour the Kahlua, eggnog and Amaretto into a rocks or highball glass. Stir the cocktail until the alcohol is fully incorporated into the eggnog. Lastly, garnish with almond bark and ground cinnamon.

Peppermint Present
1 green starlight mint
Crushed ice
1 small candy cane
Snifter of peppermint schnapps

Place the green starlight mint at the bottom of a brandy snifter and fill the snifter with crushed ice. Add the peppermint schnapps and garnish with the candy cane hooked over the lip of the snifter. Alternatively, strain the schnapps over ice instead of filling the cup with ice.

Pumpkin Cream
2 oz. pumpkin liquor
2 oz. Kahlua
4 oz. light cream

Pour the Kahlua, liquor and cream into a shaker over ice. Cover the shaker and shake the ingredients. Strain the ingredients out of the shaker and into a highball glass full of fresh ice. Garnish with ground cinnamon or nutmeg.

Cinna Claus
2 oz. cinnamon schnapps
2 oz. cream liquor
1 cinnamon stick

Pour the cinnamon schnapps and cream liquor over ice in a rocks glass. Garnish by placing cinnamon stick in the glass as a stirrer. For a weaker version, add one part schnapps to three parts liquor.

Related: A Guide to Finding Great Christmas Trees in Boston

Shelly Barclay is a professional freelance writer and amateur author. She writes on a variety of topics from food to mysteries. She loves to share the culture and rich history of her birthplace and home, Boston, with the rest of the world. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.

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