25 Winter Cocktails to Warm Up With This Holiday Season

“Cremosa de Cocoa is my favorite holiday drink at the moment,” says chef Nelson German, owner of Afro-Latino cocktail Lounge Sobre Mesa. “I do want to shout out and mention my amazing bar manager Sadé Stamps for creating it. She wanted to create something festive but staying within our Afro-Latino concept.

“What I love about the cocktail is the childhood memories I get of times enjoying hot chocolate during the cold NYC winters. Especially when me and my cousins would sit around during Christmas before opening gifts sipping on hot chocolate. The coolest thing, though, is the addition of guava in the cocktail. I use to eat these amazing Dominican pastries that were a stuffed—Pan de Agua—with guava jam and chocolate. The cocktail brings me there.”

2 oz. Corbin Cash Sweet Potato Liqueur

1 oz. Chairman’s Reserve Spiced Rum

1 oz. red wine

8 oz. coconut milk

7–8 oz. semisweet Guittard chocolate

2 oz. marshmallow syrup

4 oz. marshmallows

1 cinnamon stick

1 pinch nutmeg

1 tbsp. guava paste

1 tbsp. sugar

2 allspice berries

Chocolate powder

Marshmallow syrup: In a saucepan whisk 4 oz. marshmallows with 8 oz. water over medium heat until well combined. Stir in cinnamon. Let cool before storing in the fridge. Keeps for 2 weeks. 

Rum sweet cream: In a bowl, using a hand mixer or whisk, whip cold whipping cream until it starts to thicken. Add 1 oz. spiced rum and sugar, whip until just firm.

Combine coconut milk, guava paste, chocolate, marshmallow syrup, wine, allspice, and nutmeg in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until combined without allowing to boil. Remove from heat and stir in sweet potato liqueur. Strain and pour into a mug. Garnish with rum sweet cream and a sprinkle of chocolate powder.