Christmas Cocktail Garnishes

Make your cocktails make a statement with these easy holiday garnishes for drinks! From fruits and herbs to spices and candies, here are more than 80 festive ways to dress up your libations for holiday parties and seasons drinking.

Your guide to Christmas cocktail garnishes

Garnishes are the key to making gorgeous cocktails that impress. If you’re having a party or even just a friend over, a cute straw or even a lime wedge perched on the edge of the glass can make all the difference in making your cocktail feel that much more special and inviting.

Honestly, even if it’s just my husband and me at home, sometimes I will still garnish the cocktail! It doesn’t have to be super fancy, but a garnish always makes homemade drinks feel like they’re from the snazziest bar in town. And there are tons of ways to do it.

See my list of over 100 garnishes, plus 30+ holiday recipes in my Holiday Spirits ebook, available now!

Why we garnish cocktails

There’s a big reason why we garnish cocktails: A good drink will appeal to as many senses as possible.Not only can you eat some of them, but they often hit the olfactory nerve.

Taste is a given but the aroma, visual appeal, texture, temperature and, yes, sometimes even the sound all add to the experience. (Examples of sound in a cocktail: The fizz of champagne. The sizzle of a burning sprig of a rosemary garnish. The crackle of a bunch hunk of clear ice.)

In the picture above, I used a cinnamon stick, a piece of star anise, a piece of orange zest and a big ice cube made with tea to garnish my favorite chai old-fashioned. Did I need all of it? No, technically not. It will taste great all on its own with just bourbon, bitters and chai syrup.

The orange zest brings a bit of tart citrus flavor and scent, to add to the bourbon and bitters. The cinnamon stick pulls out the warm spice notes. The smell is just as important as taste, and these two garnishes pull double duty. The ice may crackle or rattle in the glass. The temperature will be cool. The texture will be smooth. And, it’s a pretty drink to look at — you can almost taste it with your eyes before you take a sip!

80+ holiday cocktail garnishes

When you’re making drinks at the holidays, there are a number of ways you can elevate the look to give them more of a holiday feel. You may want to stock up on a few of these when you stock your bar for a party.

Here are my favorite ways to garnish my holiday cocktails:

Ice

Ice might not seem like a garnish, but if you do anything other than press the button on your fridge, it can be! Ice is both functional and decorative. It makes the drink cold of course, but it gives it a more professional feeling. All it takes is a little planning and effort.

• Big shapes: The bigger the shape, like a sphere or cube, helps it to dilute more slowly than regular ice, too.
• Unique shapes: A mold that makes little stars or gems can be super fun and festive.
• Embedded designs: I love my ice designer ^* that melts designs into the face of the ice cubes.
• Other flavors: To dress up your ice, you can use another liquid like juice, tea, coffee.
• Frozen inside: Make berry ice cubes with raspberries, cranberries or pomegranate seeds, or with pieces of herbs frozen in the middle, like rosemary sprigs or pieces of thyme.

favorite ice molds

small stackable ice cube tray

Buy Now →

large ice sphere molds

Buy Now →

large stackable ice cube tray

Buy Now →

^*

Fruit

Fruit makes a pretty garnish, always. It adds color, flavor and fragrance, and you can eat it.

My pomegranate mimosa uses a few fresh pomegranate seeds for a garnish. They add crunch and movement, as they “dance” in the fizzy champagne.

• Slices of apple or pear
• Slices of orange, blood orange or grapefruit
• Slices, wheels or wedges of lemon and lime
• Whole or halved kumquats
• A piece orange zest or a lemon twist
• Candied lemon or orange peel
• Pomegranate seeds
• Cocktail cherries
• Fresh or sugared cranberries
• Fresh raspberries
• Olives (savory, but still a fruit!)
• Dehydrated citrus

citrus garnish essentials

vegetable peeler

Buy Now →

channel knife

Buy Now →

bartender’s knife

Buy Now →

^*

Herbs

While herbs are edible, you probably wouldn’t want to chew on them if they aren’t cooked into a dish. That said, they have so much fragrance and they add a lovely pop of green color to many drinks, from the mint julep to herbal limeade.

• Fresh thyme
• Burnt or fresh rosemary
• Sage leaves
• Mint sprigs

Not an herb, but you could also put a holly leaf on a garnish or place a pine branch on a tray of cocktails for a festive pop of color.

Spices 

Spices are a gorgeous way to dress up a cocktail, plus they pack so much flavor and fragrance. Just having one near you is a warm, decadent experience!

Ground spices

• a sprinkle of ground cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice ^* or apple pie spice
• freshly grated nutmeg
• vanilla bean ^* seeds

Whole spices

Whole spices, as in spices that have yet to be ground up, can also make a gorgeous garnish. (And they are delicious in spiced rum, too.)

• cinnamon sticks
• star anise
• freshly grated nutmeg
• candied ginger
• vanilla beans ^*

Bitters

Cocktail bitters can make for a beautiful, spiced garnish, especially on a cocktail with a frothy egg white or aquafaba layer on top. This is popular on drinks like a whiskey sour or Pisco sour, but would also work on lattes.

To get this heart-shaped effect, place droplets of bitters (such as Angostura bitters) across the top of the drink, then drag the tip of a cocktail pick through the center of the dots to make hearts.

Rims

Putting something fancy on the rim is a great way to dress up a drink.

Roll the edge of an empty glass in something sticky. For a salt rim, a lime wedge will do! For sweet things, you can use maple syrup, honey or even sugar cookie icing.

Then, place your rimming garnish on a plate and roll the edge of the glass in it. Now you can add your ice and cocktail to the prepared glass.

A few holiday cocktail rim ideas:

• a cinnamon sugar rim (or the same recipe, but sugar mixed with pumpkin pie spice ^* or apple pie spice!)
• margarita salt
• crushed candy canes
• crushed dehydrated raspberries
• gingerbread cookie crumbs
• Oreo cookie crumbs
• sugar cookie crumbs
• Christmas sprinkles
• shredded coconut
• sanding sugar ^*
• graham cracker crumbs

Something sweet

The best for (almost) last! Many cocktails at the holidays have extra sweet stuff, and who are we to complain? They are wonderful and are most used in after-dinner drinks like hot cocoa or a White Russian.

• grated chocolate
• chocolate or mocha fudge sauce 
• caramel or butterscotch sauce
• cranberry sauce
• melted peanut butter or Nutella
• homemade whipped cream (or boozy whipped cream)
• marshmallows
• homemade sprinkles
• crushed candies or cookies
• candy canes
• sugar cookies
• gingerbread cookies
• sugar cubes
• toffee bits
• mini chocolate chips

Purely decorative 

Last but not least, there are some easy cocktail garnishes that you don’t have to cut, refrigerate or prepare in advance at all!

• red-and-green paper straws
• metallic paper straws
• Christmas cocktail picks
• red and green cocktail umbrellas
• drink stirrers

Let me know how you end up sprucing up your drinks! Tag me @feastandwest on Instagram or use the hashtag #feastandwestrecipes on your pics. Would love to see what you come up with!