This season, Eau Claire's bars, wineries, and cocktail lounges are mixing up merry cocktails and festive drinks for the holidays! With cocktail blends that suit everyone's taste buds, these seasonal, signature drinks will warm your Christmas hearts just right. But act fast, these holiday drinks are only available for a limited time! This Christmas season, check out all the holly, jolly winter cocktails to try in Eau Claire!
Drink Featured: Toasty Sweater (Photo Credit: Dive)
The Toasty Sweater at Dive
Immerse yourself in a wintry delight at Dive in downtown Eau Claire! Perfect for a cozy night in the heated igloos, the Toasty Sweater is crafted with toasted almond rum, lemon juice, decadent chocolate bitters, a touch of spiced simple syrup, and aquafaba for a velvety-smooth froth. Ring in the holiday season sip after sip with this jolly, festive drink in Dive's igloos! Click here for more information on reserving your igloo this season.
Fruity, Frosty Fusions at The Good Wives
The Good Wives are serving up beautiful, fruitful cocktails this holiday season! Their specialty cocktails include a Pear Tree, a Cranberry Fluff, and a Le Petite Fig. The Pear Tree is a blend of St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram, scotch, pineapple, and pear with fresh-grated nutmeg on top. The Cranberry Fluff is a scoop of cranberry jelly with fresh-juiced ginger, egg white, and gin, garnished with fresh sugar-rolled cranberries. Lastly, the Le Petite Fig is an Armagnac drink with fig jam & Grand Marnier, and is garnished with Filbert!
Sugar Cookie Martini at Draganetti's Ristorante
Pair your pizza, pasta, and salads with the perfect Christmas dessert drink at Draganetti's Ristorante! Their Sugar Cookie Martini is the perfect amount of sweet, and the frosted and sprinkled rim creates a holiday drink that is to die for. Make a toast with family or friends this holiday season while sipping a Sugar Cookie Martini at Draganetti's!
Drink Featured: Egg Nog (Photo Credit: The Lakely)
Winter Drink Specials at The Lakely
Warm up with a selection of winter drink specials all month long at The Lakely! This season, enjoy live music and entertainment while sipping on The Lakely's Hot Toddy, Egg Nog, or Sweedish Spritzer. Decide whether you're going the warm route with the Hot Toddy created with bourbon, Angostura bitters, honey, lemon, and hot water in a warm coffee mug, or go for a traditional Egg Nog drink made with bourbon, dark rum, cognac, eggs, heavy cream, whole milk, half and half, and fresh nutmeg. If you're in the mood for something bubbly, order the Swedish Spritzer created with aquavit, sparkling cava brut, cranberry liqueur, cranberry juice, and seltzer.
Fall into Winter Drink Menu at Cowboy Jack's
No one does seasonal cocktails like the bartenders at Cowboy Jack's. Their Fall into Winter menu has something for everyone including a Cranberry Moscow Mule, a Peach Pecan Old Fashioned, a Peanut Butter White Russian, a Bailey's Minty Martini, a Winter Margarita, an Adult Hot Chocolate or Coffee, and so many more. Cowboy Jack's is home to drinks that are voted Volume One's Best Craft Cocktail and Best Local Holiday Drink. Click here to check out Cowboy Jack's and to see the award-winning drinks!
Peppermint Martini at River Bend Winery
See the vineyards at River Bend Winery in its winter glory, and try their December featured cocktail– a Peppermint Martini! This cocktail features vodka crafted from River Bend's on-site distillery. The winery and distillery will be offering a handcrafted cocktail list available from December through March and features 8 different specialty drinks showcasing their gin, vodka, maple-flavored vodka, Wisconsin Whiskey, and bourbon. Click here to learn more about River Bend Winery & Distillery, and stay in touch with events happening in their tasting room throughout the season!
Drinks Featured: Prancer's Hot Chocolate & Vixen's Grand Mimosa at 44 North
Santa's Reindeer Drinks at 44 North
Get your hands on the reindeer's favorite cocktails this season at 44 North! Try Dasher's Old Fashioned made with brandy, homemade apple butter, lemon-lime soda, Angostura bitters, cherries, and orange wedges, or drink Dancer's Whisky Sour created with house whisky, sour mix, cranberry juice, fresh lemon juice, and sugar. Head to 44 North for brunch and try Vixen's Grand Mimosa made with Carnivale prosecco, lime juice, and cranberry juice, and is served with a sugared rim and a rosemary sprig. After a walk through a snowy River Prairie Park, warm up with Prancer's Hot Chocolate made of hot chocolate, butterscotch schnapps, and Irish cream, topped with whipped cream and salted caramel.
Winter Seasonal Cocktails at Infinity Beverages & Winery
Choose from a variety of housemade cocktails at Infinity Beverages & Winery in Eau Claire this December! Infinity offers a full fall/winter seasonal drink menu, but a few of their most festive cocktails include the Macadamias, the Cozy Cabin, and the Spiced Apple Jack Mule. The Macadamias is basically dessert in a cup with whiskey, macadamia nuts, cookie butter, white chocolate, and cream served hot in a mug. The Cozy Cabin is handcrafted with whiskey barrel Syrah wine, winter spice, and bitters, creating a sangria, and is garnished with a rosemary sprig. A Spiced Apple Jack Mule is crafted with vodka, cinnamon, apple, lime, and ginger beer. From December 9-24, 2023, Infinity will be offering a featured cocktail, a Tom & Jerry, for another festive drink option!
Holiday Cocktails at Helix
The craft cocktail masters in River Prairie are serving up something special this season. As a matter of fact, they're serving multiple cocktails and mocktails that are perfect for the holiday season! Head to Helix to try their Yule Mule, a cranberry-spice combination, a Maple Mule, a maple-cinnamon blend, the Apple Brandy Toddy, a Traditional Hot Toddy, a Classic Grasshopper, or a Chai 95, which is a chai-spiced Old Fashioned. If you're wanting to keep it dry, try their Floral Fantasy, made with hibiscus and holiday spices, or the Apple & Fig Tonic, made with apple cider, fig, and holiday spices!
