Five festive ideas to make your bar the place to be this holiday season
By Lara Creasy
The holiday season has always been my favorite time of year to be in the hospitality industry. There’s something about being able to offer guests an inviting place to gather with their friends and loved ones at this special time of year that really motivates me more than any other season.
I’ve been directing beverage programs at a variety of restaurants for close to two decades, and I always find a way to offer something out of the ordinary for the season between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.
Here are a few ideas I can share for ways to spruce up your business at the bar this season, make some extra holiday coin, and even make yourself feel good in the process. Trust me, you will.
1. Create a holiday-themed bar for one night
By now, we’ve all noticed there are bars in cities around the U.S. that completely transform themselves into Christmas-themed extravaganzas. Complete with over-the-top Christmas décor, entire menus of holiday-themed drinks, and non-stop Christmas music coming from the speakers, these bars leave nothing to the imagination when it comes to holiday cheer.
Pop-up holiday bars in Midtown Atlanta such as Miracle Bar on Monroe Drive, The Blitzen Room at Biltong Bar in Ponce City Market, and Sippin’ Santa at Bon Ton on Myrtle Street really brought the holiday spirit to town in 2021 with their full-on festivity.
Maybe going this far is too much for you to ever consider, but what about doing something similar for just one night?
I’ve found that service teams will really get excited about decorating the restaurant for holidays or special events, and they also get excited about the chance to go off-uniform for a day. Ask for a team of volunteers to stay after work the night before the event to decorate, and have everyone who works the night of the pop-up wear a Christmas sweater or Santa hat. Encourage everyone to really have fun with it!
Leverage social media to drum up interest in your pop-up, and invite influencers to stop by for a free drink to get mentioned on their accounts.
2. Launch a holiday-specific cocktail menu for the season
If doing the Christmas bar pop-up seems like too much for your location, you can still make it festive for your guests by offering a cocktail menu that focuses on the holiday season.
I always start working on my holiday menus during the summertime, as the lead time for traditional print media coverage typically starts in July, and the media loves promoting holiday cocktails! I’ve found that the perfect time to launch a holiday menu is the week of Thanksgiving.
So many classic cocktails come out of the holiday season, both in American tradition and in the traditions of other cultures. A few that I really love to offer during this time of year:
- Mulled wine: Wine or port served warm, simmered with cinnamon, cloves and brown sugar. (A fruitier red wine is best to use for this purpose.) View the recipe for mulled wine here.
- Wassail: A warm punch of beer or cider simmered with ginger, apples and spices.
- Gløgg: A Swedish mulled wine with whiskey and rum added that is often set on fire before serving.
- Café Brulot: A New Orleans tradition of strong, spiked coffee featuring brandy and orange liqueur, also set on fire as it’s spooned over a long spiraled orange peel.
- Poinsettia: Essentially a cranberry mimosa that can be fancied up with the addition of orange liqueur, a rosemary sprig, or even whole-cooked cranberries to garnish.
- Egg nog: If you’ve only ever tried the egg nog from a carton, do yourself a favor and make a batch from scratch, spiked with bourbon or cognac. It’s decadent! You need only serve a very small portion to make a big impact.
The idea of executing the warm beverages during service may seem daunting, but I have found success using a slow cooker or electric kettle plugged in at the bar, right near the front door. The reactions from guests as they enter the space and smell the simmering spices is often all it takes to make an instant sale.
Leverage your bar talent to come up with modern cocktail creations for your holiday menus, too. Over the years, I have brainstormed a multitude of enduring holiday recipes using craft spirits well-suited to the holidays. (See some recipes here). Some spirits I highly recommend include:
- Zirbenz. the stone pine liqueur of the Alps. Imported by Haus Alpenz, this slightly sweet liqueur can bring a fresh evergreen flavor to cocktails using gin, vodka or even whiskey.
- Sloe gin. In its truest form, this spirit takes the tart winter berries of the blackthorn bushes native to Europe and northern Asia, soaks them in gin and makes them into a seasonal liqueur. Look for brands such as Plymouth, Sipsmith or Hayman’s, and steer clear of bottom-shelf brands that contain little of the actual fruit.
- Damson gin. Similar to sloe gin, this seasonal treat is made from Damson plums soaked in gin and sugar. Averell is the producer to look for in this category, and making “sugar plum” cocktails with it is a no-brainer.
- Nut liqueurs. Ones such as Nux Alpina walnut liqueur, Trader Vic’s macadamia nut liqueur, and of course the classics amaretto and Frangelico, give endless possibilities for invoking the holiday vibe. Same with ginger liqueurs like King’s Ginger and Domaine de Canton.
3. Offer beverage specials that people can enjoy together
The holiday season is without a doubt the time of year when people gather in groups more than any other. Office parties, gift exchanges, family reunions, meet ups with old school friends home for the holidays: all of these provide fertile ground for shared, interactive beverage specials.
Consider offering flights or group tasting experiences featuring unusual or unfamiliar spirits or wines. Family gatherings and office parties will appreciate the chance to use these as ice breakers or conversation starters.
Maybe offer a flight of mezcal or sotol, with tasting notes or pairing suggestions. Perhaps arranging a flight with sips from hard-to-find bottlings of bourbon, like Pappy Van Winkle or Blanton’s, will tempt office party goers trying to meet a buy-out minimum. Or maybe something as simple as a flight of sparkling wines will liven up the brunch gathering of old college friends.
Punch bowls and pitchers of pre-batched cocktails are also a fun sell to groups. These types of interactive offerings can also take the pressure off of your bar team during a busy holiday event season, since they can prepare the beverages ahead of time.
4. Offer a holiday beer list, featuring the best of classic and modern Christmas beers.
Christmas beer has been a tradition for as long as beer has been made. Typically malty and dark, these high-ABV beers are often infused with citrus peels, vanilla, cinnamon or clove. Craft beer lovers look forward to these beers every year, so why not offer a few to round out your holiday menu? These beers pair very well with food, so a holiday beer dinner isn’t entirely out of the question either! Talk to your sales representatives about opportunities surrounding Christmas beer.
Some favorites that I highly recommend include:
- Anchor Christmas Ale. For 45 years and counting, Anchor Brewing in San Francisco has bottled a different beer each Christmas in a bottle with a different label. They are always worth looking forward to.
- Sweetwater Festive Ale. A winter warmer style beer brewed in Atlanta, this beer has a sleigh-load of hops and a cinnamon/nutmeg finish.
- Sierra Nevada Celebration. Brewed in Chico, Calif., since 1981, this fresh hopped IPA brings brisk flavors of citrus and pine to match the chilly air outside.
- Bernardus Christmas Ale. Intensely dark and slightly fruity with aniseed, caramel and chestnut flavors, this beer is brewed in the Belgian tradition.
5. Offer mixology classes for the public.
If you have a talented bar team, why not leverage their abilities to offer classes to the masses during a time you are normally closed or during slower shifts? Many of your guests want to host holiday gatherings at their homes, but they don’t know how to make drinks beyond the simple vodka/soda. Offering them an opportunity to learn from a professional may garner big interest.
If you have a private dining room, additional bar area or other event space, you can offer the classes as part of a buy-out for office parties. For smaller groups, you could tie the class to a dinner reservation, perhaps with a tasting menu, so the guests can enjoy the drinks they have made while they sit down to eat.
There is so much cheer to be had during the holiday season, so plan ahead and find the way that works for you to make your guests feel festive and jolly in your restaurant.
Lara Creasy
Lara Creasy is Beverage Director for Rocket Farm Restaurants, overseeing nine Superica locations in four states. She loves all things beverage from tea to tequila, coffee to cocktails, whiskey to wine, and gets to make a living at it.
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