Festival of the Holidays: A Signature Disney Christmas Cocktail
Festival of the Holidays: a signature Disney cocktail inspired by EPCOT at Christmas.
A Peppermint Vodka, Cranberry and Elderflower Cocktail inspired by EPCOT’s Festival of the Holidays
There’s nothing like being at Walt Disney World (or Disneyland) during the Christmas holiday season. For this original signature Disney cocktail, I took my inspiration from EPCOT and its Festival of the Holidays (after which this Disney-inspired drink is named).
Toast the holidays with the Festival of the Holidays cocktail.
Festival of the Holidays is a light, easy-drinking holiday cocktail with a hint of peppermint and hint of floral finish. For this drink I channeled EPCOT during the holidays and year round (I love how EPCOT has featured cranberries during the Flower and Garden Festival in past years).
This original Disney-inspired cocktail features Smirnoff Peppermint Twist Vodka for a holiday flavor, plus Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice and St. Germain elderflower liqueur to enhance the fruit with light floral notes. To balance the drink, there’s a splash of peppermint syrup (I used Jordan’s Skinny Mixes Peppermint Bark syrup) and seasonal garnishes that are easy to make at home.
Note: the addition of the peppermint syrup is completely optional. The drink is well balanced without the syrup as well. If you want a peppermint forward taste profile and the added hint of sweetness, then add the syrup. If not, then it works equally well without. Taste it first and then add the syrup if need be.
Festival garnish on the Festival of the Holidays Disney-inspired Christmas cocktail.
Ingredients
1.5 oz Smirnoff Peppermint Twist Vodka
1/2 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
1.5 oz cranberry juice
1/2 oz peppermint syrup (optional: good if you love peppermint and hint of sweet)
fresh cranberries
fresh rosemary with sugar to garnish
To make a Festival of the Holidays, combine the first four ingredients and shake over ice (or chill in the refrigerator if you are making them in advance). Freeze some fresh cranberries to use as ice cubes in the drink (they won’t water it down). Add five or six of these before serving.
Have some fun garnishing your cocktail.
To make the garnish, take a piece of fresh rosemary and dampen it lightly (not soaking wet). Then dust with confectioners sugar (also known as powdered sugar). You can use regular sugar if that is all you have on hand. Once sugar dusted, you will have that instant snow-on-an-evergreen-branch winter look. A couple of cranberries speared onto the rosemary will complete that festive garnish for the cocktail.
Festival of the Holidays: A Disney-inspired Christmas cocktail.
I create signature cocktails inspired by favorite Disney attractions for the Grand One Lounge here at Disney Resort North. Be sure to see all my Disney signature cocktails in this blog and let me know which is your favorite. Contact me if you have a favorite Disney attraction that you’d like to see have its own signature cocktail. I’ll do my best to get it done.
A Disney Signature Cocktail Created by Mike Belobradic.