We’re wearing long sleeves. Not just the sleeves of thin, button-down shirts that can pass for jackets the rest of the year, but even sweaters and scarves. Holiday time is here! And to the booze lover, that means an excuse to introduce more drinks into the imbibing rotation. When the rain and wind hit in the early-coming darkness, the thought of shelter and a warm, spicily sweet drink is comforting. While it may not be cold enough for many bars and restaurants to introduce hot holiday booze menus for the entire season, customers may find pleasant surprises of seasonal specials from time to time. Just ask.

But cauldrons of holiday brews don’t require too much magic to appear. Whether to impress at a holiday party or to solely impress the party in your mouth, here are a few affordable, easy ways to make the magic happen.

Mulled wine

Grab a couple of bottles of cheap red wine (cabernet sauvignon should work fine, although absolute bottom-shelf quality bottles may not turn out the way you want). Gently pour the bottles in a large pot. In cheesecloth (or freestyle it and strain the ingredients later), wrap a peeled and sliced orange (some recipes call for just the peel, just the zest or orange juice. Use whatever is convenient for you, though too much white orange rind may make the wine bitter), a cinnamon stick or two and about 10 cloves. Stir in some nutmeg, ground ginger and sugar (brown works well, too). Other holiday spices are welcome, such as cinnamon and/or cardamom. Just use what you like.

Let the mixture heat over low until just steaming–perhaps 45 minutes to an hour, stirring occasionally. The holiday scent will fill your dwelling space and a mug full of your newly spiced creation will be perfect for warming people up to each other or simply your insides for a cozy movie-watching marathon.

The warm, spiced wine doesn’t actually need that much time to mull. While some recipes require a slow cooker, a large pot kept over low heat should suffice. Just make sure that the wine doesn’t come to a boil. The-more-the-merrier principle should apply to what’s in your pot, too. Make a lot! Any extra wine you might have left (heaven forbid) will store fine in the fridge in a glass container. The leftover wine makes for a spicy spin on sangria or can be rejuvenated with a zap in the microwave.

Glogg

Mulled wine is the base of the Northern European drink, but incorporates stronger alcohol (sign us up!), more sugar, raisins and almonds. If you think your party can handle it (or needs it), follow the procedure for mulled wine with the different proportions in mind and heat for a longer period of time. However, add the brandy, vodka or whatever hard liquor you want after simmering the wine. The only sound you’ll be hearing after serving it will be glogg, glogg, glogg.

Hot cider

This is more than just hot apple juice with some cinnamon and cloves. It’s that, plus white wine or brandy. And maybe a little more. While real cider aficionados can make their own hard cider, the fermentation process might be a tad too long for those who still need to go holiday shopping, clean their house and choose a holiday party outfit. Keep it simple: choose pre-made cider or even regular apple juice. Just make sure there are no preservatives and that the liquid is cold-pasteurized for better quality cider. Add the usual suspects (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, allspice), orange zest or juice, and sugar or honey. If you’re adding white wine, heat it with everything else like mulled wine. If you are adding brandy, rum or other hard alcohol, wait to do so until the other ingredients have simmered together.

Eggnog

Healthy food be damned, holiday time is the perfect time to chug cream and eggs. What’s even better is chugging cream and eggs and booze. Equally delicious hot or cold, even adding a dynamite alcohol to cheap, store-bought nog can pack a tasty punch and impress at a party. Try the new Kraken Black Spiced Rum. The 94-proof rum is distilled from fermented molasses, and comes in a bottle with the giant Kraken squid sprawled across it. Sherry, bourbon and brandy are also popular additions to the nog, often with two alcohols making an appearance in the same bowl. Sprinkle with nutmeg for a more homemade appearance. Making your own nog isn’t impossible, but will require a lot of mixing, whipping and chilling. While alcohol has the ability to kill some germs, it’s not a way to expel bacteria from raw eggs. Find a cooked eggnog recipe (making a custard base first) to keep your salmonella-fearing guests calm. Though if you are an advocate for tradition, at least use the freshest eggs possible and tell your guests that you used raw eggs. Some stores carry pasteurized eggs, as well.

Hot buttered rum

In addition to having a fun name to pronounce, the concept of something hot, fatty and alcoholic sounds like possibly the most delicious drink ever. If you just use hot water, rum and butter, though, you will end up drinking possibly the worst drink ever. Use those holiday spices, a dark rum, unsalted butter and brown sugar. With varying recipes to fit different tastes, the basic procedure calls for mixing the butter, sugar and spices together, adding a generous dollop of the mixture in each serving mug, then adding the rum and boiling water. Some recipes call for adding vanilla extract or vanilla ice cream to the butter mixture. For variations on the fatty drink, try adding a pat of butter to your hot cider. As we know, butter makes everything better.

---