Litchfield Distillery Holiday Cocktails

Craft Cocktails for the Holiday Season

December 15, 2025/Litchfield Distillery/Comments Off on Craft Cocktails for the Holiday Season

The holidays always seem to bring out the best in cocktails. Maybe it’s the cozy flavors, the festive colors, or just that extra bit of cheer in the air, but this time of year is made for getting creative behind the bar. So we reached out to our friend Olivia Olsen, bartender at The Courtroom at The Abner Hotel in Litchfield, to see how she’s celebrating the season. As always, she delivered in style — sharing four delicious holiday cocktails that show off her talent and our spirits in all the right ways.

Midnight Under the Mistletoe

  • 2 oz Litchfield Distillery Agave Spirits
  • 1 ½ oz Pomegranate Rosemary Shrub with Balsamic and Brown Sugar**
  • 3/4 oz Dark Creme De Cacao
  • 2 dashes Aztec Chocolate Bitters 
  • Ginger Beer to top

Method: Add Agave Spirits, Shrub, Creme de Cacao, and bitters to shaker tin and shake. Strain over fresh ice in hi-ball glass. Top with ginger beer and garnish with fresh pomegranate arils and rosemary sprig.

Winter’s Blush

  • 2 oz Litchfield Distillery Gin
  • 3/4 oz Rainbow Peppercorn Syrup **
  • 1 oz Pumello Juice
  • 1/2 oz Lillet Blanc
  • Saline Solution (optional)
  • Prosecco to top 

Method: Add Gin, peppercorn syrup, pummello juice, Lillet Blanc, and saline to a shaker tin and shake. Strain into coupe glass and top with prosecco.

Not Your Nana’s Hot Cocoa

Method: Add Litchfield Cinnamon bourbon and Grand Marnier to mug. Add Abuelita Mexican Hot Chocolate & stir. Top with Whipped Cream and grate fresh orange zest.

Naughty and Spice

Rim your glass with maple sugar, cinnamon mixture. Add Maple Bourbon, Creme De Maple, and Spiced Chai Syrup to a cocktail shaker and shake. Strain over crushed ice in rimmed glass. Garnish with Cinnamon Sick or Bay Leaves.

** Additional Recipes for Cocktail Ingredients

Pomegranate Rosemary Shrub with Balsamic and Brown Sugar

  • 1 lb pomegranate seeds
  • 3-4 large sprigs fresh rosemary (or 3 tbsp dried rosemary)
  • 1 Cup Brown Sugar
  • 1 Cup Balsamic vinegar 

Instructions: Combine seeds and rosemary, muddle seeds to release juice. Add vinegar and brown sugar, stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate mixture for 2-3 days. Strain and serve.

Winter spiced chai tea syrup

  • 5-7 cinnamon sticks
  • 2 tbsp whole peppercorns
  • 3-4 cloves 
  • 3 tbsp cardamom pods 
  • 3 tbsp allspice berries 
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 3 cups strongly brewed chai tea 
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions: Add all spices (excluding bay leaves) to a dry pan and toast until fragrant and slightly browned. Add brewed Tea & Bay Leaves to dried spices and simmer on low to infuse. Add sugar and vanilla extract, turn heat to low and steep 10-12 minutes. Strain and serve.

Rainbow Peppercorn Syrup

  • ¼ cup rainbow peppercorns 
  • 2 tbsp annatto (optional)
  • 4 cups water 
  • 3 cups white sugar

Instructions: Toast peppercorns over low heat in a dry saucepan until fragrant and color begins to deepen. Add Water, Sugar and Annatto seeds, Simmer for 10 minutes over low heat. Strain and serve.

Chocolate-Cinnamon Whipped Cream

  • 16 oz Heavy Whipping Cream
  • ¼ cup Dark chocolate Chips
  • 4 Cinnamon Sticks

Instruction: Add Whipping cream to small saucepan over medium low heat with cinnamon sticks, and begin to gradually warm. Once whipping cream is hot, add chocolate chips, and stir until fully melted. Turn heat to low, Steep Cinnamon sticks for about 5 minutes, remove from heat and cool. Either add cooled cream to whipping siphon and serve OR use a hand mixer to whip cream until peaks form.

Meet the Mixologist:

Olivia Olsen works as a bartender at The Courtroom in The Abner Hotel located in historic Litchfield, CT. She has built a reputation as one of the most creative bartenders in the region and was recently nominated for Bartender of the Year by the CT Restaurant Association. She was interviewed on Litchfield Distillery’s Mixology Spirit blog series when she was previously employed by At The Corner South. You can read that interview here. Follow Olivia on Instagram.

If you love craft cocktails and the bartenders behind them, be sure to check out our Mixology Spirit blog series that shares the stories of the region’s most creative mixologists.