‘Tis the Season for Holiday Cocktails

To keep the season merry and bright, several restaurants are offering holiday-themed beverages.

• Bitter and Twisted Cocktail Parlour in downtown Phoenix is hosting a Sippin’ Santa holiday popup through Dec. 26 with festive tiki décor and libations such as North Pole Punch, Endless Summer Swizzle and the Parrot in a Pear Tree.
• Another tropical option is Hula’s Modern Tiki, offering a variety of holiday cocktails at its three Valley locations, including Son of a Nutcracker with bourbon, amaro and winter spice syrup; Sleigh Rye with bourbon and marshmallow simple syrup; and Little Cindy Lou Who with salted caramel vodka and coffee liqueur.
• Little Rituals in downtown Phoenix is pouring a vegan nog with cognac, oat milk, cinnamon and maple, and a hot toddy with bourbon, amaro and chai spice.
• Phoenix City Grille offers a salted caramel apple cocktail with Crown Royal Apple and Crown Royal Salted Caramel, and harvest apple sangria with apple cider, apricot liqueur, fresh orange juice and white wine.
• For brunch fans, U.S. Egg, with several locations across the Valley, has a holiday mimosa trio including an apple cinnamon mimosa, peppermint cran-mosa with cranberry juice and mini candy cane garnish, and peppermint bark featuring a chocolate syrup and crushed peppermint rim. Enjoy a flight of all three.
• For those with a sweet tooth, Hotel Valley Ho’s monthly Show Stopper Shake is the Scottsdale Snowdown, a sugar cookie shake topped with a vanilla coconut snowball, sugar cookie snowflakes, candy canes, a flamingo Santa and edible snow with $1 from each shake sold being donated to the Heard Museum. Hotel Valley Ho also has holiday-themed Short Stopper Shakes, including the Candy Cane Forest, a peppermint shake topped with candy canes and a chocolate cupcake; Caramel Crunch vanilla shake topped with caramel candy, brûléed banana and a praline blondie; and the Gingerbread Man gingerbread cookie shake topped with a mini gingerbread man and candied orange peel.