Here are recipes to three delicious holiday cocktails.

1.Mulled Holiday Tea

Mulled tea, a wine heated with sugar, spices, and often fruit, has been a spirited holiday beverage option for centuries. This recipe calls for Darjeeling tea, made in West Bengal, India, mixed with your favourite dry red wine, apple juice, sugar, and a warm-flavored spice packet of cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves. Serve with a warm, fruit pastry during the chilly winter months.

ingredients:

• 7 Darjeeling tea bags
• 4 cups boiling water
• 4 cups apple juice
• 2 cups dry red wine
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 inches stick cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon whole cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom seeds

directions

1. Place tea bags in a 4-quart Dutch oven. Pour the boiling water over tea bags. Let steep 5 minutes. Remove bags; discard. Stir in apple juice, wine, and brown sugar.
2. For spice bag, place cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom on a double-thick, 6-inch-square piece of 100-percent-cotton cheesecloth. Bring corners together, and tie with a clean string. Add spice bag to tea mixture. Bring just to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Discard spice bag.
3. Transfer tea to a heatproof serving carafe or pot. Makes about 12 (6-ounce) servings.

Mulled Holiday Tea

2.Pomegranate Champagne Cocktail

Nothing says 'celebration' like champagne, and a traditional champagne cocktail is perhaps the height of celebratory drinks. Its pretty colour makes it ideal for Christmas enterta ining, and its two-ingredient composition makes it beyond easy to make. Serve this cocktail as an aperitif before a formal dinner or at a cocktail party along with appetizers and desserts. If using cranberry juice instead of pomegranate, float a couple of cranberries in each flute as a garnish.

ingredients

• 1 ounce chilled pomegranate juice or chilled cranberry juice (2 tablespoons)
• 3 ounces chilled champagne (6 tablespoons)

directions

Pour the pomegranate juice into a champagne flute. Slowly add champagne. Serve immediately. Makes 1 serving.

Pomegranate Champagne Cocktail

3.Holiday Cider

Take the chill off with this delicious almost-homemade apple cider. It's infused with a full range of apple pie spices, including cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves, making it the perfect cozy drink for sipping by the fire. A bit of fresh lemon juice gives the hot cider a nice zing. Serve this tasty drink at holiday celebrations, skating parties, and  Halloween parties. Add a little brandy for the grown-ups, if you like.

ingredients

• 2 to 4 medium baking apples, cored
• 2 teaspoons whole cloves
• 1/3 cup water
• 4 crab apples (optional)
• 4 medium apples
• 4 medium lemons
• 8 cups apple cider
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 12 inches stick cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Insert about half the cloves into 2 baking apples. Place the apples in a 2-quart square baking dish. Add the water. Bake apples, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Add crab apples, if desired. Bake an additional 25 to 30 minutes or until apples and crab apples are tender; cool slightly. Halve or quarter baking apples. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, squeeze juice from oranges and lemons (you should have 1-1/3 cups orange juice and 3/4 cup lemon juice). In a 4-quart Dutch oven combine orange and lemon juices, apple cider, sugar, cinnamon, remaining cloves, allspice, and nutmeg. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove whole cloves and stick cinnamon from cider mixture. To serve, place apples in a large heat-proof punch bowl; carefully pour cider mixture into bowl. Makes 12 to 16 servings.

Holiday Cider

Source: Health.com