Let It Flow

The 12 drinks of Christmas: Delicious libations for boozy holiday entertaining

I love the traditions of the holidays. The decadent treats, spending time with family around the Christmas tree, sitting on Santa’s lap, and sometimes even Christmas carols.

But not all Christmas carols. The indomitable repetition of that seemingly endless cumulative carol “The 12 Days of Christmas” is as maddening as it is catchy. It may draw on your nostalgic heartstrings, convincing you to sing along the first time you hear it each season, but after that …

Back in 1982, the Canadian comedy couple Bob and Doug McKenzie created a fantastic parody of the "12 Days of Christmas" that gleefully declares, “On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, beer.” To honor that sentiment, here are 12 festive drinks to have at home or a party to help you start new holiday traditions.

1. Beer is the right thing to have on the first day of Christmas in a nod to Bob and Doug. A good choice is Rahr & Sons Winter Warmer, a dark English-style ale with dried fruit and chocolate flavors. These guys in Fort Worth know how to make a solid brew. It’s great on its own and pairs incredibly well with gingerbread.

2. The second day calls for a delicious holiday twist on a classic cocktail, a perfect way to prep your appetite for a big holiday meal. The boozy Cynar Manhattan made with double-proof Cynar 70 is one of the best tasting versions of a Manhattan you’ll ever have. The newly introduced big brother of Cynar has the same balance of bitter and sweet flavors with festive hints of spice and herbs.

2 ounces rye whiskey or bourbon with high rye content
1 ounce Cynar 70
2 dashes Angostura bitters

Stir the ingredients with ice and strain into a coupe or martini glass. Garnish with maraschino cherries.

3. The third day deserves a classic wine to celebrate the holidays: a stout cabernet sauvignon. Cabernet is a bear skin rug in front of the fire. To really wow your holiday guests, grab the 2012 Rodney Strong Alexander’s Crown cabernet sauvignon single vineyard, a Sonoma County beauty bursting with the lovely smell of plum and chocolate and powerful blackberry, black cherry, licorice, and dark chocolate flavors with a bit of cedar lingering on the finish. Whether you serve this with a sumptuous beef Wellington or on its own, it’s sure to dazzle for $75. Another choice is the 2012 Experience Napa Valley cabernet with viscous flavors of spiced black currant, jammy plum, and dried strawberry. It’s great with rib roast for $27.

The third day calls for a third wine. An easygoing and unpretentious choice for the neighborhood party is 2013 Sterling Vintner's Collection cabernet sauvignon. This Central Coast cab packs in a load of blackberry, ripe blueberry, dark chocolate, and vanilla flavors with a sprinkle of baking spice. Pick it up for $15.

4. The fourth day warrants a lush wine. Merlot is the Snuggie of the wine world: soft, cuddly, and oh so comforting. An incredibly elegant merlot for the holidays is the 2012 Matanzas Creek Winery Jackson Park Vineyard merlot. This Sonoma County vineyard is planted with the same grapes as one of the most famous Bordeaux wineries, Petrus. It’s velvety smooth with plum, blueberry, and boysenberry jam flavors and a bitter-sweet chocolate finish. The Matanzas Creek merlot goes incredibly well with roasted duck and sells for $60.

5. The fifth day asks for a slightly more rustic wine. Syrah is a walk through the woods to find just the right Christmas tree. The 2012 Qupé Santa Barbara County syrah ($30), made with biodynamic or organically grown grapes from the cool climates of the Santa Maria Valley and the Edna Valley in California, is as wild, funky, and brambly as any French Rhone wine. This little number is bounding with blackberry, cranberry tarts, and spiced with herbs and pepper. Serve it with a festive grilled lamb for the holidays.

6. The sixth day requires a playful wine. Petite sirah is a kiss under the mistletoe. For one big, bold kiss go with the 2013 Parducci True Grit Reserve petite sirah from Mendocino County, California. It has dusty raspberry scents, tart raspberry, Luden’s cherry cough drops, and blueberry pie with a healthy dollop of tannin. It is a great wine with steak and sells for $30.

7. The seventh day is a good time for portable wine. Grab a can of Underwood rosé from the Union Wine Company of Oregon to sip while you look at holiday light displays. The half-bottle size can be enjoyed in a crowd, and the fresh watermelon, strawberry, and tart lemon flavors pair resplendently with funnel cake. Pick up a four-pack for $24.

8. The eighth day is all about cuddly comfort. Pinot noir is the purr of a snuggly kitten, velvet furred and wispy tongued. A classic from the Eola-Amity Hills in Oregon, the 2013 Willamette Valley Vineyards Estate pinot noir gleams like Dorothy’s ruby slippers with aromas of wet leaves, Bing cherries, and mocha. It has bright black cherry, raspberry, and chocolate flavors that give way to an earthiness characteristic of Oregon pinot noir. It is great with salmon and sells for $30.

9. The ninth day is a little naughty. Cinsaut is a tryst at the office Christmas party. Emblematic of a night of debauchery is the 2014 Bonny Doon cinsaut counoise from vineyards in California's Paso Robles, Mendocino, and Lodi. Its looks are deceiving. The light ruby color of this wine is as delicate as the newest Beaujolais Nouveau, but its taste is anything but subtle. Wild strawberry, raspberry, and cranberry scents endorse the red berry, satiny chocolate, and herbal flavors. It pairs exceedingly well with quail and sells for $35.

10. The 10th day is sophisticated. There is nothing as erudite as a snifter of brandy. A Spanish delight, Lepanto Brandy de Jerez Solera Gran Reserva is made from Palomino grapes and aged for 15 years in the same intricate fashion that sherry is made. The century-old oak casks used in the aging give it vanilla and honey flavors that envelop a bourbon-esque core like a velvet smoking jacket. Serve it at room temperature to savor the unmistakable imprint of sherry with its telltale oxidized sea-breeze taste. It goes for $46.

11. The 11th day wakes up early for a cup of coffee. Coffee with a dose of cheer, of course. Coffee with liquor is the next best thing to snuggling with a ski bunny. Pour a couple ounces of Frangelico into your cup. The sweet hazelnut and vanilla flavors will perk up any morning. Pouring from the distinct bottle with the rope belt is a lot of fun too. Be careful not to overdo it because even in coffee it can get you drunk as a monk. Grab a bottle for $25.

12. By the 12th day you are bound to be in need of a tummy soothing digestif. Amaro Averna soothes the flames of holiday indulgence with a luxurious blend of honey and bitter-sweet chocolate flavors. Sip a small glass neat or with an ice cube and let the sweet, thick herbs and citrus do their trick. It’s a lovely way to wind down the holidays for $30/bottle.

If you must sing a Christmas carol while enjoying any of these drinks, please make it “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl. Cheers to a happy holiday!

Try a Cynar Manhattan for festive hints of spices and herbs.

Photo by Matt McGinnis

Try a Cynar Manhattan for festive hints of spices and herbs.

cocktails coffee wine craft-beer

Hottest Headlines of 2025

Top Dallas restaurant news of 2025 cooked up celebs, closures & Costco

Soul Shack

Fried chicken, mac & cheese, collards at Soul Shack.

Editor's note: As we look back at the most-read restaurant stories of 2025, it clear that the fate of a Dallas landmark — and its even more iconic popovers — kept readers riveted. There were exciting openings and heartbreaking closures, as well as one very controversial taco pop-up, and even ice cream delivered by drone. And news of a new Costco (or three) was a hot topic from all the way back at the beginning of the year.

Here are the 10 hottest restaurant stories of 2025 in Dallas:

1. The 2 Dallas restaurants where reservations are now impossible to get. Cafe Dior by Dominque Crenn is the restaurant inside the new Dior boutique in Highland Park Village, which opened in at the start of the year. Zodiac Room is the about-to-close restaurant inside the storied downtown location of Neiman Marcus, which has had several imminent closure scares but now states it will remain open past the 2025 holidays.

Popover, Zodiac Room, Neiman Marcus Downtown Zodiac Room popovers. Photo courtesy of Lisa Crossett

2. Dallas Caramel Company founder Rain McDermott dies at 52. Dallas entrepreneur Rain McDermott, who founded artisan caramel maker Dallas Caramel Company when she was only 34 years old, died in June after a battle with breast cancer; she was 52.

3. Dallas celebs are flocking to Soul Shack, new restaurant in Cedar Hill. The original was a fast-casual concept in Chicago called Soul Shack Express, which is still open. The Dallas location is a more ambitious effort, with a full-service restaurant, full bar, and swanky nightlife atmosphere. They've quickly earned notice from celebrities including TikTok phenomenon Keith Lee, who touted them with a review in their first week open (giving it a high rating of 8 out of 10 on his scale); and celebrity Shaquille "Shaq" O'Neal, who dropped in for a surprise visit.

4. Salad and Go reveals the 18 locations closing around Dallas. In good news, 25 locations will remain open. The one-of-a-kind salad chain specializing in low-priced salads in a drive-thru-only format previously announced its plan to close 41 restaurants. But the chain is still firmly committed to the Dallas metro area and Oklahoma, plus stores in Arizona and Las Vegas.

Salad and Go is going going gone. Photo by Salad and Go

5. Award-winning Dallas burger joint opens location in Forney. Blues Burgers is from Howard and Catherine Baldwin, who opened the original Blues Burgers near Love Field in Dallas in 2014 (it closed in February 2025 so they could focus on this venture). They use Angus beef for their burgers, and make their own sauces and spreads in-house. They fry in beef tallow, and their sodas are made with cane sugar, not high-fructose corn syrup. They also do fried pies, made in house.

6. Costco lines up 3 new stores opening in Dallas-Fort Worth in 2025. Cult-favorite grocery warehouse Costco is gifting Dallas-Fort Worth with three new stores, two of which opened in mid-March: Prosper and Weatherford. The Celina location's timeline has shifted to late 2026.

7. Blue Bell hosts extravagant freebie to get Dallas to try new ice cream. The new flavor is Classic Pecan Pie Ice Cream, a brown sugar ice cream with roasted pecans and pieces of pie crust mixed with a pecan pie filling. Now is a good time to mention that pecan pie is the state pie of Texas. Blue Bell partnered with Wing, the drone delivery division of Google parent company Alphabet, and Walmart, to give DFW residents the chance to try it for free via drone delivery.

Blue Bell Classic Pecan Pie ice cream. Blue Bell

8. Michelin-starred taqueria from Mexico City to do pop-up in Dallas. El Califa de León was to come to Texas for a limited-run 14- day, culinary pop-up, but following less-than-stellar reviews on social media, the restaurant pulled the plug one week into the engagement.

9. 2 Dallas steakhouses proclaimed among the best in the world. Nuri Steakhouse and Knife join 17 others in the U.S. that made the cut. The ranking, by London-based company Upper Cut Media House, is based on incognito reviews of each restaurant by so-called "Steak Ambassadors" who have industry backgrounds as chefs, food journalists, or "certified meat- and Wagyu masters."

Nuri Steakhouse ranked 84th on the list. Photo courtesy of Nuri

10. Beloved Richardson burger joint pivots to smaller more affordable mode. After 12 years, Haystack Burgers & Barley has reimagined its flagship location at 100 Central Expwy. #17 into a new concept called Little Stack, a more concise, more budget-friendly version of itself.