6 Cocktails Perfect For Sipping By The Fireplace This Holiday Season

Whether you have a real deal wood fireplace or just the warm glow of the iconic electronic (and now streaming) yule log in your home, drinks around the fire help to create one cozy tableau. The right spirit is enough to transport your own spirit to an après-ski chalet, to a distinguished mahogany library, or even to a bubbling, heart-shaped hot tub.

As with all culinary desires, whatever you crave is ultimately the thing you should taste. If a tropical Miami Vice cocktail is just the incongruous thing to get you in a wintery mood, then so be it. But if you are looking for a little holiday flavor inspiration, then you can get a little closer to the reindeer's nose. These seasonal sips are just the thing to make the most wonderful time of the year even more merry and bright — or at least a whole lot boozier.

If you were in a film about five friends at a cabin for the weekend (that did not turn into a horror flick), then you'd likely all be nursing toasty hot toddies. The hot toddy is simply the ne plus ultra of the cold-weather imbibing form, liable to conjure fuzzy hats and a heartwarming good time. The secret to a perfect hot toddy is adding a couple of ounces of bourbon to a mug of hot water, honey, and a spritz of lemon.

Compared to the old hot toddy, hot buttered rum is marginally more complicated to make. So complicated, in fact, that it even starts with a batter. You'll need to beat your butter together with some brown sugar and hot water at least, then top it all off with rum. Vanilla extract and spices like cardamom or cloves further jazz it up. It would be more convoluted not to make these in the batch that most recipes yield, so what you lose in "cook" time, you kind of make up for in bulk preparation.

The combination of bourbon or rye whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters can make it seem like Q4 any time of year, and the addition of a glowing hearth makes for an almost implausibly perfect scene. A lot of dark liquor will warm you on the way down, but the Manhattan's dash of fortified wine and its botanical extract turns down any potential burn. A bit of Jerry Thomas-style Grand Marnier gives it a refined citrus pop that you can expand with an orange twist or classic cherry on top.

Speaking of amber-colored alcohol, an infused bourbon is neither a cocktail nor a mixed drink, but it can taste more dynamic than either. Give your bourbon a cozy touch of autumn with cinnamon to spice it up a bit, or pivot to an even more robust blend of ginger and nutmeg (which you'll need to steep and strain after a few days). Serve it in a rocks glass with one big ice cube, and it'll seem like you were shaking and stirring all afternoon.

Where there's smoke, there's mezcal, which is also just the thing to give your standard old fashioned a bit more heat. This mezcal old fashioned adaptation more or less writes itself. Simply swap the typical bourbon base with the agave heart-derived alternative, but keep the expected bitters. Tinker with your sugar to avoid excessive sweetness, and garnish with the usual orange peel something like a grilled (or fireplace-toasted) pineapple wedge.

Although this vintage 'tini has not yet enjoyed the comeback of its espresso or apple kin, the chocotini is about as decadent (and sometimes campy) as the act of toasting around a fireplace. Sure, you could have tipped virtually any liquor into a hot chocolate for similar deliciousness, but doesn't this classy beverage feel just a little more special? Chill your V-shaped glasses if possible, then shake vodka, chocolate liqueur, chocolate syrup, and cream liqueur with ice before serving. It's a fairly forgiving mix, as long as it tastes like candy with a boozy kick.