I have three criteria for a tasty party drink: it has to be delicious, lovely to look at, and easy to make. That's where sparkling wine comes in, jazzed up with a bit of pomegranate juice and some ginger liqueur. More

Thyme, gin, and elderflower liqueur gently enhance sparkling wine in this cocktail adapted from Eleven Madison Park in New York. More

Amaro adds rich, complex flavor and sweetness to this tangy cranberry cocktail. Be sure to use a less-sweet tonic water, like Q Tonic, for the best balance. More

The base spirit of this cocktail, Sheep Dip blended Scotch whisky, gets its name from an old term Scottish farmers used to disguise casks of homemade hooch. To avoid taxes (and the disapproval of their wives) they labeled barrels of bootleg Scotch as Sheep Dip, an insecticide used to delouse sheep. More

This cocktail features a pair of wine-based ingredients, dry white port and barolo chinato. The latter is an Italian digestif made with a base of Italian barolo wine. Thanks to an infusion of cinchona bark, gentian and rhubarb roots, and other aromatics, it makes for a warming, full-bodied drink. More

This refined rum cocktail from Chicago's Sepia hides a festive tiki core. A burnt-sugar backbone from the aged Guatemalan rum is deepened with the sweet, nutty, baking-spice notes of falernum, a syrup typically made from almond, ginger, clove and lime that's a staple of many a Caribbean bar. Calvados, the French apple brandy, lends a telltale flavor of the season. More

This mojito has been dressed up for a little winter partying with the help of muddled cranberries and a warm cinnamon and orange syrup, plus a dollop of dark rum for added richness. More

Olive-sized kumquats have an edible peel that's sweet while the flesh is tart. A hearty muddling brings out the oils from their skin as well as the juice from their flesh, bringing that tartness that's key to a balanced margarita. More

A toffee-laden variation on eggnog. More

I don't always drink coffee, but when I do, I drink it in my eggnog. More