Around this time of year, parties and gatherings start to feature some of the most bizarre yet delicious concoctions. Most of these recipes originated in England, where they still remain popular today. While egg and rum don’t normally sound like the most appetizing combination, when sprinkled with cinnamon and served by a warm fire it becomes the most popular holiday cocktail. There are dozens of ways to mix it up this wintery season. Here are the top five most popular based on leading industry sources and sales.
1. Egg Nog – The whipped egg is what gives this cream based drink its frothy texture. This recipe is the most versatile on the list because the liquor ingredient can be one of several: brandy, whiskey, bourbon, vodka or rum.

• 6 eggs
• 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 quart milk
• 1/3 pint heavy whipping cream
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 1 pinch salt

2. Hot Buttered Rum – Basically this is a combination of rum, butter, hot water, cider and spices. Each must be added in proportion, however. Once molasses started being imported from Jamaica more of these “flavored” rum drinks emerged.
• 1 small slice soft butter
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• Optional spices to taste: ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, allspice
• Vanilla extract
• 2 oz dark rum
• Hot water

3. Christmas Rum Punch – Like setting things on fire? This party favorite requires baking oranges studded with cloves. Next, the oranges get placed into a punch bowl filled with rum and sugar, then setting fire to the rum.

• ½ cup white sugar
• 2 cups orange juice
• 2/3 cup lemon juice
• 1 4-ounce jar maraschino cherries with juice
• 1 ounce triple sec
• 1 bottle light rum
• 1 orange, sliced
• 1 lemon, sliced
• 1 8-ounce can pineapple chunks
• 1 liter carbonated water
• Ice

4. Candy Cane Cocktail – Probably the most inexpensive on the list, this drink is fashioned after the hundreds years old homemade candy shaped like a hook. One way to make it requires distilling plain vodka and vanilla vodka in a mason jar for several days with about six broken candy canes.
• 3/4 oz SKYY Berry Vodka
• 3/4 oz peppermint schnapps
• 3/4 oz white crème de cacao
• 1/4 oz grenadine
• Half and half
• Soda water

5. The Grinch – Looking to color coordinate a party beverage with the decorations? This is the perfect match thanks to the bright green Midori coloring. No need to have a heart two sizes too small to enjoy it though.

• 2 oz Midori melon liqueur
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1 tsp simple syrup
• Maraschino cherry for garnish