Christmas is one of my favourite holidays. I love getting gifts for people I care about, spending time with family and, perhaps best of all, the seasonal treats! Although Australia gets a hot Christmas, with sand as snow, I am a sucker for a warm cup of tea or piping hot chocolate. I do love a cold frappucino too though! So, to celebrate, I felt like wrapping up some of my favourite festive sips. Check out the candy cane ratings to see what gets top marks…
Starbucks Toffee Nut Crunch Latte
This one is a little controversial for me! I am not a big Starbucks person. In fact, I never go to one except for seasonal drinks (or free Wi-Fi when travelling…). I always get a PSL, I love some of the spring sips but Christmas gives me a whole selection of drinks to get into the Christmas vibe. This year, I tried the Toffee Nut Crunch, which was only my choice at the time because they were out of Gingerbread Spice, but it did not disappoint. It was rich and nutty and surprisingly not as cloyingly sweet as their seasonal options can sometimes be.
The Tea Centre Gingerbread
As a tea lover since I was a kid, I love the Christmas varieties at tea shops! This particular one is an old favourite that I often combine with other teas. A black tea with caramel, almond, cinnamon and ginger brittle, the flavour is great with a dash of milk. Sometimes I like to combine it with a softer flavour like a traditional afternoon tea. One of my absolute favourites I come back to every year.
Homemade Hot Chocolate
Since my husband has become a home coffee pro, we have a lot of fun tools I can use for other drinks in the house, including a milk frother. While this gets the most of its use of a morning for our coffees, I also like to try new things, like a creamy hot chocolate! My favourite way to make this at home is by putting the frother on a low temperature and letting it do its thing while I chop up some super dark chocolate (at least 70%). I will chuck this in then put the temp up again and let the chocolate melt while the milk froths up some more. Usually I will use this as is with some chocolate shavings or a marshmallow on top, but if I have some leftover Nutella, I will put some milk into the jar, shake it up, then add this in for a little hazelnut goodness. One of my husband’s absolute favs!
The Payne Family’s St Nick Spritz
My family always have a cocktail on Christmas Day and this year I decided to take it up a notch by making a recipe for us to enjoy, alongside a custom gin blend from Archie Rose! The spritz featured gin, champagne, pomegranate, sugar, lemon and rosemary and was a hit.
Honourable Mentions
The above four are the main drinks I had over this year’s festive season but there are a few others that I have enjoyed previous years that I didn’t get round to in 2020. Coffee Supreme had a delicious Christmas blend a few years ago that I gifted to my husband. Wolff Coffee Roasters also do some amazing Christmas coffees. For the tea lover (me!), T2 also has a great yearly Christmas tea that I have enjoyed many years and sometimes comes in a cute ornament box so it can sit on your tree! We also travelled to Europe in December a few years back and got to enjoy several seasonal traditions at markets, like Glühwein in Germany and spiced cider in Switzerland.
If you couldn’t tell, I love Christmas drinks! What are your favourites? Let me know what I am missing out on! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I will see you in 2021…
The Hungry Sidekick 