Warm Up at These LA Bars With Seasonal Selections of Winter Cocktails

Fiona Chandra

With both the winter and holiday season upon us, Los Angeles bars have cranked up their gears and launched delicious cocktails. There are spirit-forward drinks incorporating the flavor of the season, and festive cocktails for reminiscing about your childhood holidays. No matter the type of cocktails you like, these are the LA bars to get into the mood of the season:

1886 Bar at The Raymond
Pasadena’s cocktail gem has introduced a winter menu of 14 drinks that will keep Angelenos warm. The Netflix and Chill is just right for a night where you want to get cozy and relax. The cocktail is a mulled wine toddy variation made with single malt scotch, homemade mulled wine, vanilla syrup and orange peel. Get festive with the Improvement, featuring Akashi Japanese whisky, matcha green tea, condensed milk, cream and honey. With a croissant chip garnish on the Burbank Flip and a chocolate cookie garnish on the Espress Yoself, the cocktails at 1886 are the gifts that keep on giving.

Big Bar
The Big Bar team aims to give you a warm welcome this winter season with fun cocktails. Indulge your inner child with the Peppermint Cocoa Fizz, made with bourbon, Wondermint liqueur, Fernet Branca, Tempus Fugit crème de cacao, cream, vanilla bean and bubbles. Because winters in Los Angeles never get that bad, the Big Bar team also has the refreshing 67° and (still) Sunnie cocktail made with vodka, cranberry and pomegranate syrup, lime, ginger beer and ginger foam.

Broken Spanish
This sleek downtown Mexican hotspot has also launched a new cocktail menu to celebrate the season. Beverage Director Michael Lay embraces stone fruits with Chan Chan, which combines Taki Japanese whiskey, Santiago quince, lemon, ginger, and apple bitters. The El Mirlo cocktail, which translates to The Blackbird, takes on the color of its namesake bird. The drink is made with bourbon, Cardamaro, Grand Marnier, Fernet Valley, Miracle Mile toasted pecan bitters, and garnished with nutmeg.

Gracias Madre
Bartender Jason Eisner is bringing some vegan holiday drinks to West Hollywood’s Gracias Madre, starting with some Warm Milk and Cookies. The cozily named cocktail is made with vanilla-infused tequila, homemade Creme de Cacao, orange flower water, horchata, Brut Champagne and Mexican wedding cookie foam. For a stronger tipple, there’s the Bad Santa, which combines bourbon, aged mezcal, caramelized banana syrup and chocolate bitters. Get into a merry mood with Candy Cane Kush, made with peppermint tea-infused gin, tequila, lemon, honey and candy cane aqua faba.

Hinoki and the Bird
For the many Angelenos who are either vegans or lactose intolerant, Hinoki and the Bird has made it easier for them to not have to skip one holiday tradition: eggnog. They have created a “faux-nog” using coconut cream. Head to the Century City restaurant to try the Bah! Humbug! Cocktail, made with Zaya rum, coconut cream, vanilla orange syrup and Miracle Mile chocolate chili bitters.

Idle Hour
This barrel-shaped bar is a good bet for a North Hollywood watering hole no matter the season. For the winter, you’ll find a range of cocktails from the creamy Amorous Congress (mescal, crème de cacao, maple syrup, chocolate bitters, coconut cream), a warming Not Your Mamma’s Cider (house-made apple cider, Clyde May’s Alabama-style whiskey which was made with apples, Bird Dog cinnamon whiskey), and the stiff Idle Hands (butternut squash infused rye, Dolin Rouge, Miracle Mile toasted pecan bitters).

Redbird
Whether you are grabbing a drink at Redbird’s opulent lounge or pairing it with dinner under the covered patio, mixologist Tobin Shea’s drinks will transport you through the seasons. The Woods cocktail will evoke a winter forest, made with gin, French vermouth, falernum, Douglas Fir eau de vie, lime, and salt. Cardinal Punch adds some spices with bourbon, brandy, roasted orange, clove, lemon, amaro, and orange essence.

The Corner Door
At Culver City’s neighborhood favorite, imagine you are warming up next to a campfire with the Lumberjack Liquor Cabinet. The drink is made with bourbon, apple brandy, maple syrup and cinnamon smoke. Guests can also indulge in the season’s truffle and hazelnut flavors with the Truffle Shuffle, made with Japanese whiskey, housemade hazelnut liqueur and cacao nib bitters.

The Spare Room
Spare no effort to try this Hollywood favorite’s holiday cocktails and gather friends for a night of gaming, bowling and drinking. Imbibers can go from sophisticated with the Tom O’Shanter (rye whiskey, scotch, allspice, pear brandy, bitters, with a salted, buttered pear slice) or let loose with the bar’s boozy milkshake, Mr. Icicle (gin, crème de menthe, allspice, vanilla, milk, garnished with candy cane dust).

The Walker Inn
An “omakase”-style speakeasy inside Koreatown’s Hotel Normandie, the Walker Inn brings back the Holiday Scoundrels menu for a limited time. Settle into the quiet, 27-seat lounge with cocktails inspired by the holiday season’s greatest villains. Sip on The Grinch’s cranberry wine or Bad Santa’s peppermint bark vodka.