Wisconsin’s beverage makers offer plenty of creative holiday-themed drinks in their product lines. Below are just a few of the many fine offerings to put a local spin on your holiday celebration. They also make great gifts!
Eggnog
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Eggnog
Lamers Dairy (lamersdairyinc.com) crafts dairy products from milk sourced from a handful of carefully chosen family farms located within 30 miles of their dairy in Appleton, Wis. Lamers eggnog is available at select Milwaukee area locations including Nehring’s Sendik’s on Downer; Woodman’s Food Markets in Oak Creek, Menomonee Falls and Waukesha; and Fox Bros. Piggy Wiggly stores in the Lake Country area.
Brothers James and Robert Baerwolf of Sassy Cow Creamery (sassycowcreamery.com) in Columbus, Wis. own and operate two farms that provide all of the milk for the creamery. They maintain both an organic and a traditional herd. Their eggnog, along with milk and ice cream, are distributed through retailers throughout Wisconsin and northern Illinois.
Organic Valley (organicvalley.coop), a farmer-owned cooperative based in LaFarge, Wis., crafts eggnog, along with milk, butter, cheese, eggs and sour cream, with milk from cows that are pasture-raised and free from hormones, antibiotics and pesticides. Their new Organic Valley Reduced Fat Eggnog is available at multiple retailers throughout Wisconsin.
Wine & Spirits
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Mulled wine
Spirits of Norway (spiritsofnorwayvineyard.com) winery, in Racine County, specializes in wines on par with California style varietals, made with cold-hardy hybrid grapes such as Marquette and Brianna grown in their vineyard. Their Christmas Red has notes of plum and cranberry, and Christmas White features notes of pear, apple and lemon. Their wines are available at Discount Liquor, Gary’s Beer & Liquor in Oak Creek, and Total Wine locations at Bayshore, Brookfield and Greenfield.
Cedar Creek Winery’s (cedarcreekwinery.com) latest batch of Christmas Blush was released in October 2023. The semi-dry rosé style wine is made from Seyval Blanc, Vidal Blanc and Marquette grapes. Christmas Blush is available at the winery in Cedarburg or multiple retail locations throughout Milwaukee.
Door County’s Door Peninsula’s Winery (store.dcwine.com) makes Mulled Christmas, a semi-sweet cherry wine blended with cinnamon, nutmeg and warm ground spice.
Still craving the fall flavors of pumpkin spice as we head into winter? Great Lakes Distillery’s (greatlakesdistillery.com) Pumpkin Seasonal Spirit adds notes of caramel, pumpkin and clove, nutmeg and ginger to whiskey.
RumChata (rumchata.com) manufactured in Pewaukee, Wis., since 2009, blends rum, cream, cinnamon and vanilla into a smooth liqueur. Their holiday options include RumChata Pumpkin Spice and RumChata Peppermint Bark, with peppermint and chocolate.
Beer
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Holiday beer
Many of Milwaukee’s craft brewers have fun things in the works for the holidays, including special releases introduced during Black Friday events. Lakefront Brewery (lakefrontbrewery.com), a pioneer of Black Friday special release beers, offered Black Friday Double Barrel-Aged Christmas Cookie Barleywine, Black Friday Imperial Stout, Black Friday, Triple Black IPA and Black Friday 5-Year-Old.
Other holiday standouts include Indeed Brewing’s (indeedbrewing.com) Spumoni Imperial Cream Ale, layered with pistachio, cherry and chocolate flavors. 1840 Brewing’s (1840brewing.com) Plumpy is a fruited sour with blackberry, black cherry, black currant and milk sugar. Raised Grain’s (raisedgrainbrewing.com) Santa’s Sack features the flavors of nutmeg, cinnamon, fresh ginger and star anise. Wizard Works’ (wizardworksbrewing.com) Santa’s Wrath is a bourbon barrel-aged strong ale.
MobCraft’s popular Beer Advent Calendar returns, while other brewers offer holiday party packs and specials. Call your favorite craft brewer to see what they’re brewing this holiday season.
Non-Alcoholic Drinks
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Holiday tea
Wollersheim Winery’s (wollersheim.com) Sparkling Grape is an alcohol-free way to ring in the New Year. Top Note Tonic’s (store.topnotetonic.com/products/top-note-mixed) Cocktail Party Pack has a collection of mixers for any cocktail or mocktail.
Milwaukee’s own Rishi Tea (rishi-tea.com) offers holiday blends including Cinnamon Plum and Cocoa Mint. Urbal Tea (urbalhealth.com) has Stocking Stuffer blends of their popular loose-leaf herbal infusions for medicinal and wellness properties. Soul Brew’s (mysoulbrew.com) Cranny-Apple kombucha puts a cool twist on any mocktail.
Local Coffee
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Holiday coffee
Blue & Gold Brewing (bandgbrewing.com), led by Marquette University students, partnered with Stone Creek Coffee (stonecreekcoffee.com) to launch Santa’s Revenge, a limited-edition medium roast. Colectivo Coffee (colectivocoffee.com) packages its special holiday seasonal blends into gift boxes. Door County Coffee & Tea Co.’s (doorcountycoffee.com) holiday blends include Door County Christmas, Candy Cane, Naughty or Nice and White Christmas, along with holiday gift packs and samplers.
