Naughty or nice? Myrtle Beach area holiday cocktails that would make Santa’s list
This time of year, the Myrtle Beach area loves to display its Christmas spirit, and that extends to the drink and food offerings at restaurants and bars.
Several restaurants have launched their seasonal popup bars featuring creative drink specials that are sure to get you in the holiday mood.
Laci Peiffer, owner of Drifters Saloon in Myrtle Beach, wanted to provide a different cocktail menu and came up with the recipes for this year’s offerings. “I know how to make a good drink,” she said.
Peiffer, who worked for four years at the bar before taking over as its owner, said the business never really had a cocktail menu, one of several things she has changed at the business.
“I wanted to come up with fun names,” Peiffer said of the cocktails that include Santa’s Sauce and Not Your Grandma’s Sangria.
Peiffer isn’t the only one whose spirits reflect the festive holiday.
It’s an opportunity to take a break from the hustle and bustle of Christmas. Just make sure you keep it nice and not naughty as you imbibe in some of these liquid creations.
Drifters Saloon
The halls have been decked at Drifters, and the holiday cocktail menu set with such offerings as the Clausmopolitan that includes citrus and cherry vodkas, Triple Sec, lime juice, a splash of cranberry lemonade and garnished with a cherry; Rudolph’s Breakfast, which is a spin on the Maple Bacon Old Fashioned; and Milk and Cookies ... for Adults that has Absolut Vanilla, Grind Caramel, Baileys, French vanilla cream and finished with a caramel cinnamon rim and cinnamon sugar dust.
The Myrtle Beach bar is located at 2905 N. Kings Highway.
Jem Social
If you’re looking to get into the holiday spirit, this Myrtle Beach bar should be your first stop.
This Myrtle Beach bar at 7601 N. Kings Highway goes all out for Christmas with its decorations and Miracle Pop-Up which offers curated cocktails in fun and funky holiday glassware.
Try such drinks as Dancing Sugar Plums with gin, limoncello, plum wine, plum milk syrup, lemon, tiki bitters and nutmeg, or the Yippie Kay Ya Mother F****r, a nod to the film “Die Hard,” with Barbados rum, rhum agricole, Trinidad overproof rum, ube and coconut orgeat and acid-adjusted pineapple served in a mug of Santa from the waist down, including his boots. Other glassware features such creatures as a mouse and koala that cutely clings to a straw.
And yes, the glassware is available for purchase.
The best part is that the menu also includes non-alcoholic drinks for those who are this year’s designated driver.
You can sample the holiday menu through Dec. 31.
Neat Bourbon Bar
The cocktail bar at 7740 North Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach has its winter menu that includes such drinks as Santa’s Winter Whip that includes whipped cream vodka, Santa’s Little Helper Liqueur, coco bitters, white chocolate, heavy cream, whipped cream and peppermint pieces.
Or, maybe you might want a Naughty Night Cap with Twelve 33 Gin, Salerno Blood Orange, Rosemary Simple, white cranberry, lemon, a sugar rim and topped with a sugared rosemary and cranberry.
The holiday menu also includes a cocktail flight board featuring Gingerbread Old Fashioned, Winter Spice Sour and Getting Figgy With It.
River Oaks Pizzeria of Surfside
The restaurant’s S’mores Old Fashioned is back after customers went “crazy for it” last year, River Oaks’ Facebook page said.
There is also Candy Cane Cosmo, Rosemarita and 5th Ave, a gin cocktail with Luxardo cherry liqueur and a Pinot Noir foam, at the family-owned restaurant located at 1399 S. Commons Drive in the Surfside Beach area.
Salty Brews
The little restaurant with a bar near the beach is offering its themed holiday drinks through the end of the month.
There is a Sugar Cookie Martini that has a marshmallow rim and a holiday margarita. You can also sample the Mexican hot chocolate.
It’s located at 223 Sea Mountain Highway in the Cherry Grove section of North Myrtle Beach.
Liberty Tap Room
Liberty’s new holiday drink lineup is perfect for whether you’re feeling naughty or nice.
There is the White Christmas with Pinnacle Whipped Vodka, white chocolate Kahlua and creme de cocoa; Christmas Cookie has Rumchata, Amaretto and Pinnacle Whipped Vodka; and Fireside that includes Titos, maple syrup and grapefruit.
The bar is located at 7651 N. Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach.
