This Christmas cocktail is as fun to drink as is it to look at. Some links in this post are affiliate links that earn me a commission if you purchase through them.
Whenever I host a party, I do my best to have a “signature” drink. It’s tasty, and it makes it just a little more fun for everyone.
On Sunday, I hosted my annual cookie exchange – cookie recipes to come, too! – and I definitely wanted to come up with something fun. Last year, we had chocolate martinis.
This year, I wanted something that looked as festive as I knew our cookies would. Since I was making cherry cookies, I decided to keep that theme and use maraschino cherries in a cocktail.
And what goes better with a red cherry at Christmas? Green, of course. Since I happen to be a fan of Midori, that made this an easy one to create.
And it went over well. How well? I didn’t get a refill of my single cocktail.
My friends finished off the entire (large) bottle of Midori that I had purchased. Now that’s the sign of a successful party, right?
The only thing I would change next time is that I would make my own sour mix. It’s super easy to do, and well, there’s a long story as to why I didn’t this time!
My big party tip? Don’t use your good glasses to serve this? Why? Wellllll if your friends are anything like mine, you may start the night with 12 glasses and end it with 10 or 11. It just happens.
I love stemless flutes for this reason. They reduce spills in general, too. And I’ll often get plastic champagne flutes for parties that require more flutes than I have in my dining room buffet.
How to Make a Sweet (And Sour) Christmas Cocktail
This is one of the easiest recipes possible. If you make your own sour mix, be sure to make this ahead of time and let it cool off before you use it.
Place the Midori, limoncello, and sour mix into a shaker with ice. Shake for thirty or so seconds to get well blended and chilled.
Use crushed ice, as that gets your drink colder faster. A bartender friend of mine told me about that trick years ago.
Put a maraschino cherry in the bottom of your glass – we used champagne flutes, but martini glasses would work well, too – and carefully pour the cocktail into the glass.
Serve immediately and enjoy!
You can also mix the alcohols and sour mix together ahead of time and store it in your fridge prior to your party. This recipe is for a single cocktail, but obviously it scales up well.
If you mix it up ahead of time, be sure to give your pitcher a good stir before serving or place it into your shaker with ice and give it a go!
Have you ever made your own Christmas cocktail?

Sweet (and Sour) Christmas Cocktail
Ingredients
- 2 ounces Midori
- 1 ounce limoncello
- 2 ounces sour mix
- 1 maraschino cherry
Instructions
- Place Midori, limoncello, and sour mix into shaker with crushed ice.2 ounces Midori, 1 ounce limoncello, 2 ounces sour mix
- Shake for 30-45 seconds to get well blended and chilled.
- Place maraschino cherry in the bottom of a flute or martini glass.1 maraschino cherry
- Pour cocktail into glass without ice. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Notes
- This fun cocktail is great for parties. You can mix up a batch ahead of time up to the point where you shake it with ice. Either store it in the fridge and pour after stirring or pour it into a shaker and shake up each serving.
- For more tips and tricks, be sure to read the full article above.
Nutrition
This site uses an online source to provide nutrition estimates as a courtesy. If you need exact values, please calculate yourself.

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[…] Sweet and sour cocktail […]
[…] year), I always have a signature cocktail because… it’s just fun. Â Last year, it was a Christmas sweet and sour cocktail, the year before was a chocolate martini, and so on. Â This year, I wanted to do something that was […]
[…] a cookie swap a couple weeks ago with friends – and I already told you about the awesome Sweet (and Sour) Christmas Cocktail we made for it, but I haven’t shared any of the cookie recipes with […]
Ooooh that is GORGEOUS. I encourage you to read about the Hot and Dirrrtty martini I’m lusting over and planning to recreate soon….if you like spicy and olives and blue cheese. Not as pretty tho, as this little bit of Christmas cheer.
Not sure if I’d like it or not (probably would) but just the LOOK of it makes me want to try it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That looks awesome.
That looks super yummy! Someday (when I’m not pregnant or breastfeeding) I’ll have to give it a try. Love the color too!
I love midori sours! This looks so good. It actually looks like it glows. Have you seen those cocktails that actually fluoresce? Not sure if I’d want to drink those, though. What a great holiday treat!