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Explore the best cocktails for holiday day drinking with sparkling, cozy, and easy seasonal drink recipes everyone loves.

Holiday season doesn’t always mean late-night parties and champagne at midnight—some of the best celebrations happen long before sunset. Whether it’s a cheerful luncheon with friends, a family gathering that starts early, or simply a quiet afternoon wrapped in a blanket, day drinking calls for cocktails that are lighter, festive, and easy to enjoy over conversation. With bright flavors, warm spices, and a touch of holiday sparkle, these drinks add effortless joy to daytime merrymaking.

Here are the best cocktails for holiday day drinking. Each recipe balances flavor with seasonal flair, offering options from bubbly and refreshing to rich, warm, and indulgent.

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Cranberry Mimosa

The mimosa, born in 1920s Paris, became a brunch icon for its simplicity: citrus + bubbles. For the holidays, cranberry adds a tart pop and antioxidants, making it a festive and slightly healthier sip.

Ingredients

• 3 oz chilled Prosecco or Champagne

• 2 oz cranberry juice (100% juice preferred)

• Fresh cranberries & rosemary sprig

Create

1. Fill a flute halfway with cranberry juice.
2. Top with sparkling wine
3. Garnish with cranberries that float like ornaments and a rosemary sprig for aroma and elegance

Boozy Hot Chocolate

Few drinks are as comforting as hot chocolate, and adding Baileys transforms it into a grown-up treat ideal for fireplace lounging. Baileys Irish Cream, originally introduced in the 1970s, blends Irish whiskey, cream, and cocoa, giving this cocktail its smooth dessert-like character.

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk (whole or oat for creaminess)

• 2 tbsp high-quality cocoa powder or hot chocolate mix

• 1–2 oz Baileys Irish Cream

• Whipped cream & chocolate shavings (optional)

Create

• Warm milk in a saucepan (do not boil).
• Whisk in cocoa until velvety.
• Remove from heat, stir in Baileys,
• pour into a mug. Top with whipped cream and shaved chocolate for extra indulgence

Optional Variant – Baileys Double Chocolate
Swap cocoa for a dark chocolate melt and add a splash of Baileys Chocolate Liqueur for deeper flavor. Rich, silky, and perfect for snowy afternoons.

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Peppermint White Russian

A creamy winter riff on the 1940s vodka-Kahlúa original. Light peppermint makes it refreshing enough for daytime.

Ingredients

• 1 oz vodka
• 1 oz coffee liqueur
• 1 oz peppermint schnapps
• 1 oz cream or milk

Create

1. Pour ingredients over ice and gently stir
2. Add crushed candy cane rim for holiday sparkle

Spiced Apple Spritz

Like a holiday orchard in a glass. Effervescent, fruity, and perfect with lunch.

Ingredients

Create

1. Combine cider and rum over ice
2. Top with Prosecco,
3. Garnish with a thin apple fan

With a balance of merry flavors and easy preparation, these cocktails turn daytime gatherings into something special. Whether you lean creamy, sparkling, or spiced, mix one up, pour into a festive glass, and toast to the season—sometimes the best holiday memories are made before sunset. Cheers!

Wild business fact: can you believe Pepsi used to own a navy and once held military power in the Cold War?

Most people know Pepsi and Coca-Cola as the titans of the soft-drink world, locked in an advertising and market rivalry for over a century. But can you believe Pepsi used to own a navy from one of the world’s largest military powers. Yes, for a short moment in history, Pepsi actually owned a one. Not a promotional rental, not a sponsorship deal—an actual naval fleet of warships and submarines.

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The story begins with Pepsi’s rise in the 20th century. Founded in 1893 and renamed Pepsi-Cola in 1898, the brand spent decades competing fiercely against Coca-Cola. Coke entered the international market first and dominated early advertising, food-service, and restaurant sales. Pepsi had to innovate just to survive, pioneering new bottle sizes, aggressive price competition, and lifestyle-driven marketing. By the 1960s and 70s, the “Cola Wars” were underway—celebrity endorsements, Super Bowl ads, and global brand campaigns turned soda into a cultural commodity.

And this is where one of the strangest corporate-military stories ever recorded begins.

In the 1950s and 60s, Pepsi was trying to break into new international markets. The United States and the Soviet Union were locked in global economic, political, and cultural competition. Coca-Cola, heavily associated with America, was unwelcome in the USSR—but Pepsi found a clever way around it: barter.

The Soviet Union didn’t want to pay for cola in dollars, so they traded vodka instead. Tons of it.

But the deal grew even stranger in 1989. When the USSR needed to renew Pepsi’s distribution agreement and vodka wasn’t enough as payment, another asset was offered—military ships scheduled for decommission. In exchange for Pepsi syrup, Pepsi temporarily took possession of:

• Several warships
• A small fleet of submarines
• A cruiser

For a brief moment, Pepsi owned what became the sixth-largest navy in the world. Pepsi quickly sold the vessels for scrap, but not before the company’s CEO reportedly joked to U.S. officials: “We’re disarming the Soviet Union faster than you are.”

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The naval fleet is long gone, but Pepsi’s global presence remains one of the most powerful in modern corporate history. Today Pepsi products are sold in more than 200 countries and territories. Billions of people worldwide consume their beverages and foods each year, from Pepsi and Mountain Dew to Doritos, Gatorade, and Lay’s.

For a company who once bartered soda for warships, the growth of its global business shows just how far a brand can stretch. The Cola Wars may have calmed, but the legacy remains: clever marketing, ambitious expansion, and one of the wildest business deals ever made.

Next time you crack open a can of cola, remember—there was a time when Pepsi wasn’t just battling Coke in grocery stores. It was once a player in Cold War naval strategy.