It’s a Wonderful Life

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Cocktail History

The It’s a Wonderful Life is a Christmas cocktail that was created by food writer and author Jessica Strand and was first published in her book Very Merry Cocktails: 50+ Festive Drinks for the Holiday Season. As a nod to the character George Bailey, the recipe calls for Bailey’s Irish Cream Liqueur and mixes it with half & half and the bright flavor of green crème de menthe, which also gives the drink a faint yet festive color.

Cocktail Ingredients

To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following ingredients:

Half & Half: This is a dairy product made with equal parts milk and cream. We used Prairie Farm Half & Half.

Irish Cream Liqueur: This is a liqueur made with cream, whiskey, sugar, and spices. We used Bailey’s Irish Cream Liqueur because it’s exceptionally creamy and flavorful. For a mocktail version of this drink, try Bailey’s Non-Alcoholic Irish Cream Coffee Creamer in place of the Irish cream liqueur.

Green Crème De Menthe: This is a liqueur made with mint, sugar, green food coloring, and alcohol. We used Drillaud Green Crème De Menthe because it has a refreshing mint flavor and bright color. For a mocktail version of this drink, try Monin Premium Green Mint Syrup in place of the mint liqueur.

Ground Cinnamon: This is a spice. We used Simply Organic Ground Cinnamon.

Bartending Tools

To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following bar tools:

Jigger: This is used to measure and pour ingredients. We used the Japanese jigger from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.

Boston Shaker: This is used to shake ingredients. We used the Boston shaker from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.

Hawthorne Strainer: This is used to strain out ice and solid ingredients after the cocktail is shaken. We used the A Bar Above Hawthorne Strainer.

Tasting Notes

The It’s a Wonderful Life features aromas of fresh cinnamon and mint, has a menthol-packed sweet cream taste that features a hint of Irish cream’s whiskey note, and finishes with the lingering flavors of Irish cream and mint in the aftertaste.

Our Opinion of This Cocktail Recipe: You can’t really go wrong with a combination of tasty ingredients! The It’s a Wonderful Life isn’t all that revolutionary, but we have to admit we struck gold with the altered specs. The heavy dose of mint plays well with the rest of the ingredients and makes for a simple drink that is as delicious as it is festive.

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Which of our palates is yours most like?
Find out if your palate is most similar to Alex’s or Kendall’s by answering five questions.

Take Our Quiz →

Alex’s Take: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
“While the original cocktail in the book was quite tasty, it bore no resemblance to its photo, which showed it as a bright pastel green. Instead, it came out your standard white cream color, and since Kendall bases her photo setups at least partially on the assumed color of the drink, we decided to do a slight reformulation to make this one work. While we’re now quite sure the photo that inspired us used food coloring, we ended up turning up the crème de menthe which made for a delicious drink. Ours blended a heavy mint note with the slight backup flavors from Irish cream, and it ended up being even better than the one we started with, in our opinion.”

Kendall’s Take: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“As Alex said, to achieve the drink’s green-ish color that was shown in the book, we had to alter the recipe by using quite a bit more crème de menthe. Increasing an ingredient like that can be risky, but it turned out we both enjoyed the second version quite a bit more. The first wasn’t quite balanced—too heavy on the Irish cream with a hint a mint; meanwhile, the second, which is the recipe we’re sharing, puts the delightful minty flavor front and center. I enjoyed this cocktail quite a bit and can definitely see myself making it again.”

Recipe

This cocktail recipe was adapted from Very Merry Cocktails: 50+ Festive Drinks for the Holiday Season by Jessica Strand.

Sale
Very Merry Cocktails: 50+ Festive Drinks for the Holiday Season
Very Merry Cocktails: 50+ Festive Drinks for the Holiday Season
Hardcover Book; Strand, Jessica (Author); English (Publication Language); 128 Pages – 09/22/2020 (Publication Date) – Chronicle Books (Publisher)
$11.99 Amazon Prime

AuthorVery Merry Cocktails

Yields1 ServingPrep Time5 mins

Ingredients
 2 oz Half & Half
 1 ½ oz Bailey's Irish Cream Liqueur
 1 ½ oz Green Crème De Menthe
 Ground Cinnamon

Method
1

Add half & half, Irish cream liqueur, green crème de menthe, and cubed ice to a shaker.

2

Shake for 10-20 seconds.

3

Strain into a lowball glass over fresh cracked ice.

4

Garnish with ground cinnamon.

Ingredients

Ingredients
 2 oz Half & Half
 1 ½ oz Bailey's Irish Cream Liqueur
 1 ½ oz Green Crème De Menthe
 Ground Cinnamon

Directions

Method
1

Add half & half, Irish cream liqueur, green crème de menthe, and cubed ice to a shaker.

2

Shake for 10-20 seconds.

3

Strain into a lowball glass over fresh cracked ice.

4

Garnish with ground cinnamon.

It’s a Wonderful Life

Make It a Mocktail: Use Bailey’s Non-Alcoholic Irish Cream Coffee Creamer in place of the Irish cream liqueur and Monin Premium Green Mint Syrup in place of the mint liqueur to try a booze-free version of this drink.

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More Christmas Cocktails

If you like this Christmas-inspired cocktail recipe, here are a few others we’ve tried that you may enjoy:

Poinsettia Cooler Cocktail Recipe

Poinsettia Cooler: A tequila cocktail made with cranberry juice, cranberry shrub, lime juice, and cranberries

The Little Donkey Cocktail Recipe

The Little Donkey: A vodka cocktail made with gingerbread syrup, lime juice, ginger beer, and a cinnamon stick

Kohler Mint Cocoa Cocktail Recipe

Kohler Mint Cocoa: A chocolate mint brandy cocktail made with milk, white peppermint schnapps, dark crème de cacao, cocoa powder, whipped cream, and grated chocolate

Cranberry Cobbler Cocktail Recipe

Cranberry Cobbler: A sherry cocktail made with cranberry syrup, orange slices, a mint sprig, and cranberries

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