What’s your favorite holiday treat?⁠ If you ask me, it just wouldn’t be the holidays without a classic candy cane. So, I thought, why not whip one up in cocktail form?⁠ In this recipe, we’re using Sonoma Syrup’s Peppermint Syrup to recreate the candy cane’s iconic mint flavor–but as a beverage! The result? A holiday cocktail thats full of your favorite wintertime flavors and makes for the perfect after-dinner treat. You’re definitely going to want to share this sipper with loved ones this season! It’s deliciously smooth, satisfyingly sweet, and is sure to be a hit at your next holiday happy hour.⁠

Now if you’re anything like me, you got a little curious as to how these little canes came to be. And, after a quick Google search, I learned that they actually have quite a funny backstory. Apparently, candy canes date back to 1670’s Germany. There, a choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral handed out sugar sticks to his young singers as a ploy to keep them quietly busy during a ceremony called the Living Creche. They got their shape because he bent them to look like shepards’ crooks, to represent the occasion.

So what exactly made me want to recreate the choirmaster’s masterpiece as a cocktail? Well, when I first came across the Peppermint Syrup from Sonoma Syrup Co. it reminded me of a candy cane! So, I just knew that I had to incorporate it into a drink this holiday season.

And now here you have it: a cocktail that’s perfectly reminiscent of the traditional holiday candy. The Candy Cane Martini is a delicious mix of vanilla rum, white chocolate liqueur, and of course, peppermint. And, while I still love a good candy cane here and there, taking this peppermint cocktail to the next level was just what I needed to spice up my happy hour menu this year.