12 Mimosas of Christmas

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12 Mimosas of Christmas — a build-your-own Christmas mimosa bar, from the Platinum Sass Kitchen

Twelve mimosas. One bar. That is my entire Christmas hosting strategy this year, and honestly? It might be my favorite one yet.

Instead of playing bartender all morning — measuring, shaking, hunting for the jigger while your coffee goes cold — you set up a pretty little mimosa bar, print the twelve names where everyone can see them, and let your people build their own. Every single pour on this list follows the exact same simple ratio, so there is nothing to memorize and nothing to mess up. You chill, you pour, you top, you garnish. Done.

Think of it as a 12-days countdown you can drink your way through: start with the deep reds, move through the bright and golden pours, soften into the pale and pink ones, and finish with the color pops that make everybody pull out their phone. Make all twelve for a full brunch spread, or pick one trio that matches your table and call it a theme. Either way, it looks like you hired help. You did not. You just had a plan.

And if you are planning the full Christmas morning table, this bar was made to sit right next to my Easy Christmas Morning Casseroles — six make-ahead bakes you assemble on Christmas Eve and slide into the oven while the coffee brews. Sweet bake, savory bake, and a flute in hand? That is a morning that runs itself. For the evening crowd, my spirited sibling to this bar is the Christmas Dirty Bar — six holiday cocktails for when the day turns into night.

A Christmas mimosa bar with elegant flutes in red, gold and pink, sparkling wine bottles, juice carafes and garnish bowls on a festive table

Set up the mimosa bar (so you never have to bartend)

A mimosa bar works because everything is cold, visible, and in arm's reach. Set it up once, step back, and enjoy your own party.

Chill everything — truly everything. Sparkling wine, juices, and even the flutes if you have fridge space. Warm sparkling wine foams everywhere and goes flat in the glass. Cold wine pours clean, keeps its bubbles, and tastes crisp instead of sweet and sleepy. Chill bottles at least three hours, overnight is better.

Juices in carafes, never in cartons. Decant the cranberry, orange, pomegranate and grapefruit juices into clear glass carafes and set a little label in front of each one. It looks like a magazine table, guests can see the colors they are choosing between, and nobody is wrestling a carton over a pretty tablecloth.

The flutes matter. Tall, slim champagne flutes keep the bubbles lively longer than a wide coupe, and they make even the simplest pour look dressed up. Set out more flutes than guests — somebody always wants to try a second color.

Build a garnish bar. Small bowls of raspberries, sugared cranberries, fresh rosemary sprigs, lemon twists, crushed candy cane for rims, and starfruit slices if you can find them. Add pretty cocktail garnish picks and let people finish their own glass. The garnish is what turns a two-ingredient pour into a named Christmas drink.

Ice and tools, kept simple. A bucket of ice for the bottles, a small bar tool set with a jigger for the half-ounce toppers, and a stack of linen napkins for drips. That is the whole equipment list.

Mimosa bar setup with chilled sparkling wine bottles in an ice bucket, juices in clear glass carafes, and small bowls of raspberries, cranberries, rosemary and candy canes

Glow-Up Tip: Put the ratio on a little tent card right on the bar — "3 oz bubbles + 1 1/2 oz juice + a 1/2 oz topper splash" — and nobody has to ask you a single question all morning. You get to hold a flute instead of giving instructions. That card is the hostess.

The one ratio to remember: 2 to 1

Every pour below is built the same way, right in the flute:

  1. Pour 3 oz chilled sparkling wine into the flute first — wine first keeps the mixing gentle and the bubbles intact.
  2. Add 1 1/2 oz juice or mixer and watch the color bloom.
  3. Where a spirit is listed, float a 1/2 oz topper splash right on top — do not stir it in. That little layered splash is what gives each named pour its personality.
  4. Garnish, hand it over, done.

Build to order, never batch. Mimosas are build-to-order drinks, full stop. The moment sparkling wine sits in a pitcher with juice, it starts going flat — a pitcher made an hour ahead is a sad, still drink wearing a mimosa costume. If you want to help a crowd move faster, pre-measure the juices into carafes and keep the wine iced and unopened until the moment of the pour. Each glass takes twenty seconds to build fresh, and every glass sparkles the way it should.

Your shopping base: keep sparkling wine and prosecco well chilled and well stocked — most pours here call for champagne-style sparkling wine, two call for prosecco — plus cranberry juice, orange juice, pomegranate juice and grapefruit juice for the juice rail.

Trio 1 — The Reds

Deep, jewel-toned and unmistakably Christmas. This is the trio to pour when you want the table to look like December the second the glasses land.

Three champagne flutes of deep red Christmas mimosas garnished with raspberries, sugared cranberries and a rosemary sprig

Christmas Song

Champagne and Chambord — rich raspberry red, elegant and a little romantic.

  • 3 oz chilled sparkling wine
  • 1 1/2 oz Chambord raspberry liqueur (the mixer itself for this pour — no separate juice)
  • Garnish: 2 fresh raspberries dropped right in the glass

Build it: wine first, Chambord second, no stir. The liqueur sinks and swirls into the deepest red on the whole bar. Drop the raspberries in last — they bob in the bubbles and look like ornaments.

Holly Jolly

Cranberry and vanilla — the crowd-pleaser, sweet-tart with a soft vanilla finish.

Build it: wine, cranberry juice, then float the vanilla vodka over the top. Rest the sugared cranberry pick across the rim. Frosty, sparkly, and the first glass to empty at every brunch I have ever set it out at.

Mistletoe

Cranberry with a bright citrus edge — classic Christmas red with a little wink.

  • 3 oz chilled sparkling wine
  • 1 1/2 oz cranberry juice
  • 1/2 oz triple sec topper
  • Garnish: a fresh rosemary sprig, clapped once between your palms to wake up the scent

Build it: wine, cranberry juice, triple sec floated on top, rosemary standing tall in the glass. It looks like a tiny Christmas tree in a flute and tastes like cranberry-orange — familiar in the best way.

Trio 2 — Bright & Golden

Sunrise colors — blush, red-orange and pale gold. This trio photographs like morning light and suits the Christmas morning table best of all.

Three champagne flutes with a sunset-blush mimosa, a red-orange mimosa and a pale gold mimosa with a lemon twist

Silent Night

Orange with a Campari blush — a sunset in a glass, gently bitter and very grown-up.

Build it: wine, orange juice, then the Campari floated last so it blushes down through the glass in layers. Give it thirty seconds before the first sip — the gradient settles into the prettiest sunset ombré.

O Holy Night

The classic, doubled — cranberry and orange together, red-orange and bright.

Build it: wine first, then both juices. No topper on this one — it is the traditionalist of the twelve, the pour for the guest who wants a mimosa that tastes like Christmas morning itself.

Shining Star

Elderflower-kissed and pale gold — floral, delicate, and quietly fancy.

  • 3 oz chilled sparkling wine
  • 1 1/2 oz orange juice — just a whisper of juice to carry the floral note; for a paler pour, use white grape juice instead
  • 1/2 oz St. Germain elderflower topper
  • Garnish: a starfruit slice on the rim, or a lemon twist if starfruit is hiding from you

Build it: wine, juice, elderflower floated on top. The starfruit slice is the whole namesake moment — perch it on the rim and this simple pour looks like it came off a tasting menu.

Trio 3 — Pale & Pink

Soft, blushy and unapologetically pretty. The pink trio is the one guests reach for when they want something a little playful.

Three champagne flutes with a pale pink candy-cane-rimmed mimosa, a deep ruby pomegranate mimosa and a pale blush grapefruit mimosa

Candy Cane Lane

Peppermint-snow pale pink, with the crushed candy cane rim doing all the talking.

  • 3 oz chilled sparkling wine
  • 1 1/2 oz white cranberry juice
  • 1/2 oz peppermint vodka topper
  • Garnish: crushed candy cane rim — dip the rim in a little juice, then in finely crushed candy cane — plus a mini candy cane hooked over the edge

Build it: rim the empty flute first, then pour carefully down the inside of the glass so you do not wash your pretty rim away. Wine, white cranberry, peppermint topper. Pale pink, minty-cool, pure December.

Run Rudolph

Pomegranate through and through — the deepest ruby on the bar, tart and bold.

Build it: wine, pomegranate juice, arils last. No topper needed; pomegranate brings its own drama. This is the richest color of the twelve and the one that stains the most beautifully in photos — serve it proudly, keep a napkin nearby.

White Christmas

Grapefruit blush — pale, crisp and the most refreshing pour on the list.

Build it: wine, grapefruit juice, twist expressed over the top so the oils mist the surface, then dropped in. Bright and palate-cleansing — the pour to hand someone between rich bites of brunch.

Trio 4 — The Color Pops

Pale gold-green, violet, and icy blue. Save this trio for the moment you want the whole table to say, "Wait — what is THAT one?"

Three champagne flutes with a pale gold-green mimosa, a violet mimosa and an icy blue mimosa with a sugared rim

Silver Bells

Prosecco and Italicus — pale gold-green, citrusy-herbal and effortlessly chic.

Build it: prosecco first — its softer bubbles suit this delicate pour — then the white grape juice, then the Italicus floated over. Twist over the top. It glows the palest gold-green and tastes like a very elegant secret.

Jingle Bell Rock

Violet and jewel-toned — the showstopper, floral and citrus in equal measure.

  • 3 oz chilled prosecco
  • 1 1/2 oz white cranberry juice as the pale mixer base
  • 1/2 oz citrus vodka plus 1/4 oz crème de violette plus 1/4 oz Grand Marnier — layered as the topper splash (1 oz topper total for this one showstopper; pour the violette last so the violet blooms on top)
  • Garnish: an edible flower or a lemon twist

Build it: prosecco, white cranberry, then the toppers in order — citrus vodka, Grand Marnier, crème de violette last. The violet settles into the most gorgeous amethyst layer. Yes, it has one extra flourish than the others. It is called Jingle Bell Rock. It earned it.

Jack Frost Fizz

Icy blue and lemonade-bright — the frozen-lake pour that stops the scroll.

  • 3 oz chilled sparkling wine
  • 1 1/2 oz lemonade with blue curaçao stirred into the lemonade first (about 1/2 oz blue curaçao per glass, counted inside the mixer pour so the blue stays vivid)
  • Garnish: a sugared rim and a small sprig of rosemary as the frosty pine note

Build it: stir the blue curaçao into the lemonade in a small glass first, then build as usual — wine first, blue lemonade second. The color should read icy and clear, like light through a frozen window. Sugar the rim if you want the full frost effect.

All 12 at a glance

Keep this list on the bar card and nobody has to guess:

  • Christmas Song — champagne + Chambord, raspberries
  • Holly Jolly — champagne + cranberry + vanilla vodka topper, sugared cranberries
  • Mistletoe — champagne + cranberry + triple sec topper, rosemary
  • Silent Night — champagne + orange + Campari topper, orange wheel
  • O Holy Night — champagne + cranberry + orange, cranberries and orange twist
  • Shining Star — champagne + elderflower topper, starfruit or lemon twist
  • Candy Cane Lane — champagne + peppermint vodka topper, candy cane rim
  • Run Rudolph — champagne + pomegranate, pomegranate arils
  • White Christmas — champagne + grapefruit, grapefruit twist
  • Silver Bells — prosecco + Italicus topper, lemon twist
  • Jingle Bell Rock — prosecco + citrus vodka, crème de violette and Grand Marnier toppers, edible flower
  • Jack Frost Fizz — champagne + blue curaçao lemonade, sugared rim and rosemary

Brunch is the whole point

Set this bar up beside the coffee, put out the flutes, and let the morning find its own rhythm. My favorite pairing — and the one this bar was built for — is a full spread from my Easy Christmas Morning Casseroles: the cinnamon roll bake for the sweet tooths, the hash brown casserole for everybody else, and a trio of mimosas down the middle of the table like a centerpiece you can drink. Assemble the casseroles on Christmas Eve, build the bar in fifteen minutes in the morning, and you are a guest at your own brunch.

And when the sun goes down and brunch turns into evening, send everyone over to the Christmas Dirty Bar — the spirited evening sibling to this morning bar, with six holiday cocktails that carry the party after dark.

Tell me in the comments: which trio is landing on your table first — the Reds, Bright & Golden, Pale & Pink, or the Color Pops?

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