Thanks to Four Roses Bourbon and the Baddish Group for gifting us with these items (including one of our favorite bourbons) for this post!
I’d always been more of a gin than a bourbon person, but that changed with our first trip on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. There’s something about sipping the best of the best with distillery workers and guides who have been around bourbon all their lives that really makes you appreciate it.
On one of our first tours, a distillery worker told us the warming, spicy feeling at the back of your throat when you take your first sip of bourbon is called the “Kentucky hug.” He was right. It adds a beautiful spice to a drink and cuts right through the heaviness of cream and chocolate.
In fact, chocolate bourbon balls were offered to us at nearly every distillery we visited along the Bourbon Trail.
Naturally, we had to try bourbon spiked hot cocoa. All it takes is a shot or two of bourbon (Four Roses is one of our favorites, especially after visiting their distillery on more than one occasion), hot chocolate mix, the perfect ratio of milk and water (2:1, of course), and a festive marshmallow topper.
Need another excuse for this toasty beverage? Tomorrow, December 13th, is National Hot Cocoa Day!
We enjoyed ours with a side of putting up the garland since we’re woefully behind on our holiday decorating. Need a few easy tips to decorate for the holidays under a time crunch? Here are our top five:
- Pinecones. You can pick these up at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, or, honestly, the outdoors. I opted for cinnamon-scented ones from Whole Foods. These seemed like the next best thing since I had nowhere for the cinnamon broom I was tempted by.
- A holiday-themed candle snuffer. Festive and functional. I love this elk snuffer, this squirrel one, and this one by Brighton.
- Spare greenery. Our fabulous friend brought us our extra greenery. I usually ask for it when we’re picking up our Christmas trees. Tree lots always have more than enough to spare.
- Candles, candles, and more candles. Our go-to’s: Nest and Thymes Frasier Fir.
- Tartan or plaid napkins. I found the ones used here at HomeGoods, but these by Juliska are next on my list to buy.
Happy decorating – and happy (early) Hot Cocoa Day, friends!
Thanks to Four Roses and the Baddish Group for gifting us items in this post. It’s thanks to our sponsors (which are always brands we love and use every day anyway) that we’re able to keep creating fabulous content for y’all!
