We tasted and tried countless hot drinks on our visit to over 25 traditional and new age Christmas markets in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.
Here are the trendiest Christmas market hot drinks in Europe that you should try!
Personally, I think Munich and Nuremberg (Germany) had some of the most exciting drink choices among all the Christmas markets that we visited in the last few weeks.
Don't forget to collect cups! You don't have to give back your cups at the Christmas markets.
The stall keeps the deposit (aka Pfand) if you don't bring your cup, and they make for a great Christmas market souvenir.
We share more essential Christmas market tips.
Some markets have pretty cups, such as the ones in Munich. I recommend getting Feuerzangenbowle cups because you won't get them anywhere else.
I am going to try recreating some of these winter alcoholic hot drinks. Please let me know in the comments which recipe you would like me to work on first, and I'll post the recipe on masalaherb.com.
Tip: Compare Christmas Market Prices for food, drink, and gifts across borders.
Rosé and White Glühwein (Mulled Wine)
Mulled wine in our German *DACH region is traditionally prepared with red wine and spices.
This mulled wine is known as Glühwein, which translates to mulling wine. I have a recipe to make Austrian spiced Glühwein.
White and rosé Glühwein made an appearance for the first time a few years ago in some isolated Christmas markets in Austria and Germany.
Both gained in popularity in time, and today you can almost always see a white mulled wine version offered together with a red option.
The rosé mulled wine is still rather rare, but it is one that you should try if you love rosé wine.
Variations: Rosè or white mulled wine prepared with specific grape varieties.
Spotted in: Austria, Switzerland, and Germany.
Flavored Glühwein Variations
Just like the regular red Glühwein, white and rosé variations exist; therefore, you will come across flavored Glühwein.
Blackberry Glühwein was fairly common, and the elderflower and ginger trend is still a hit in winter with mulled wine variations flavored with elderflower and ginger.
Stalls try to stand out and offer funky-flavored Glühwein, and they all taste really great!
I watch them add fruit- and flower-flavored syrups to the mulled wine, so technically this should be easy to recreate at home.
Variations: Blackberry, Cherry, Elderflower, Ginger, Roasted Apple, Pear, Roses, Honey.
Spotted in: Austria Germany.
Booze Spiked Punch
In Austria, a hot punch can be either a fruity flavored alcohol spiked drink or a non-alcoholic children's version known as Kinderpunsch.
This drink tends to be super popular with adults sipping on flavored punch variations, while the kids get the children's punch.
We tried several variations, but the tastiest Punsch was served with mandarin pieces in St. Gilgen in Austria.
Variations: Mixed Fruits, Orange, Roasted Apple, Apple Cinnamon, Ginger, Lemon, Honey Rum Pot, Cherry.
Spotted in: All over Austria and isolated in Munich (Germany), Zürich, and Winterthur (Switzerland).
Egg Liqueur Punch
Egg liqueur is known as Eierlikörpunsch at Christmas markets. It's a creamy yellow, hot, eggnog-like alcoholic drink that tastes like eggs.
Typically, they are topped with whipped cream, nonetheless, they are also available without whipped cream.
Paul tried them for the first time and liked them, and I'm a gigantic fan of Egg Liqueur Punch!
Variations: with or without whipped cream.
Spotted in: Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Feuerzangenbowle
The Feuerzangenbowle is a hot drink that is found only in Germany. The cup comes with a tongue that can be lifted to place a rum-soaked sugar cube on it.
The cup consists of mulled wine, and the sugar cube is lit and falls through the tongs into the mulled wine.
We came across a super large Feuerzangenbowle in Munich near the Viktualienmarkt, surrounded by a small isolated Christmas market, and in Nuremberg along the riverside near the Fleischbrücke.
Variations: none.
Spotted in: Germany.
Hot Cocktails
Hot cocktails are the trendiest hot drinks at all the Christmas markets in 2025! They are fruity, fun, and absolutely nothing like the cold cocktails that we are used to.
Hot Aperol was the most commonly served hot cocktail, followed by the hot Hugo and hot mojito.
My favorite was, hands down, the hot Aperol and the apple flavored
Variations: Hot Aperol, Hot Hugo, Hot Mojito, Hot Pina Colada, Hot Passoa, Hot Sangria.
Spotted in: Germany and Switzerland
Lumumba
Lumumba is a German hot chocolate that is spiked with booze. They usually come with rum and sometimes with whipped cream as a topping.
This drink was exclusive to Germany, and we mostly saw it in Augsburg, Nuremberg, Rothenburg and Munich.
Some Christmas market stalls in Switzerland offered hot chocolate spiked with rum, but they don't call it Lumumba.
Variations: with or without whipped cream.
Spotted in: Germany.
Glüh Gin
A Glüh Gin is basically a mulled wine spiked further with gin.
These tend to be a bit boozier than other drinks due to the extended quantity of alcohol in them.
Gin in general is a fashionable drink in Europe, and therefore, you might come across more hot Christmas drinks that contain gin but with other creative names.
Variations: Several types with other names and spirit combinations.
Spotted in: Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.
Jagertee
The Jagertee (or Jagatee) is an alpine Austrian Après Ski drink that is based on black tea and a set of spirits.
It's popular among skiers that take a skiing break in a mountain hut (yep, people drink and ski).
You will encounter Jagertee very randomly in some Christmas markets. It's not really a Christmas market drink, but surprisingly, it has made an appearance there.
That said, I love Jagertee, as it warms me up when it's ice-cold. In fact, we shared a Jagertee recipe many years ago.
Variations: Sometimes prepared with or without rum and wine, in addition to schnapps.
Spotted in: Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.
Hot-Seco
Hot-Seco is Prosecco, a bubbly German or Austrian white wine, that is turned into a hot version.
We were skeptical about this one but ended up trying it, nonetheless, and I'm glad we did.
I can see how hot prosecco will take over the Christmas market world by storm!
Variations: none.
Spotted in: Germany.
More Hot Drinks
We saw so many more amazing drinks that we didn't get to try. Look out for the following:
- Wopfel — German Apple Herb Hot Drink. We saw this one only in Nuremberg in one stall, and it was AMAZING.
- Kafi Luz — Swiss coffee liqueur drink
- Glögg and Gløgg — Swedish and Norwegian mulled wine variation
- Glühwein Met — Honey mulled wine (seen in Germany)
- Grüner Frosch — Hot Swiss après-ski vodka drink
- Glühmost — Hot mulled apple cider (seen in Austria, Switzerland, and Germany)
- Alpenpower — Cherry and rum concoction (spotted in Switzerland)
- Winter Jacket — Punch with Jack Daniel's (seen in Switzerland and Munich Airprot Christmas Market)
- Heisser Himbi — Hot Raspberry Drink (seen in Switzerland and Munich Airport Christmas Market)
- Glüh Lillet — Hot Lillet Drink (seen in Austria Germany)
- Hot Pink Panther — Vodka and Grapefruit (seen in Switzerland)
- Schümli Pflümli — Swiss Hot Coffee Plum Schnapps Whipped Cream Drink
- Holdrio — Rosehip Tea and Plum Schnapps (spotted in Switzerland)
- Grog — They come flavored. We saw honey and quince. (seen in Germany)
- Glühbier — As seen at the Halsbach Forest Christmas Market.
*DACH = Acronym for Deutschland (Germany), Austria (in German, Österreich), and Confoederatio Helvetica (Switzerland). These are the German-speaking countries. If you add Liechtenstein, it's DACHL. Fun fact: Dach means roof in German.
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