This is Georgia’s favorite holiday cocktail, new map says

With the holidays in full swing, people have begun to celebrate — even if it’s different than it has been in years past.

Office parties and other festive gatherings aren’t happening in their traditional forms in 2020, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t celebrate with a holiday cocktail in the comfort of your own home.

A new analysis from Grill Cook Bake, a food and cooking reviews site, evaluated data on which holiday cocktails are being consumed around the country.

To find which states like which boozy beverage, the website used Google Trends search interest data from the past 45 days — early November through mid-December. They analyzed the data for 34 traditional holiday drinks such as eggnog, hot toddy and wassail.

“We did have to make some calls on what is considered a holiday drink,” Grill Cook Bake explained in its methodology. “For example, while many people will be drinking a Moscow Mule over the holidays, we didn’t consider that a drink unique to this time of year and therefore did not include it. But a cranberry Moscow Mule? We sure did, although it didn’t win in any state.”

Credit: Grill Cook Bake

Credit: Grill Cook Bake

The results showed that six holiday cocktails were the most popular in at least one state: eggnog, holiday punch, holiday sangria, hot toddy, Irish coffee and wassail. Most states — 26 to be exact — enjoyed rich, sweetened eggnog, which was the winner. In second place was cranberry-infused holiday punch, which was a favorite in 11 states. Wassail came in third place after 8 states showed they favored the medieval hot mulled cider.

Regional trends also emerged as eggnog was popular in the Northeast and West Coast, while holiday punch was favored in the South.

That remained true for the Peach State as Georgians’ search trends favored the drink which can be rum, brandy or vodka-based.

It should be no surprise, then, that punch has proved to be a popular cocktail during the holidays in Atlanta. Take a look back at a cocktail from the former H. Harper Station here.