Melissa Hom
Audio By Carbonatix
Halloween is behind us, Christmas music has entered the rotation and decorations are popping up at stores. If visions of sugar plums are already dancing in your head, it’s time to make your reservation for some of the longest-running holiday pop-up bars.
Miracle and Sippin’ Santa will return to three Valley bars this holiday season. The festive cocktail pop-ups deck local bar halls, walls and wells with festive decor, glassware and unique drinks.
Phoenix’s Floor 13 Rooftop Bar and BLVD Kitchen & Bar in Scottsdale will host Miracle, while downtown Phoenix’s Bitter & Twisted Cocktail Parlour will host the tiki-themed Sippin’ Santa pop-up.
Melissa Hom
Miracle is the originator of the holiday pop-up bar craze. New York bar owner Greg Boehm launched the first Miracle pop-up in 2014. Host bars transform into winter wonderlands decorated with nostalgic tinsel, twinkling string lights and garland. Drinks get infused with holiday flavors and presented in unique custom glassware.
“Each year, we aim to make Miracle and Sippin’ Santa feel like coming home for the holidays — just with brighter lights, a sense of escapism and a one-of-a-kind cocktail in every hand,” Boehm said in a press release.
Valley bars have their own festive cheer planned. Floor 13 will feature a Grinch Suite, available for reservation, and BLVD will host live music on Friday and Saturday nights.
The Miracle bar menu will include the return of fan-favorite sips, including the spiced cranberry sauce and rosemary-spiked Christmapolitan and Snowball Old Fashioned, which is finished with a snowball of ice. New sips include the Blitzen Barrel, a honey-sesame cocktail made with two kinds of sherry, scotch and mead. Or sip on the Miracle Mouse, which is served in a mouse mug. The drink is made with bourbon, French sweet vermouth, pamplemousse liqueur, vanilla liqueur, strawberry, grapefruit and orange acid.
Sippin’ Santa is the tropical sibling of Miracle. This Santa-on-vacation-style bar started in 2015, and in 2018 the pop-up partnered with tiki expert Jeff “Beachbum” Berry. Bitter & Twisted’s Sippin’ Santa bar will feature new sips, including Coco Ho Ho, made with Jamaican rum, lime, coconut, pineapple, pandan syrup and banana liqueur. Other drinks will return to the menu, including the original Sippin’ Santa, a mix of aged Demerara rum, amaro, citrus and gingerbread mix.
Sippin’ Santa
Can’t ho-ho-hold off on holiday revelry much longer? Here’s where you can find these kitschy Christmas bars:
Sippin’ Santa at Bitter & Twisted Cocktail Parlour
Nov. 12 to Dec. 28
1 W. Jefferson, Phoenix, AZ 85003
Miracle at Floor 13 Rooftop Bar
Nov. 22 to Dec. 30
15 E. Monroe St.
Miracle at BLVD Kitchen & Bar
Nov. 28 to Dec. 24
7324 E. Indian School Road, Scottsdale
