7 Great Winter Weather Cocktails Slideshow

How do you improve upon L.A. Burdick's already fantastic hot chocolate? By adding liquor, of course. As a stand-alone drink the hot chocolate is like an only slightly thinner version of the liquid inside the best molten chocolate cake. The adults-only version offers the option of floating either 12-year Macallan, Kirsch Grande Reserve, Poire Williams, or Ron Zacapa Rum, on top.

The Tryst Toddy is just one of several seasonal hot cocktails on the menu at Tryst, a coffeehouse and bar in Washington D.C. The focus of the menu is warming spices, and the toddy features bourbon, Punt y Mes, honey, hot Darjeeling tea and a spicy tisane with a Sambuca-flamed anise star.

Also on the menu at Tryst is this intriguingly named hot coffeehouse cocktail. A riff on a hot toddy, the Voodoo Lady features Bacardi Dark Rum and coffee liqueur in their housemade hot vanilla chai tea.

New on the menu at Villains Tavern in L.A. is this play on Hot Buttered Rum made with a combination of Goslings dark rum, Blackheart spiced rum, rum batter, hot water, and heavy whipping cream.

Hot, hard apple cider has classic winter weather drink appeal. This one from Five Leaves in Brooklyn, New York, is like "drinking apple pie."

The Irish Coffee at San Francisco's Buena Vista is legendary. According to the story, in 1952, then-owner Jack Koeppler enlisted the help of renowned travel writer Stanton Delaplane to help him duplicate the Irish Coffee he had had at Shannon Airport in Ireland. It took several failed attempts and even a return visit to Irleand before the recipe was perfected, but they prevailed and Buena Vista has been serving the same recipe ever since.

Washington D.C.'s Blue Duck Tavern gets into the winter spirit by offering Mulled Red Wine on their seasonal hot cocktails menu. If you prefer spiced hard cider, they've got that too.