The Go-To Holiday Cocktail Kardea Brown Loves- Exclusive

When the tree goes up, the holiday cocktails come out. It's the time of the season for hot chocolate, festive meals, and all of the Christmas cookies you can fit into the oven — and there's nothing like a refreshing batch cocktail to get you back on track for the new year. Luckily, Food Network's Kardea Brown has the perfect recipe. In an exclusive interview with Tasting Table, Brown opened up about her first cookbook, "The Way Home: A Celebration of Sea Islands Food and Family."

In the book, the television personality offers a plethora of cocktail and fun drink recipes from a spicy watermelon margarita to a key lime pie milkshake. Brown revealed the house seasoning that she always has handy and her favorite childhood recipe (her mother's chicken and dumplings). As we head into the winter season, the "Delicious Miss Brown" host has a go-to cocktail recipe that will knock your guests' holiday socks off.

Need drink inspiration for the impending celebrations? Kardea Brown has you covered as she named her favorite cocktail recipes. The Food Network star told Tasting Table, "It would have to be my Lowcountry Mint Julep or my Swamp Water and spiking it with a little bourbon." Brown included the Lowcountry Mint Julep recipe in her newest cookbook, as it consists of mint leaves, lemon simple syrup, bourbon, shaved ice, and lemon slices or mint sprigs for garnish.

The lemon simple syrup included in the Lowcountry Mint Julep is homemade with freshly squeezed lemon juice, water, sugar, and lemon zest. Brown described her Swamp Water cocktail as "super simple," as she explained, "You get some sweetened tea, lemonade or freshly squeezed lemon, and ginger beer." Once you mix all of the ingredients together, you can "spike it with an ounce of bourbon, or you can even use dark rum."

Say you aren't an avid drinker but are looking for a sweet cocktail, then Brown mentioned that you can just omit the alcohol. Either way, you have a new and delicious party recipe to try this holiday season.

Purchase Kardea Brown's cookbook, "The Way Home: A Celebration of Sea Islands Food and Family," on Amazon. Keep up with Brown's upcoming projects on her Instagram page.