Ah, the holidays. They are upon us, and so begins the consumerist orgy known as “the holiday season.” Post Thanksgiving is probably my least favorite time to have to emerge from my home and engage with the rest of the world, as everyone is on a countdown to C-day and you, innocent bystander, are in everyone’s way. This is the time of year I dread, as my anxiety of crowds intensifies and Trader Joe’s becomes the embodiment of all that I fear: large groups of people on cell phones, pushing carts (and strollers) willy-nilly around a small space; strangers shoving me into shelves and cold cases in their rush to grab those green beans just three seconds faster; screaming children running amok as harried parents gape after them, exhausted by the constant rush, rush, rush; angry drivers trapped in traffic, honking and gesticulating in frustration.

I’m getting tense just thinking about it.

With that in mind, I turn to a co-worker’s favorite drink. I generally try not to drink to alleviate emotional distress, but holiday ennui is enough to drive even a teetotaller to the bottle. My co-worker and his wife enjoyed many of these during their honeymoon in the Virgin Islands. He returned with many bottles of Pusser’s and the assurance that yes, one or two of these and you really can’t feel much of anything but pleasant. Happy countdown to Christmas, everyone!

2 oz 95º Pusser’s British Navy rum
4 oz unsweetened pineapple juice
1 oz orange juice
1 oz coconut cream

Blend without ice and pour into a tall glass or tiki mug filled with crushed ice. Top with a shake of fresh cinnamon and nutmeg and garnish with pineapple, an orange wheel and a cinnamon stick.

Pineapple and coconut are not perhaps the most seasonally appropriate flavors, but the drink is pleasantly thick—reminiscent of so much holiday eggnog—and the cinnamon and nutmeg flavors carry this right over the edge into delightful. It has enough Christmas spice to keep you curled up in the front of the fire, but those tropical notes will have you singing “Mele Kalikimaka” as you unwind after a hard day deflecting angry shoppers at the mall.

P.S.—Apologies in advance, but I’ll be mining some old photos to use for posts this week. I am an idiot and forgot my camera at my grandmother’s house. Genius!