With finals and the holidays around the corner, what’s better than treating yourself with holiday drinks? 

I decided to spend an evening trying seasonally curated alcoholic drinks, so you know exactly where to go.

My first stop was Dr. Funk, a tiki-style bar located at 29 N. San Pedro St., just under 1 mile northwest of campus.

If you’re a Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” fan this is the place to go.

Dr. Funk’s bar featured different life sized characters of the movie and lights sprawled across the interior of the building making you feel as if you stepped right into the movie.

At first glance their menu seemed cute as all the drinks were also themed. However, when paying further attention to the drinks themselves it felt very tight on options. 

Personally, I am more of a tequila drinker, while the menu was more rum focused.

I ordered the Zero’s Hero drink, which came topped with a cute “The Nightmare Before Christmas” themed printed foam sheet. 

This drink contains rum, coconut cream, orgeat syrup, honey and lime.

As someone who doesn’t like coconut, I knew I was taking a risk, and this drink confirmed that coconut and I are not meant to be.

The coconut flavor overshadowed the center taste of rum, which I was not a fan of.

If you’re a coconut lover. This would probably be perfect for you, but for me it was a one-and-done situation. 

Overall, I’d give it a three out of five, the flavor itself is not bad – I’m simply not a fan of coconut.

The bartender also recommended their own holiday creation which was the What’s That? drink.

This drink was very rum packed, but was accompanied by taro milk syrup, vanilla and passion fruit which I thought sounded interesting. 

One thing for sure, the liquor overpowered any flavor in this drink as that was all I could taste.

On the upside, the taro milk syrup and vanilla gave it a good creamy taste, adding a subtle hint of sweetness.

I believe this drink had potential, but personally wish the taro flavor was a bit stronger.

Ultimately, I’d give this drink a three out of five simply due to the liquor overpowering every other flavor.

The environment of Dr. Funk’s was very festive and felt nice that it had one specific theme. 

As a fan of Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” I really enjoyed the theme.

The festivity is there plus the staff was super friendly.

The second place I visited was Mini Boss, which is located on 52 E. Santa Clara St., about half a mile away northwest of campus.

Mini boss, another bar in downtown San José, is known as an arcade bar downtown – with outstanding themes created to fit the season, along with various games to play and plenty of seating available according to their website.

In comparison to Dr. Funk, their website describes themselves as a traditional rum-serving bar that creates an immersive space that takes inspiration from the Caribbean, the South Pacific, China and Singapore.

The atmosphere seemed as if the North Pole itself threw up inside, but in the best way possible.

There was no coordinated theme with the menu other than if someone were shouting “Christmas” with the bar aesthetics.

After looking at their drink menu, it immediately felt more extensive since this menu had a variety of alcohol options unlike Dr. Funk’s festive menu.

I ordered the Koala LaLaLa drink and honestly, it surprised me.

It was light, fizzy, lemony and minty which offered a super refreshing not-so heavy liquor flavor.

I would say this is the definition of a holiday spritzer and I ended up liking it way more than expected

I give this a four out of five.

I also ordered the Krampus drink which basically tasted like hibiscus soda with a hint of smokeyness. 

It was very easy to sip and the cup itself was pretty cool since it was shaped like Krampus and the handles are its horns.

I gave the drink a four out of five and it was definitely one of my favorites of the night. 

Mini Boss did give me an Eggnog courtesy drink and although I’m not a milk person and definitely not an eggnog person, it was very good. 

There was no weird aftertaste and it wasn’t too strong. 

I’d give it a five out of five, which shocked me more than anything because I would classify this as my personal favorite drink of the night.

Overall I’d say Mini Boss has a stronger selection of holiday drinks simply because of its diversity in drinks – offering tequila, vodka, rum, gin, etc. – while Dr. Funk was more solely rum focused.

Both places offer a sit-down vibe however if you’re looking to have a little more fun Mini Boss would definitely be the place to go as it is an arcade.

Downtown San José bars have a festive drink for everyone that’ll get you into a jolly mood.