'Tis the season for colder weather, days off from school and/or work, and holiday gatherings. It's the end of December, so as exhausted as you are, try to enjoy it! This final month of the year can feel like a race to the finish, with classes to wrap up, gifts to buy, and travel to take, but hey, you get some time off from your normal life to hopefully enjoy some time with family and friends. If you're like me, you're looking forward to the food and drinks that typically accompany such gatherings.

If you're especially like me, you're not necessarily that pumped about the standard mashed potatoes and turkey. You're gearing up for the speciality items that only find themselves on the table at this time of year -- especially the seasonal cocktails. To me, it's only really the holidays if you see cranberries in a highball glass or rosemary in a red martini. There's just something about having a drink tailored to the holiday, and it's not too difficult to make these at home. In many cases you can just tweak an existing recipe. With that in mind, here are easy tweaks to the 5 most popular alcoholic drinks in the U.S. (according to a study by HangoverHeaven.com).