CoolCraft Christmas 2025 Celebration
Hi, I’m David, Marketing Coordinator with West Volusia Tourism, and I wanted to take a moment to reflect on how CoolCraft Christmas 2025 came together and why this year felt especially meaningful. CoolCraft Christmas is West Volusia’s annual holiday beverage showcase, bringing together local breweries, coffee roasters, tea makers, and cocktail bars for a festive celebration of craft creativity.
First, a little context. The CoolCraft Beverage Trail is our year-round celebration of West Volusia’s craft beverage scene. From the high-energy CoolCraft Summer competitions to the quieter, cozier spirit of CoolCraft Christmas, the goal is always the same: give people a fun, unexpected reason to explore West Volusia—one sip at a time.
CoolCraft Summer Safari
As we wrapped up CoolCraft Summer Safari in August, I started thinking about how to approach Christmas differently. The previous year’s western-inspired campaign had been a big success, even earning Addy Awards, but repeating it didn’t feel right. Over the past year, I’d been increasingly drawn to linocut art—hand-carved, imperfect, tactile. It felt like the right visual language for winter and for the word “craft.”
2025 CoolCraft Christmas Card
I designed the 2025 CoolCraft Christmas Card using an original linoleum block print. After carving, inking, pressing, scanning, and refining the artwork, the final design settled into a simple blue palette that let the texture and quiet winter mood speak for itself. The result felt handmade in the best possible way, with puzzles and activities inside taking a softer supporting role.
2025 CoolCraft Participants
From there, the beverages came to life. We partnered once again with Steph Kingery of The Detailed Co., who created a handcrafted winter backdrop and photographed each drink beautifully. Every tree in the photos was handmade by Steph herself—a perfect match for the theme. Of the 30-plus CoolCrafters in West Volusia, 23 participated this year, each creating a unique Winter Wonderland beverage guided by one simple idea: no two snowflakes, and no two drinks, are the same.
We kicked things off on Black Friday at Sidecar Market, and the response was immediate. Cards moved fast, drinks sold out, and visitors told us they were discovering places they’d never visited before. Seeing people walk into the Visitor Center, excited to talk about their favorite stops, was easily my favorite part.
In the end, CoolCraft Christmas 2025 did exactly what I hoped it would. By leaning fully into “craft”—visually, creatively, intentionally—we helped redefine what the CoolCraft Beverage Trail represents. Quiet, thoughtful, handmade, and still very much alive. Just like winter itself.
Now, it’s time to start thinking about what comes next. Hopefully, it’ll be just as cool.
