SO FAR, THIS December has no balls. Snow balls, of course. Things have been chilly here and there, but this year December’s been a lot more mild than wild. So while our calendars are telling us it’s time for hot toddys or Irish coffee, the desire for steaming mugs of booze hasn’t quite hit yet; instead of gulping down something boiling this holiday season, we’re getting our hot drink fix with fiery cocktails of a different variety.

While searching for the perfect concoction, we checked in with spicy cocktail expert Kara Newman, author of the new drink guide Spice & Ice, about what makes a good one. “I can sum that up in one word: balance,” she says. “It’s not enough for a cocktail to be spicy just for the sake of being spicy. It also has to be delicious, it has to have the right balance of sweet, tart, alcohol and heat.That’s what I want in my glass.”

With that in mind, we started out with the infused vodkas at Mari Vanna (41 E. 20th St. betw. Park Avenue South & Broadway, 212-777-1955), a new Russian joint that looks like Lenin’s grandmother’s house and features house-infused vodkas by the barrelful. Order a shot of the hot pepper-infused vodka ($9) and feel the burn evaporate into a pleasant peppery vapor in your throat before it warms your whole body.The bar also serves a horseradish-infused vodka ($9) that strikes your sinuses and can clear them up in a flash. Owner Tatiana Brunetti says both should be shot, but sipping on the pepper is a pleasant experience too.

At Williamsburg’s Huckleberry Bar (588 Grand St. betw. Lorimer & Leonard Sts., 718-218-8555), bartender Ian Hardie has created a jalapeño-infused tequila that he uses in the “Sampongna” ($10).This drink isn’t actually on the menu, but if you ask for the “hot tequila,” the bartender won’t bat an eyelash. Mixed with the spicy spirit, Hardie added a bit of St. Germaine elderflower liquer, some honey syrup and a dash of lemon juice.The burn in this beverage lingers on your lips, but the strong bite of the four-to-five-days infused tequila is eased by the sweet roundness of the honey.

Also utilizing infused tequila, Astoria’s Sweet Afton (3009 34th St. betw. 30th & 31st Aves., 718-777-2570) makes a delightful spicy cherry margarita ($9) by soaking the spirit with habaneros.The cherry part eases out the kick in this cocktail and makes the drink sweet, sour and spicy all at the same time.The bar makes the cherry preserves in-house as well, and mixes it with simple syrup and lime, creating a drink that, especially combined with an order of fried spicy pickles ($4), warms you the second you toss it back.

Next on our list is the Dressing Room (75A Orchard St. betw. Grand & Broome Sts., 212-966-7330) on the Lower East Side. Here, the small staff serves up the hot and fiery “Dirty Bitch” ($10). After muddling fresh cherry tomatoes with lime wedges, bartender Dan Kajeckas squirts simple syrup and Worchester sauce into the mix.Taking a vodka infused with Serrano peppers and green olives, he shakes the mixture into a hot little martini.The end flavor is somewhere between a watered down bloody Mary and a dirty martini, with a heat that tingles your tongue and throat.

Our last spicy cocktail changes with time and can be made hotter on request. At Bar Celona (104 S. 4th St. betw. Bedford Ave. & Berry St., Brooklyn, 718-237-7828), drinkers can warm up with pitchers of clerico ($35).This traditional Argentinean sangria comes with red or white wine, spiced with jalapeño and habanero peppers, and serves four people at a time. On a recent visit, the bartender decked it out with fresh cranberries and a handful of jalapeños.The trick to a truly sizzling sangria is to let it sit for a few minutes to really extract spicy oils from the peppers.The longer you wait, the spicier it gets, and you can always ask for extra heat. Either way, this is the mildest of our spicy cocktails, but still delicious and fun to share—which, of course, is an entirely different way to heat up this winter.