11 Festive Cocktails to Make For New Year’s Eve

When the clock strikes twelve on New Year’s Eve, a bottle of bubbly is practically a party prerequisite. But what about the rest of the soirée?

Fear not, party planners, as the countdown to 2025 approaches, we’ve curated a list of seasonal New Year’s Eve cocktails for every kind of celebration—whether you’re enjoying a pre-party tipple before hitting the town, hosting a festive gathering, or cozying up at home for a more intimate affair.

Ahead, 11 highly quaffable recipes—from martini riffs to sour variations—for welcoming the new year in high spirits.

1. Mulled Wine Sour

Danico’s Mulled Wine SourPhoto: The Travel Buds

Ingredients

• 15 ml Rye whiskey
• 15 ml Pedro Ximenez sherry
• 15 ml Madeira
• 15 ml sweet vermouth
• 20 ml orange acid (Mix 1 liter of fresh orange juice with 25 grams citric acid and 15 grams malic acid. Blend until dissolved.)
• 15 ml clove syrup (Make a simple syrup with 1 kg water and 1 kg sugar. Add 20 whole cloves, simmer for 3 minutes, cool, infuse overnight, then strain.)
• 25 ml egg white

Directions

Add all ingredients to a shaker and dry shake to emulsify. Add ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled coupette. Garnish with 3 cloves and 1 star anise.

2. Limoncello Spritz

Ingredients

• 2.5 oz prosecco
• 1.25 oz limoncello
• 0.25 oz elderflower liqueur
• 2 drops of saline solution
• 1 oz soda
• Mint for garnish

Directions

Fill a glass half full with ice. Pour in ingredients in order listed and garnish with a mint bouquet.

3. Eggnog White Russian

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz vanilla vodka
• 1 oz coffee liqueur
• 1/2 oz, or a splash, amaretto liqueur
• 2 oz homemade eggnog
• Fresh nutmeg or cinnamon for garnish

Directions

In a glass over a large cube add in vodka, coffee liqueur, and amaretto. Mix together with a bar spoon. Froth 2 ounces of homemade eggnog and float frothed eggnog on top using the back of a bar spoon to layer. Garnish with fresh nutmeg or cinnamon.

4. Glitter Ball

Dante’s Glitter BallPhoto: Dante

Ingredients

• 1/2 oz Italicus
• 1/4 oz elderflower liqueur
• 1/4 oz fino sherry
• 3/4 oz clarified golden delicious apples (Juice apples and pour over a coffee filter, allowing to slowly clarify.  Add a pinch of absorbic acid to keep from turning brown.)
• 1/4 oz verjus
• 3 dashes of white peppercorn tincture
• 1.5 oz prosecco
• Glitter ball garnish (Equal parts clarified apple and Italicus into small round ice cubes.  Add as much edible glitter as you fancy.)

Directions

Build all ingredients into a cocktail glass and stir to combine. Pour into a chilled coup and top with Champagne. Garnish with glitter ball.

5. Smoked Rosemary Negroni Sour

Ingredients

• 1 oz gin
• 1 oz sweet vermouth
• 1 oz Campari
• 1/2 oz rosemary syrup
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• Splash of orange juice
• 1 egg white

Directions

Light a sprig of rosemary until it begins to smoke. Flip your glass upside down on top of the rosemary to capture the smoke. Pour your ingredients into a cocktail shaker and dry shake. Add ice and shake again. Strain into your smoked glass and garnish with a fresh rosemary sprig and citrus wheel.

6. Nocino Espresso Martini

Ingredients

Directions

Combine vodka, coffee liqueur, nocino, and espresso in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Cover and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Pour mixture into a chilled coupe glass and garnish with espresso beans.

7. Agua de Jamaica Hot Toddy

Ingredients

• ¼ cup of dried hibiscus flowers
• 5 sticks of cinnamon
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 teaspoon of whole black peppercorns
• ¼ cup sugar
• 4 cups war
• 6 ounces Añejo tequila
• 1 orange, sliced into ¼ inch rounds for garnish

Directions

Bring hibiscus, 1 cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorn, sugar, and water to boil over high heat in a medium saucepan. Cover and remove from heat. Let sit for 5 minutes to steep. Strain into a small pitcher. Pour 3/4 cup of hibiscus tea into a small bug and stir in 1 1/2 ounces of tequila. Garnish with a cinnamon stick and orange slice. Repeat with remaining mugs.

8. Brown Sugar Old Fashioned

Ingredients

• 2 oz bourbon
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon water
• 2 dashes bitters
• Cinnamon sticks for garnish

Directions

Muddle the brown sugar with bitters and water in a rocks glass. Pour in the bourbon and stir to combine. Add a large ice cube and garnish with a cinnamon stick.

9. Electric Avenue

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 oz Mount Gay Black Barrel rum
• 1/2 oz lime juice
• 1/2 oz demerara syrup
• 1 oz La Marca prosecco
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 6 mint leaves

Directions

Add the lime, demerara syrup, and mint to a mixing tin and muddle. Add the rum and bitters. Shake and fine strain into a Champagne glass. Top with the prosecco. No garnish.

10. Penicillin

Ingredients

• 2 oz blended scotch
• .75 oz ginger syrup
• .75 oz lemon
• .5 oz honey syrup
• Few sprays Laphroaig 10

Directions

To make the Little Dom’s Penicillin, combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker, shake, and pour into a glass.

11. Holiday Lemon Drop Martini

Ingredients

• 2 oz vodka
• 1.5 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1 oz cranberry juice
• 0.5 oz simple syrup
• Sugar for the rim
• Sugared rosemary and cranberries for garnish

Directions

Rim glass with sugar. Add ingredients to cocktail shaker with ice and shake. Strain into glass and garnish with sugared rosemary and cranberries.