Do you need New Year’s Eve drink recipes that make your party look like somebody actually planned it? Here is the whole range: champagne cocktails you build straight in the flute, big batch punches that sit in a dispenser and pour themselves, moscow mules in copper mugs, a couple of martinis worth shaking properly and several that never see a drop of alcohol. Most of these take five minutes and a bottle of something sparkling. A handful ask you to make a simple syrup first, which sounds fussy right up until you realize it is sugar, water and a few cranberries or a rosemary sprig simmered for three minutes. My favorite trick on the whole list costs nothing: fill the glasses with frozen berries instead of ice, so the drink chills without going watery and looks like you fussed. Perfect for a house full of people, a quiet midnight for two or a kid friendly toast before bedtime.
1. Vanilla Plum Shrub
A shrub is a drinking vinegar, and if that sounds unpleasant, it is the same sweet and sour balance that makes a good cocktail work. Six plums get muddled with a cup of brown sugar and the scraped seeds of a vanilla bean, then hot apple cider vinegar is poured over and the jar goes in the fridge for anywhere from 24 hours to a week depending on how strong you want it. Strain, then mix equal parts with club soda.
Get the full tutorial at The Modern Proper.
2. Apple Cider Moscow Mule
A standard moscow mule with apple cider poured in and a dash of cinnamon on top, and it takes five minutes flat. Use ginger beer rather than ginger ale, which the maker describes as more spicy and sugary. Make these to order rather than in a pitcher, because the ginger beer goes flat while it waits. A chilled copper mug keeps the drink cold and takes the temperature immediately.
Get the full tutorial at Hot Beauty Health.
3. New Years Eve Rum Berry Cocktail
Mixed in a jug, which is the only sane way to serve four to six people at once. Spiced rum, pomegranate juice, Cointreau and spiced ginger beer get stirred together, and then the clever part: the glasses are half filled with frozen mixed berries instead of ice. They chill the drink without watering it down and they look like you did something. Fresh raspberries and a sprig of thyme go on top. Five minutes of work.
Get the full tutorial at Kitchen Sanctuary.
4. Crown Royal Apple Rancher Slushie
Five things in a blender and no bartending required. A cup of lemonade, a cup of green apple Gatorade, four green apple Jolly Rancher candies, a cup of Crown Royal Apple whisky and three cups of ice, blended on high for one to two minutes. The Jolly Ranchers stick at first, so start and stop the blender until they break up. Sugar rimmed glasses and a Granny Smith slice, and the full video is on our post.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
5. Vanilla Cranberry Mimosa
Three ingredients and a cocktail shaker. Vanilla vodka and cranberry juice go in with ice and get shaken hard to chill them, then strained into a champagne flute and topped with whatever sparkling wine you have, champagne, prosecco or cava. Fresh cranberries and a whole vanilla bean laid in the glass are the garnish, and that bean is the reason this one looks like far more work than it actually is.
Get the full tutorial at Honey and Birch.
6. Sparkling Pomegranate Cranberry Sangria
Twelve servings in a beverage dispenser, which means you pour one glass and then stop being the bartender. Two bottles of prosecco or cava go in with a 375 ml bottle of Grand Marnier, pomegranate and orange San Pellegrino, ginger beer, soda water and a quarter cup of cold pressed cranberry juice. Taste as you go and adjust for sweetness, because that is the whole instruction. Pomegranate arils, cranberries, orange slices and rosemary float on top.
Get the full tutorial at Justine Celina.
7. Berry Champagne Punch
Twenty servings from one bottle of champagne, because the fruit purees do the heavy lifting. Raspberries, blackberries and strawberries each get blended with a quarter cup of simple syrup and strained to get the seeds out, and then one tablespoon of puree goes in the bottom of each flute before the champagne. Top up with more champagne or lemon lime soda depending on how hard your guests are going. Make the purees the day before.
Get the full tutorial at Mom on Timeout.
8. Slow Cooker Spiced Wine
For the guests standing on the porch by the fire pit at eleven at night. A bottle of dry fruity red goes in with two cups of apple cider, a quarter cup of honey, the zest and juice of an orange, five cloves, four green cardamom pods, two cinnamon sticks and a star anise. Simmer it gently for 30 minutes and never let it boil, because boiling cooks off the alcohol. A quarter cup of brandy goes in at the end.
Get the full tutorial at Well Plated.
9. New Year's Purple Shimmering Champagne
The showstopper, and it is four ingredients. Rim the flute with corn syrup and silver sugar, add half an ounce of vodka, an ounce of purple Viniq and four ounces of champagne, then stand a purple rock candy stick in the glass to sweeten it as it dissolves. Viniq is what gives the shimmer. If your store does not carry it, midori, strawberry liqueur or blue curacao will color it, and pearl dust adds the glitter.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
10. Grapefruit and Cranberry Party Drink
A big alcohol free pitcher drink, which every party needs and almost no party has. Three cups of ice, three cups of orange juice, three of grapefruit juice, half a cup of fresh lime, four small cans of grapefruit soda and half a tablespoon of salt get mixed first, then four cups of cranberry juice go in. Rim the glasses in Tajin or sugar. Add any liquor you like for the adults, though tequila might be the best option.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
11. Cranberry Moscow Mule with Homemade Cranberry Simple Syrup
The syrup is the recipe and it takes about five minutes. A cup of sugar, a cup of water and a cup and a half of fresh cranberries simmer together only until the berries pop, two to three minutes, then cool and get strained. After that each mule is vodka, half an ounce of lime, an ounce of the syrup and four ounces of chilled ginger beer in a copper cup. The syrup keeps in the fridge and it is good in almost anything.
Get the full tutorial at Boulder Locavore.
12. Champagne Shirley Temple
The grown up version of the drink you were handed at every wedding as a kid. Fill the glass halfway with crushed ice, add an ounce of grenadine, top with seven ounces of pink Moscato champagne and drop in maraschino cherries and an orange slice. Regular champagne is fine if you cannot find the pink. Crushed ice rather than cubes is what keeps the grenadine sitting low in the glass instead of mixing straight through.
Get the full tutorial at Sugar and Soul.
13. The Last Word Cocktail
Equal parts gin, Luxardo maraschino, green Chartreuse and fresh lime, which makes it impossible to get the proportions wrong and very easy to get the strength wrong. Shake it hard for 20 to 30 seconds and strain into a coupe. The maker’s warning is worth repeating: this is a strong drink, so if you plan on a second one, drop every measure to three quarters of an ounce. Green Chartreuse is the whole personality of it.
Get the full tutorial at Pinch and Swirl.
14. French Kiss Cocktail
Built straight in the flute, six at a time. Three to five raspberries go in the bottom of each glass and get muddled gently with the back of a wooden spoon, just enough to release juice while the berries stay whole. Then a tablespoon of vodka, a teaspoon of lemon juice, an optional teaspoon of Chambord and a teaspoon of mint simple syrup, stirred, then champagne to the top and a lemon twist. Prosecco or moscato work too.
Get the full tutorial at Lexi's Clean Kitchen.
15. Non Alcoholic Holiday Bubble Drink
Three things, one punch bowl, and nobody at the table has to explain why they are not drinking. A partially thawed 11.5 ounce can of white grape juice concentrate goes in with a cup and a half of water and ginger ale, and that is the entire recipe. Stir and serve. The notes point you toward coconut, raspberry, mango or pineapple if you want to send it somewhere other than plain grape, which is an easy way to give the kids their own version of the toast.
Get the full tutorial at Six Sisters' Stuff.
16. Sparkling Cranberry-Orange Champagne Punch
Three ingredients, ten servings and no cooking of any kind. A bottle of brut champagne or sparkling wine, a 25 ounce bottle of sparkling cranberry juice and a quarter cup of Citronage or Grand Marnier go straight into a serving bowl, and that is it. Orange slices and a handful of fresh cranberries go on top. It doubles at the same proportions, which is the sentence you want when the guest list grows.
Get the full tutorial at Boulder Locavore.
17. Raspberry Sherbet Punch
Four ingredients, twelve servings, and the one on this list the kids will actually finish. Mix half of a two liter bottle of lemon lime soda with two tablespoons each of lime and lemon juice in the punch bowl, float scoops of raspberry sherbet on top, then pour the rest of the soda over the sherbet so it foams up into a cloud. Serve immediately.
Get the full tutorial at Baking Beauty.
18. St. Germain Kumquat Cocktail
The fruit of a kumquat is sour and tart, and it is actually the rind that is sweet, which is why you eat them whole. Three of them get muddled with two spoonfuls of sugar until the mixture goes syrupy. An ounce of gin, half an ounce of St. Germain and a splash of club soda go in, then shake with ice and pour it over a tumbler packed to the top. A rosemary sprig for the garnish.
Get the full tutorial at Talia Bunting.
19. French Pear Martini
Equal measures, an ounce and a half each of St. Germain elderflower liqueur and pear vodka, shaken vigorously with ice until well chilled, strained into a sugar rimmed glass and topped with chilled champagne. The tip worth stealing is for the garnish: squeeze lemon over your cut pear slices to keep them from discoloring. Run a lemon wedge around the rim, then dip it in the sugar.
Get the full tutorial at Freutcake.
20. Rosemary 75 Champagne Cocktail
A French 75 with rosemary syrup standing in for the plain simple syrup. Bruise two or three four inch sprigs before they go in the pan with a cup of sugar and a cup of water. Cool it, refrigerate up to three days, then half an ounce of syrup and an ounce and a half of gin go in the flute. A squeeze of lemon, a rosemary sprig, then brut sparkling wine to the top.
Get the full tutorial at Goodie Godmother.
21. Blackberry Martini
Blackberry jam instead of muddled fruit, which gives the drink a deeper sweetness and a little sludginess that makes it stand out. Two tablespoons of jam go in the shaker with four ounces of gin, two tablespoons of coconut rum, a tablespoon of pineapple juice, a teaspoon of lime and two tablespoons of simple syrup. Five ice cubes, shake well, pour into chilled glasses. It makes two, which is the honest amount.
Get the full tutorial at Healing Tomato.
22. Raspberry, Chambord & Champagne Cocktail
Three things and about fifteen seconds. Four or five fresh raspberries go in the bottom of a champagne flute, an ounce of Chambord goes over them and four ounces of champagne goes on top. That is the entire recipe. The maker’s whole case for it is that bubbles make everything better, and on the thirty first of December that is hard to argue with.
Get the full tutorial at Simply Darrling.
23. Poor Liza Cocktail
Pear brandy, green Chartreuse, lemon juice, simple syrup and three dashes of Peychaud’s bitters, shaken and strained. The maker prefers hers over ice. The simple syrup here is just a cup of sugar boiled with a cup of water, and it keeps in a glass jar in the fridge for a month, so make it once and forget about it for the rest of the season.
Get the full tutorial at House of Hipsters.
24. Raspberry Cream Mimosa
The one that needs planning, and it is worth it. A bag of frozen raspberries gets heated with a quarter cup of sugar until it goes soupy, pureed, strained, mixed with a cup of half and half and frozen for four to six hours. Spoon a tablespoon or two of that frozen raspberry cream into a glass and pour sparkling wine over it. Twelve cocktails from one batch, and it does the same thing a float does, only prettier.
Get the full tutorial at Cooks with Cocktails.
25. Easy Tangerine Pomegranate Mimosas
Two juices, a bottle and a spoonful of seeds. A cup and a half of chilled tangerine juice and a cup of chilled pomegranate juice get stirred together in a pitcher, and that pitcher fills each flute halfway. Chilled champagne or sparkling wine tops up the rest of the glass, then pomegranate seeds go over as garnish and it is served immediately. Everything wants to be cold before you start, so give the fridge some room the night before. Ten glasses, ten minutes of prep, festive enough for the midnight toast.
Get the full tutorial at My Dominican Kitchen.
26. Vanilla, Pepper and Thyme Martini
The most grown up drink here and the least sweet. The syrup carries a tablespoon each of pink and black peppercorns, two teaspoons of ground black pepper, a whole split vanilla bean and six sprigs of thyme, boiled then left to steep 15 minutes before straining. Each martini is an ounce of that with three ounces of vodka and two teaspoons of lemon, shaken over ice. One batch of syrup makes about twelve.
Get the full tutorial at What Should I Make For.
27. Pomegranate Rosemary Cosmopolitan Pitcher
The garnish comes first: poke a hole through each pomegranate seed with a toothpick, thread them onto a rosemary sprig so it looks like a tiny decorated tree, and set them aside. Then the pitcher, which is vodka and sweetened pomegranate or cranberry juice, tasted and topped up with more juice if you want it sweeter. Mixing it before anyone arrives is the only sane way to serve a cosmo to a crowd.
Get the full tutorial at Culinary Ginger.
28. Cinnamon and Cranberry Bourbon Spritzers
For the bourbon drinkers who look at a tray of champagne and sigh. Six ounces of bourbon go in the shaker with three ounces of ginger ale, three of cranberry ginger ale, a splash each of cranberry and orange juice and a tablespoon of cinnamon simple syrup. That syrup is six cinnamon sticks boiled in two cups of water for 10 to 15 minutes before two cups of sugar go in, and it keeps a week or two sealed.
Get the full tutorial at Cooking and Beer.
