The Ultimate Thanksgiving Cocktail Guide
Elevate your Thanksgiving table with one of these festival sippers.
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While turkey and pumpkin pie are two of the most talked-up Thanksgiving dishes, let's not forget about the crucial cocktail portion of the meal. After all, what better way to spice up a Thanksgiving meal than with a festival cocktail? The holiday season is the perfect time to work on your bartending skills, and whether it's a pre-dinner aperitif, dessert treat or a mid-meal cocktail, a cheerful Thanksgiving drink is sure to elevate the menu and add a little something extra to the atmosphere.
As you finalize that Thanksgiving menu and decide on the final recipes for the stuffing, cranberry sauce and apple pie, make sure you include a cocktail or two for the special celebration. Fall cocktails just hit different, and a good drink is the perfect complement to Thanksgiving dinner. If you want to get really fancy, whip up a special cocktail just for the appetizers, too. We found all the best recipes for the best Thanksgiving cocktails that you'll be *so* grateful for this year. Whether you're into a classic cocktail, a fizzy beverage or any other kind of bubbly sipper, we've got you covered. Below, see our favorite concoctions with all the fall flavors to whip up for the holiday table, because these are the best cocktail recipes that are sure to be the hit of the night.
The Best Thanksgiving Cocktail Recipes for the Perfect Turkey Day
- Maple Margarita
- Autumn Alexander
- Spiced Sangria
- Pumpkin, Spice and Everything on Ice
- Pumpkin Spice Margarita
- Harvard Cocktail
- Hot Toddy
- Count Your Blessings Bourbon Cocktail
- Pumpkin Spice Carajillo
- Templeton Maple Toddy
- Fall Spiced Wine
- Melbourne Apple Sour
- Cranberry and Apple
- Campari Boulevardier
- Select Cranberry Paloma
- Pumpkin Patch
- Grey Goose Apple Martini
- Pear Sour
- The Botanist Blood Orange Negroni
- Corralejo Pumpkin Pie
- Harper Harvest Fizz
- Pumpkin Daiquiri
- Far East
- Spiced Sorel Spritz
Maple Margarita
Ingredients:
1.5 oz Patrón Silver
.75 oz Patrón Citrónge Orange
.25 oz Ilegal Mezcal Joven
1 oz maple syrup
1 oz lime juice
Maple leaf, for garnish
Directions:
Combine all ingredients (except garnish) in a shaker tin; shake with ice to chill. Strain into a coupe glass rimmed with salt. Garnish with a maple leaf.
Autumn Alexander
Ingredients:
1 oz Clase Azul Tequila Reposado
1 oz pumpkin spice syrup
1 oz half and half
1/2 oz amaro
1/2 oz coffee liqueur
Cocoa powder, for garnish
Directions:
Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice; shake vigorously and double strain into a couple glass. Cover half the glass with a napkin and sprinkle with cocoa powder.
Spiced Sangria
- Makes six servings
Ingredients:
3 bottles Rosa Regale Red Wine
3 cups cranberry juice
1 1/2 cups blood orange juice
3/4 cup mulling spice syrup
3 cups fresh cranberries
3 blood oranges, sliced
Cinnamon stick and star anise, for garnish
Directions:
Add wine, cranberry juice, blood orange juice and mulling spice syrup into a pitcher or punch bowl. Add cranberries and blood orange slices. Serve in wine glasses; garnish each drink with fruit, cinnamon stick and star anise.
Pumpkin, Spice and Everything on Ice
Ingredients:
1.5 oz Broken Shed Vodka
1 oz pumpkin maple coffee syrup
Pumpkin maple coffee syrup (mix equal parts cold coffee, maple syrup and pumpkin purée)
Star anise pod, for garnish
Directions:
Add all ingredients into a shaker; shake with ice. Double strain into a rocks glass with one large ice cube; garnish with a star anise pod.
Pumpkin Spice Margarita
Ingredients:
1 oz Cointreau
2 oz tequila
.75 oz fresh lime juice
2 tbsp pumpkin puree
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tbsp honey
Cinnamon stick, for garnish
Directions:
Add all ingredients to a shaker, add ice and shake. Fine strain over ice into a glass. Garnish with cinnamon stick.
Harvard Cocktail
Ingredients:
2 oz Argonaut Fat Thumb Brandy
1 oz sweet vermouth
2 dashes orange bitters
Brandied cherry
Splash of club soda
Expressed orange peel or brandied cherry, for garnish
Directions:
Add all ingredients to a mixing glass filled with ice; stir together to combine and chill. Strain into a chilled coupe glass; garnish with expressed orange peel and a brandied cherry.
Hot Toddy
Ingredients:
1.25 oz Noilly Prat Rouge
.5 oz D’usse Cognac VSOP
.5 oz demerara syrup
.5 oz lemon juice
3 oz black tea
2 dashes chocolate bitters
1 dash angostura bitters
Directions:
Add all ingredients except for the tea into a glass. Top with hot tea and garnish with a cinnamon stick.
Count Your Blessings Bourbon Cocktail
Ingredients:
2 1/2 oz Jeptha Creed Four Grain Kentucky Straight Bourbon
1 oz spiced simple syrup (with cinnamon, cardamom and clove)
3/4 oz fresh lime juice
1 1/2 oz cranberry juice
1 oz apple brandy
Directions:
Add all ingredients into a shaker filled with ice; shake vigorously. Strain into a highball glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish bourbon cocktail with apple slices and grated cinnamon.
Pumpkin Spice Carajillo
Ingredients:
1 oz Lalo Tequila
1 oz espresso
1 oz Licor 43
1 tbsp fresh pumpkin puree
2 dashes mole bitters
Star anise, for garnish
Directions:
Add all ingredients to a shaker filled with ice; shake vigorously. Strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with star anise.
Templeton Maple Toddy
Ingredients:
2 oz Templeton Rye Maple Cask Finish
3/4 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz maple syrup
Cinnamon bark, for garnish
Directions:
Add maple syrup, hot water, rye whiskey and lemon juice into a mug, stirring until combined. Garnish with a cinnamon bark and serve warm.
Fall Spiced Wine
Ingredients:
1 part Absolut Pear
1 part apple juice
1/4 part lime juice
1 part ginger beer
2 parts Campo Viejo Cava Brut
Mint, apple slices and cinnamon stick, for garnish
Directions:
Add liquid ingredients into a glass or bowl; top with sparkling wine. Add ice. garnish with mint, apple and a cinnamon stick for a fun take on the classic Moscow Mule.
Melbourne Apple Sour
Ingredients:
2 oz Starward Two-Fold Whisky
.75 oz fresh lemon juice
.25 oz simple syrup
.5 oz egg white
Apple cider
Directions:
Combine all ingredients except for the apple cider into a shaker without ice. Shake vigorously to whip the egg whites. Add ice and shake again until very cold. Double strain into a coupe glass; top with apple cider.
Cranberry and Apple
Ingredients:
1.5 oz Jaja Reposado
2 oz cranberry cocktail
Dry hard apple cider
Apple slice, for garnish
Directions:
Add tequila and cranberry cocktail into a rocks class filled with ice cubes. Top with apple cider and garnish with apple slice.
Campari Boulevardier
Ingredients:
.75 parts Campari
.75 parts 1757 Vermouth di Torino Rosso
1.5 parts Russell's Reserve 10-Year-Old Bourbon
Orange slice
Directions:
Combine bourbon, vermouth and Campari in a glass; stir until combined. Pour over a glass with one large ice cube. Garnish with orange slice.
Select Cranberry Paloma
Ingredients:
1.5 parts Milagro Select Silver
3/4 part fresh lime juice
3/4 part cranberry juice
1/2 part thyme simple syrup
2 parts pink grapefruit soda
Cranberries, for garnish
Directions:
Combine all ingredients, except for soda and garnish, in shaker. Shake well. Strain into highball glass with fresh ice. Garnish with cranberries.
Pumpkin Patch
Ingredients:
1.5 oz Crystal Head Vodka
1 tsp honey
.75 oz coffee liqueur
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
.75 oz heavy cream (or non-dairy alternative, such as oat milk creamer or coconut milk creamer)
2 to 3 ginger snap cookies.
Directions:
Crumble the ginger snap cookies; place crumbs on a plate. Rub the rim of a rocks glass with honey. Dip your glass in cookie crumbs to coat the rim. In a shaker, combine vodka, coffee liqueur and pumpkin pie spice. Shake with ice. Pour contents of shaker into a rocks glass over ice and top with the heavy cream or non-dairy milk of choice.
Grey Goose Apple Martini
Ingredients:
1.5 oz Grey Goose La Poire Vodka
.5 oz calvados
.33 oz Ancho Reyes chilis
.5 oz lime juice
1.5 oz fresh apple juice
Directions:
Shake all ingredients over ice, strain into a chilled martini glass.
Pear Sour
Ingredients:
1.5 oz Sagamore Spirit Signature Rye Whiskey
2 oz pear juice
.5 oz lemon juice
.5 oz cinnamon syrup
Fresh pear
Lemon and ground cinnamon, for garnish
Directions:
Slice up pears into quarters, remove the core and place 1/4 into a shaker; muddle. Add rye whiskey, pear juice, lemon juice and cinnamon syrup; add ice and shake until cold. Strain into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice and garnish with a lemon wheel and ground cinnamon.
The Botanist Blood Orange Negroni
Ingredients:
1.5 oz The Botanist Islay Dry Gin
.75 oz bianco vermouth
.5 oz Italian bitter aperitif
.25 oz blood orange bitters
Blood orange slice, for garnish
Directions:
Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice. Stir to incorporate. Strain over fresh ice into a double old fashioned glass. Garnish with blood orange slice.
Corralejo Pumpkin Pie
1.5 oz Corralejo Reposado
1/4 oz Montenegro
3/4 oz pumpkin puree
1 oz fresh lemon juice
Whipped cream, for garnish
Directions:
Combine all ingredients into a shaker and shake. Pour into a wine glass and top with whipped cream.
Harper Harvest Fizz
Ingredients:
1.5 oz I.W. Harper Cabernet Cask Reserve
1 oz 100 percent pomegranate juice
.5 oz lemon juice
5 oz chilled ginger beer
Dried grapefruit, for garnish
Directions:
Combine lemon juice, pomegranate juice and bourbon whiskey into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously for a minute, then pour over ice in a rocks glass. Top off with ginger beer and garnish with dried grapefruit.
Pumpkin Daiquiri
Ingredients:
1.5 oz Bayou White Rum
1 oz pumpkin puree
1 oz orange juice
Fresh lime
Cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, for garnish
Directions:
Add all ingredients to a shaker; shake well with ice and strain into a chilled coup. Garnish with orange slice and sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg and whole cloves.
Far East
Ingredients:
1.5 oz D'Usse VSOP French Cognac
.5 oz amaretto liqueur
3 oz chai tea
.5 oz vanilla syrup
.5 oz almond milk
2 dashes cardamom bitters
Directions:
Add all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake and then strain into a highball glass filled with ice.
Spiced Sorel Spritz
- Courtesy Jaylynn Little
Ingredients:
.5 oz black pepper and rosemary simple syrup
2 oz Sorel Liqueur
3 dashes orange bitters
3 oz prosecco
Splash of soda water
Rosemary and orange slice, for garnish
Directions:
Add all syrup, liqueur, orange bitters and soda water
to a spritz or wine glass. Add ice and sparkling wine. Garnish with rosemary sprig and orange slice.
