10 New Year’s Eve Cocktails That Go Beyond Champagne

As 2024 draws to a close, you might be sketching out your goals the year to come. But first, there’s New Year’s Eve, one of the biggest party holidays of the year. While a signature midnight Champagne toast feels obligatory, it can leave those who don’t love the bubbly beverage feeling left out as the ball drops. 

If you’re looking to think—and drink!—outside the box this New Year’s Eve, here are 10 creative cocktails to make for yourself and your nearest and dearest.

My personal New Year’s Eve tradition is to choose a color to set the tone for the year to come. For example, green means growth and money, red means passion and love, yellow means optimism and hope. If you’re feeling pink leading into 2025, which symbolizes things like good health, you might as well make a drink to match. This cocktail is made with naturally pink Glendalough wild rose Irish gin, pink Prosecco with Brilla! Prosecco Rosé from Italy’s Veneto region, and a little sweetness from some white cranberry juice.

Fill a wine glass with ice. Add gin, white cranberry juice, and lemon juice. Stir. Top with Prosecco. Garnish with fresh cranberries and a rosemary sprig.

Is it possible to make a classic espresso martini even better? It sure is, thanks to the addition of peanut butter. Chica Chida is a peanut butter agave spirit, and while it may be ambitious to mix agave and rum, its subtle sweetness compliments the bitter notes of Kōloa Kaua`i Coffee Rum, which is made with pure cane sugar, creating a boozy, slightly sweet, and oh-so-smooth espresso martini to keep you awake as the ball drops.

Add all ingredients to a shaker filled with ice and shake vigorously until the shaker feels cold to touch. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with three espresso beans. Optional: prior to straining, line the inside of the martini glass with a peanut butter drizzle.

If Aperol Spritz is the drink of summer, Lambrusco Spritz is the drink of winter. Hailing from Italy’s Emilia Romagna region, Lambrusco is sparkling red wine that is commonly found on menus in Modena, Bologna, and Reggio Emilia. Have a taste of Italy at home this New Year’s Eve with a bottle of Riunite Lambrusco, from vineyards located 800 feet above sea level. Riunite uses the Charmat method, with a second fermentation being the key to its signature bubbles.

Fill a wine glass with ice. Add Riunite Lambrusco and Savoia Americano Rosso, and top with club soda. Garnish with a cinnamon stick and an orange slice.

New Year’s Eve is typically a cold holiday for many of us, but if you want to transport to somewhere tropical, a passion fruit cocktail will do the trick. For a real step above the classic margarita, we’re adding a tajin rim, sparkling passion fruit acqua fresca, and swapping tequila for smoky Dos Hombres mezcal.

Rim a rocks glass with tajin. Add Chinola, mezcal, and lime juice to a shaker filled with ice, and shake. Add ice to the Tajin-rimmed rocks glass, and strain the drink from the shaker. Top with BAWI Passion.

Nothing warms those winter blues quite like whisky and spiced apples. I first tried a version of this drink at Foxtail‘s Holiday Hideaway at Arlo SoHo in New York, and can confirm an apple cocktail a day keeps the doctor away. Theirs is made with whisky, apple bitters, honey syrup, and cranberry shrub. Ours is a riff on that: slightly altering the ingredients and warming it up.

Warm apple cider over low heat, then add remaining ingredients and keep on low heat until ready to serve. Use a ladle to spoon into mugs, then garnish with a cinnamon stick and sliced lemon.

A lemon drop while the ball drops just makes sense. If you’re looking to change it up from the typical vodka variation, take a trip to Japan and Italy in one cocktail by using lemon-infused Iichiko Silhouette soju and Luxardo limoncello, then adding just a kiss of simple syrup and lemon juice.

Add all ingredients to a shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain into a coupe, then garnish with a lemon peel.

Whether you abstain from alcohol year-round or want to get a head start on Dry January, Kin Euphorics’ Matchatini is the companies latest creation, designed in collaboration with Dr. Andrew Weil. It’s made with matcha and medicinal mushrooms, and will give you an energy boost akin to caffeine-heavy bevvies espresso martinis and redbull vodkas.

Learn more at Kin Euphorics

Distilled in the heart of the Cowboy State, Wyoming Whiskey is a great addition to your bar cart this holiday season. While you could sip this neat and be one happy camper, thanks to being matured twice (first in new, charred oak barrels then finished in decades-old sherry casks), the Wyoming Whiskey Ski Lift cocktail is as pretty to look at as it is to drink.

Pour all ingredients aside from the soda water in a shaker. Shake hard without ice to create a froth from the egg white. Add ice and then shake hard again. Strain into a chilled Collins glass with the soda water. Allow the cocktail to sit for one minute and then top with the rest of the drink to achieve lift above the rim of the glass. Garnish with a dried lemon wheel.

Triple distilled Santa Teresa 1796 Solera Rum hails from Venezuela, with notes of fermented fruit, honey, vanilla, and dark chocolate. While rum is often associated with a tropical escape, Santa Teresa can warm those winter blues with the help of some cranberry, lemon, and bitters for an Apres Tree cocktail.

Pour all ingredients into a shaker filled with ice. Shake, then fine strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with lemon zest.

About 12 years ago, I made my parents a French martini. Little did I know, I had unleashed their favorite cocktail—it’s still their go-to to this day. Since I will be with them this New Year’s Eve, I’d be remiss to not include their signature drink of choice. This year, we’re sprucing it up a little with some edible glitter, and using Chambord from the brand’s New Year’s Eve Night In Kit, equipped with a 375ml bottle, cozy socks, and noisemakers. For something sweet, pair it with Sprinkles Cupcakes’ Une Femme Kir Royale, a sparkling rose cake with cream cheese frosting that’s marbled with raspberry Chambord jam.

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously to create a foam, and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a lemon peel and a skewered raspberry.