The best cocktails for New Year’s Eve

New Year’s Eve can leave even the most confident of party hosts quaking in their boots, so we’ve asked some of the industry’s best bartenders to share their favourite New Year’s Eve cocktails.

So if you’re planning on throwing a party for friends or family and are stumped over what to serve, then what you need is one of these top tipples.

From Punches and Bellinis to hot cocktails and creamy concoctions, there’s something to suit every palate wherever you may be celebrating this year.

Plus with ingredients varying from rum, vodka, gin, Tequila and Irish whiskey – we’ve got your bases covered.

Click through to the following pages for some of the best cocktail recipes around to see your new year in with a bang.

Think you’ve got a recipe worth sharing? Let us know in the comments below. 

Cinnamon, Sour Apple & Sweet Pear Crush

Fruity, with just a hint of cinnamon spice. This cocktail by the team at Amuse Bouche Champagne Bar, London, will thrill your guests on New Year’s Eve as a great alternative to your regular bubbles.

Ingredients:

50ml Chase Vodka

25ml Sour apple purée

25ml Sweet pear purée

15ml Ginger syrup

Method: Shake and strain all the ingredients together. Strain into a glass and garnish with grilled pear and a cinnamon stick.

Smoky Chimney

Created by Salvatore Calabrese of the Playboy Club, London, this tipple is described as “a unique libation which infuses rum and lapsang souchong tea for a hot smoky flavour making it perfect for a cold winters night”.

Ingredients:

40ml Jamaican rum

50ml Lapsang Souchong tea

20ml Orgeat syrup

20ml Fernet Branca bitter

Method: Heat all ingredients together then serve in a teapot with tea cups.

The Resolution

The apricot and honey really compliment the agave flavours of Hornitos Tequila beautifully in this refreshing cocktail.

Ingredients:

45ml Hornitos Reposado Tequila

15ml Apricot liqueur

15ml Honey

20ml lemon juice

1 Egg white

Method: Add all ingredients into a mixing glass. Shake without ice for approximately 10-12 seconds. Double strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with cinnamon.

Por Avion

Eau de Vie has shared this celebratory cocktail from Down Under topped with Champagne to add a little spritz to your New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Ingredients:

45ml Encanto Pisco

20ml Grilled citrus cordial

20ml Fresh lime juice

7.5ml Spice agave

Orange bitters

90ml Mumm Champagne

Method: Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake hard to liven up the drink. Top with Champagne.

P.S. I Love J

Shun the popular Jager Bombs this New Year’s Eve in favour of this rich, creamy, lightly spiced cocktail from Late Night London’s mixologist, David Kay. It makes the perfect alternative to the typical Eggnog.

Ingredients:

25ml Jägermeister

25ml Baileys

12.5ml Amaretto

12.5ml Kahlua

50ml half milk/ half cream

Method: Add all ingredients together and shake over ice.

Eau de Vie Bellini

Simple and elegant, this is another delight from the folk at Sydney and Melbourne’s Eau de Vie, taking on the classic Italian classic.

Ingredients:

20ml Citrus vodka

10ml Fresh pressed lemon juice

5ml Peach liqueur

30ml Pear purée

Mumm Champagne

Method: Combine all ingredients in a large silver gallone and swirl gently, passing all liquids back and forth from the original gallone to another and back again. Pour into an ornate champagne glass.

New Year’s Salute

Short, sweet and served in a shot glass. Cocktails don’t get much easier to make than this – but don’t be fooled, the coconut water and almond milk make a wonderfully light tipple.

Ingredients:

30ml Hornitos Plata Tequila

15ml Coconut water

15ml Almond milk

Method: Add all ingredients to a shaker over ice to chill. Shake, strain and pour into a shot glass rimmed with cinnamon and sugar. Serve in a shot glass.

Royal March

From Australia’s Eau de Vie, this cocktail is a “take on the Champagne Cocktail, a light fruity Irish whiskey, dry Sherry, simple syrup and a few other tricks”.

Ingredients:

60ml Jameson Irish Whiskey

30ml Fino Sherry

10ml Simple Syrup

1 half heaped bar spoon citric acid

Angostura soaked sugar cube

Method: Combine all liquid into a Perlini shaker to carbonate the cocktail by icing it and charging it with CO2. Shake vigorously and pour into a piccolo Champagne bottle, store and pour as desired.

Spicy Stag Punch

This time of year is perfect for Punch, and this twist by Late Night London’s David Kay is light but still gives a slight kick.

Ingredients:

50ml Jägermeister

12.5ml Amaretto

12.5ml Chambord

25ml Red wine

12.5ml lemon juice

1 Dash grenadine

Lemonade

Method: Add all ingredients except lemonade to a shaker and shake. Strain and top with lemonade.

Hayemaker Punch

Perhaps you’ve overindulged over Christmas or you’re keen to start your New Year’s Resolutions early. Whatever your reason for abstaining this New Year’s Eve, this mocktail crafted by boxer David Haye in collaboration with Chino Latino Restaurant and Bar is a delicious alcohol-free alternative.

Ingredients:

4 Pineapple chunks

1cm Fresh ginger

½ Large carrot

10mg Dark chocolate

1 Pinch of rocket

100ml Pineapple juice

Rocket

1 Tablespoon vanilla syrup

Method: Chop the pineapple, carrot, ginger and chocolate into small chunks and add to blender. Pour pineapple juice. Add more if necessary. Whiz in blender until only liquid remains. Add vanilla syrup to sweeter and whiz again. Add crushed ice and garnish with thin wedges of pineapple and a pineapple leaf.