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.
Try your hand at recreating one of these 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.
