New Year's Eve cocktails
New Year's Eve calls for bubbles. Every drink here is either topped with fizz or built to be sipped at midnight.
Chill the glasses in the freezer before guests arrive: it keeps everything sparkling for longer.
15 recipes
Choosing sparkling wine for New Year cocktails
You do not need expensive Champagne for a cocktail. The recipes here work with Champagne, prosecco, cava or other dry sparkling wine, and the other ingredients are doing a lot of the work. Choose a dry bottle, because the cocktails already contain sugar or syrup, and keep it well chilled for a few hours before you need it.
Open the bottle only when you are ready to pour. Sparkling wine that has been open for an hour makes a flat, dull drink. If you want a fruitier result, prosecco suits the French 75 and the Old Cuban. The original Old Cuban was made with Champagne, but prosecco is a fine and cheaper swap.
Four sparkling cocktails to make before midnight
The French 75 is 30 ml London dry gin, 15 ml lemon juice and 10 ml sugar syrup, shaken, strained into a flute and topped with 60 ml sparkling wine. The Champagne cocktail is older: a sugar cube soaked in three dashes of Angostura, 15 ml cognac or brandy and 90 ml Champagne. A version of it appears in Jerry Thomas's 1862 bartender's guide.
The Kir royale is the easiest: 15 ml crème de cassis in the glass, topped with 120 ml sparkling wine. The Old Cuban is the most work, with 45 ml aged rum, lime, mint and bitters shaken, then topped with prosecco. It was created by Audrey Saunders at Pegu Club in New York in the early 2000s.
Serving a crowd at midnight
Do the work before the countdown. For a French 75 you can mix the gin, lemon and syrup for several drinks and keep it in the fridge, then add the wine to each glass at the last minute. For Kir royales, pour the cassis into the flutes in advance and top them up with the wine at midnight.
New Year's Eve is a long evening, so start with lighter drinks, serve food and keep water on the table. A Kir royale is a good first drink because it is much lower in alcohol than the others. Have alcohol-free sparkling drinks ready as well, so guests who are not drinking can join the toast. A glass of water before midnight does no harm, either.
Questions people ask
What is the best cocktail for New Year's Eve?
A French 75 is a safe choice for New Year's Eve. It is gin, lemon and sugar syrup topped with Champagne or prosecco, and it looks and tastes celebratory. The base can be mixed ahead of time, with the wine added to each glass at the end.
Can I use prosecco instead of Champagne in cocktails?
Yes. Prosecco is fruitier and cheaper than Champagne, and it works well in a French 75 and an Old Cuban. Champagne gives a drier, toastier finish. Whichever you choose, use a dry style and make sure it is cold.
What is the easiest New Year's Eve cocktail for a crowd?
The Kir royale is the easiest. It needs only 15 ml crème de cassis and 120 ml chilled sparkling wine per glass, with no shaking or measuring of juice. Pour the cassis first, then add the wine slowly and do not stir.
What is in a Champagne cocktail?
A Champagne cocktail is a sugar cube soaked in Angostura bitters, a splash of cognac or brandy, and chilled Champagne. Some recipes leave out the brandy. Pour the Champagne slowly in two goes, because the sugar makes it foam fast.
How do I stop sparkling wine going flat in cocktails?
Keep the wine cold, open it just before pouring and add it last. Pour slowly down the side of the glass, in two goes if it foams. Do not stir a sparkling drink hard. Tip out any ice water from a chilled flute before you strain in.
What can I serve guests who are not drinking on New Year's Eve?
Serve an alcohol-free sparkling drink in a flute so that everyone has something for the toast. A Pomegranate sparkler uses alcohol-free sparkling wine, pomegranate and orange juice, and there are more fizzy options on the mocktails page. Chill the bottle well first.