The strongest drink on this list, the Black Manhattan, is 2.2 standard drinks in one glass. The lightest, the Apple Cider Mimosa, is 0.6. Every recipe below uses a bottle we've reviewed, and the table at the end shows what each one actually pours, so you can plan a long afternoon by drinks, not glasses.
The images in this gallery are AI-generated concept renders, not photographs of real rooms or drinks. Save the ones you like to Pinterest; the notes under each one are ours.
1. Apple Cider Old Fashioned
The fall version of the drink every bourbon drinker already trusts. Fresh cider stands in for most of the sugar, so it reads like apple pie without tasting like dessert.
Recipe: 2 oz Wild Turkey 101, 1 oz fresh apple cider, ¼ oz maple syrup, 2 dashes Angostura bitters. Stir with ice, strain over a large cube, garnish with an apple slice.
2. Maple Bourbon Smash
Sage instead of mint turns the summer smash into a Thanksgiving drink. Muddle the leaves gently; torn sage turns bitter fast.
Recipe: 2 oz Elijah Craig Small Batch, ¾ oz fresh lemon juice, ½ oz maple syrup, 4 sage leaves. Muddle the sage lightly with the syrup, shake with ice, strain over crushed ice.
3. Cranberry Moscow Mule
The easiest crowd drink on the list: pour, top, done. Cranberry gives it the color, ginger beer does the work.
Recipe: 2 oz vodka, 1 oz unsweetened cranberry juice, ½ oz fresh lime juice, 3 oz ginger beer. Build over ice in a copper mug, stir once, garnish with cranberries and rosemary.
4. Harvest Manhattan
The classic, built on a 100-proof rye so it stands up to the vermouth. If you want the full method, our Manhattan recipe covers ratios and garnish.
Recipe: 2 oz Rittenhouse Straight Rye Whisky BiB, 1 oz sweet vermouth (Carpano Antica), 2 dashes Angostura bitters. Stir with ice for 30 seconds, strain into a chilled coupe, garnish with a cherry.
5. Cranberry Gin Bramble
A London dry gin with cranberry syrup drizzled over the top, so it bleeds red through the ice. It's the prettiest drink on the table and the one non-whiskey drinkers ask for.
Recipe: 2 oz Tanqueray London Dry Gin, ¾ oz fresh lemon juice, ½ oz simple syrup, ½ oz cranberry syrup. Shake gin, lemon and simple with ice, strain over crushed ice, drizzle the cranberry syrup on top.
6. Pumpkin Espresso Martini
The after-dinner pick-me-up for the people who'd otherwise nap through the second half of the game. Shake hard; the foam comes from the espresso, not cream.
Recipe: 1½ oz vodka, 1 oz fresh espresso, ½ oz Kahlúa, ¼ oz pumpkin spice syrup. Shake very hard with ice, double strain into a chilled martini glass.
7. Apple Cider Mimosa
The morning-of drink while the bird is in the oven. A cinnamon-sugar rim makes it look like effort; it isn't.
Recipe: 3 oz Prosecco (La Marca), 2 oz chilled apple cider. Pour cider into a sugar-rimmed flute, top slowly with Prosecco.
8. Hot Buttered Rum
The cold-porch drink for the smokers and the people avoiding the dishes. Make the spiced butter a day ahead and keep it in the fridge.
Recipe: 2 oz Appleton Estate 12 Year Old Rare Casks, 1 tbsp spiced butter batter, 4 oz hot water. Stir the batter into the rum, top with hot water, stir until melted.
9. Pear Bourbon Sidecar
Bourbon in place of brandy and pear nectar to round it out. It drinks lighter than it is, which the table below makes plain.
Recipe: 1½ oz Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon, ¾ oz Cointreau, ¾ oz fresh lemon juice, ½ oz pear nectar. Shake with ice, strain into a sugar-rimmed coupe.
10. Penicillin (Honey-Ginger Scotch)
Honey, ginger and lemon with a smoky float on top. It's the cold-and-flu-season classic; our Penicillin recipe has the syrup method.
Recipe: 2 oz Monkey Shoulder Blended Malt Scotch Whisky, ¾ oz fresh lemon juice, ¾ oz honey-ginger syrup, ¼ oz Laphroaig 10 Year Old. Shake everything but the Laphroaig with ice, strain over a large cube, float the Laphroaig on top.
11. Cranberry Margarita
For the cousin who brought tequila to Thanksgiving. A blanco with real agave flavor keeps the cranberry from tasting like juice.
Recipe: 2 oz Cimarron Blanco, ½ oz Cointreau, ¾ oz fresh lime juice, 1 oz unsweetened cranberry juice. Shake with ice, strain over fresh ice into a salt-rimmed glass.
12. Bourbon Hot Toddy
Late-night, post-pie, everyone-is-full drink. Wheated bourbon keeps it soft.
Recipe: 2 oz Maker's Mark Bourbon, ½ oz honey, ½ oz fresh lemon juice, 4 oz hot water. Stir honey into hot water, add bourbon and lemon.
13. Black Manhattan
Swap the vermouth for an Italian amaro and the Manhattan turns darker and more bitter. It's a strong pour after a big meal.
Recipe: 2 oz Rittenhouse Straight Rye Whisky BiB, 1 oz Averna, 1 dash Angostura and 1 dash orange bitters. Stir with ice, strain into a chilled glass, garnish with a cherry.
14. Pumpkin Pie White Russian
Dessert in a glass for the table that skipped dessert. A spoon of pumpkin purée in the cream gives it the color.
Recipe: 1½ oz vodka, 1 oz Kahlúa, 1 oz cream whisked with 1 tsp pumpkin purée. Build over ice, float the pumpkin cream, stir at the table.
15. Irish Coffee
The finish. Float the cream over the back of a spoon and don't stir it; you drink the hot coffee through the cold cream.
Recipe: 1½ oz Redbreast 12 Year Old, 4 oz hot coffee, ½ oz brown sugar syrup, lightly whipped cream. Stir whiskey, coffee and syrup in a warmed mug, float the cream on top.
How Strong Is Each Thanksgiving Cocktail?
A US standard drink is 0.6 fl oz of pure alcohol. 9 of these 15 cocktails are 1.5 standard drinks or more, because a 2 oz pour of a bottle over 45% ABV is already well past one. A guest who has "two cocktails" over the afternoon can easily have had three or four standard drinks.
| Cocktail | Pure alcohol | Standard drinks | Drinks per 750 ml bottle of the base |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Cider Old Fashioned | 1.01 oz | 1.7 | 12 |
| Maple Bourbon Smash | 0.94 oz | 1.6 | 12 |
| Cranberry Moscow Mule | 0.80 oz | 1.3 | 12 |
| Harvest Manhattan | 1.17 oz | 1.9 | 12 |
| Cranberry Gin Bramble | 0.95 oz | 1.6 | 12 |
| Pumpkin Espresso Martini | 0.70 oz | 1.2 | 16 |
| Apple Cider Mimosa | 0.33 oz | 0.6 | 8 |
| Hot Buttered Rum | 0.86 oz | 1.4 | 12 |
| Pear Bourbon Sidecar | 0.98 oz | 1.6 | 16 |
| Penicillin | 0.97 oz | 1.6 | 12 |
| Cranberry Margarita | 1.00 oz | 1.7 | 12 |
| Bourbon Hot Toddy | 0.90 oz | 1.5 | 12 |
| Black Manhattan | 1.29 oz | 2.2 | 12 |
| Pumpkin Pie White Russian | 0.80 oz | 1.3 | 16 |
| Irish Coffee | 0.60 oz | 1.0 | 16 |
Pure alcohol is each pour multiplied by the ABV on our review of that bottle, plus: vodka at 40%, the federal minimum (27 CFR 5.142); a stronger bottle adds more; Carpano Antica 16.5%; Kahlúa 20%; La Marca Prosecco 11%; Cointreau 40%; Averna 29%. Bitters dashes and syrups are left out. One standard drink is 0.6 fl oz of pure alcohol (NIAAA). Ice and shaking add water, not alcohol, so dilution does not change these figures.
That matters most for the people driving home after dinner. Count by the standard-drinks column, not by glasses, and switch the late drinks to the lighter end of the table.
How Many Bottles Do You Need for Thanksgiving?
A 750 ml bottle holds 25.4 fl oz. For 12 guests having 2 Apple Cider Old Fashioneds each at 2 oz a drink, you need 48 oz of Wild Turkey 101: 2 bottles, with 3 oz to spare. Use the "drinks per bottle" column to run the same sum for any drink on the list.
Can You Batch Thanksgiving Cocktails Ahead?
Yes, for the stirred ones. The Old Fashioned and both Manhattans batch well: mix the spirits and syrups in a bottle the night before, and stir or pour over ice to order. Leave out anything with citrus, ginger beer or Prosecco until you serve, because those go flat or dull within hours.