It’s almost time to ring in the New Year, and what better way to celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another than with an hors d’oeuvre in one hand and a cocktail in the other. A champagne toast is tradition at midnight, but you shouldn’t have to wait until then to have a few nice New Years Eve cocktails. Here are five simple-to-make cocktails that your house guests will love.
1. Apricot Fizz
The Apricot Fizz is tasty, and only requires three simple ingredients: 1/4 cup of apricot nectar, 1/2 cup of sparkling wine, and 1 Tablespoon of vodka. Mix all the ingredients together and pour into a champagne flute before serving.
2. Champagne Punch Bellini
The Champagne Punch Bellini is part drink and part dessert. That’s right: you take one scoop of raspberry sorbet and top with champagne or sparkling wine. Drop a fresh raspberry in each flute and voila! You’ve got a delicious and festive New Years Eve cocktail.
3. Blackberry Thyme Sparkler
This cocktail is slightly more complicated to put together (most of which is just creating the syrup that compliments the champagne). It’s still very worth it, however, since the blackberries and the thyme sprigs add a nice touch. Get the full recipe from The Effortless Chic.
4. French 75
For a more sophisticated class of New Years Eve cocktails, try this interesting mix of gin, simple syrup, lemon juice, and sparkling wine. Some people like to swap the gin for cognac, but as long-time gin drinkers, we prefer keeping things authentic. Mix 1 1/2 ounces of gin, 1/2 ounce of lemon juice, and 1/2 ounce of simple syrup, and ice cubes into a shaker. Shake and strain into a cocktail glass. Top off and fill glass with sparkling wine.
5. Southside Royale
Similar to the French 75, the Southside Royale takes a similar approach by mixing gin and champagne, but it uses lime juice, simple syrup, and mint. Add ice cubes, 2 ounces of gin, 3/4 ounces of simple syrup, and 3/4 ounces of lime juice to a shaker. Strain mixture into a champagne flute, pour in champagne, and top with a sprig of mint.
