Holiday parties, family gatherings, and even solo celebrations call for seasonal drinks that combine your favorite spirits and spritzes with great ingredients to make any moment feel extra festive. We're sharing 15 holiday cocktails and festive mocktails that will be the perfect addition to any special moment this holiday season.
Not Your Mom's Marg
Fun fact: margaritas are festive enough for any time of year. That means with a few tweaks, you can turn everyone's favorite tequila cocktail into a drink worthy of the holidays.
2 oz good tequila (use your favorite)
5 oz Jalapeño & Blood Orange AVEC mixer
1 oz cranberry juice
Rub the rim of your glass with lime juice and coat the rim in sugar. Stir your ingredients over ice. Garnish with frozen cranberries and a lime wedge.
Uncle Nearest AVEC Hibiscus Highball
This cocktail is made with two of our favorite black-owned brands: AVEC Drinks, which makes non-alcoholic mixers that are low-sugar, low-calorie, and 100% delicious; and Uncle Nearest, the most award-winning American whiskey or bourbon two years running.
The Hibiscus Highball is simple drink that pairs premium flavors. The floral hibiscus and fruitiness of the pomegranate complement Uncle Nearest perfectly.
2 oz Uncle Nearest 1884
AVEC 1 can Hibiscus & Pomegranate
Stir in glass over ice. Garnish with grapefruit peel.
Recipe from AVEC Drinks
Uncle Nearest Cherry Hibiscus
If you want to upgrade that cocktail to make it even more festive, this one is for you. The hibiscus and pomegranate AVEC mixer is enhanced by rich black cherries. If you can't find them fresh, consider adding jarred black cherries or black cherry juice. That rich fruit flavor is cut by lemon and grapefruit juices, plus Lillet, a subtly fruit, wine-based aperitif. The drink is served on the rocks with a grapefruit peel, just like its simpler cousin cocktail described above.
2oz UN 1884
4-6 fresh black cherries
.75oz Lillet Blanc
.75oz Fresh pink grapefruit juice
.25oz Fresh lemon juice
AVEC Hibiscus & Pomegranate
Garnish: Fresh grapefruit peel
Remove pits and muddle 4-6 fresh black cherries in the bottom of a mixing glass. Add Lillet Blanc, grapefruit juice, lemon juice, and ice and roll to combine. Strain (or double strain if you don't want any fruit chunks) over new ice in a Collins glass. Top with AVEC Hibiscus & Pomegranate. Garnish with fresh grapefruit peel.
Recipe from AVEC Drinks
Mocktail Mule
A mule is perhaps one of the most naturally festive classic drinks you can find. Not only is it best served in the show-stopping copper mug, but it's also perfectly spicy—the sign of a great holiday drink.
This mocktail version ditches the vodka in favor of a high-quality, slightly bubbly mixer. Double down on the flavor with a ginger-infused simple syrup, or opt for the original version, which is just equal parts water and sugar brought to a boil and cooled before adding to the drink.
1 oz moscow mule sugar cube
2 oz fresh lime juice
5 oz Ginger Avec
Stir in signature copper mug (or a rocks glass) over ice. Garnish with a lime wedge.
AVEC Sour Shandy
Beer drinkers, you don't have to be left out of the cocktail fun. In fact, beer is a great base for a unique drink.
Pilsner*
Avec Yuzu & Lime
For one glass, pour 3 parts beer and 1 part AVEC. A full pint and full can of AVEC will be the right amount for sharing.
Recipe from AVEC Drinks
AVEC Spicy Shandy
The Jalapeño & Blood Orange mixer from AVEC brings the spice in this cocktail, and is a perfect match for a lager.
Lager
Avec Jalapeño & Blood Orange
For one glass, pour 3 parts beer and 1 part AVEC. A full pint and full can of AVEC will be the right amount for sharing.
Recipe from AVEC Drinks
Cran-Citrus Refresher
One of our all-time favorite holiday combos is cranberry and pretty much any citrus—lemon, lime, orange, you name it! AVEC's Yuzu & Lime drink adds to the mix a lesser-known but just as delicious citrus fruit.
Yuzu is an East Asian fruit that tastes like a cross between lemon, lime, and grapefruit. So it's subtly sweet with a mellow sourness that calms down the lime and boosts any other flavors in the drink.
2 oz cranberry juice
1/2 can Avec Yuzu & Lime
Gently stir in a glass over ice. Garnish with a mint leaf and a lime wedge.
Photo by Anna Teodoro
Gin-Free G&T
Replacing gin with non-alcoholic flavors is an exercise in balancing distinctly not-sweet flavors. Herbs and botanicals and usually savory flavors are often the mark of a good gin drink. This one uses cucumber, rosemary, and cardamom to create a spicy (not hot), herbacious mocktail you'll love sipping on at the holidays.
5 thin slices of cucumber (or 1-2 ribbons)
1 sprig of rosemary
3 cardamom pods
1/2 can of AVEC Yuzu & Lime
1 oz tonic water
Line the inside of the glass with the cucumber slices or ribbons. Gently pour in the tonic water and AVEC, and drop in the cardamom pods. Put the rosemary in the palm of one hand and gently tap it a few times with your other hand, releasing the oils from the herb. Then gently stir the contents of the glass with your sprig of rosemary. Enjoy!