8 Thanksgiving Cocktails, From the First Pour to After Dinner
Thanksgiving drinks have a little more ground to cover than most. You need something easy to pour while everyone is arriving, something festive enough for the table, and, if we're doing this right, something worth lingering over long after dinner is finished.
So we pulled together eight Thanksgiving cocktails for the whole day, from the first bottle of bubbles opened in the kitchen to the bourbon poured after the pie plates have been cleared. There’s apple, cranberry, pumpkin, pear and plenty of bourbon in the mix, but none of these feel like fall flavors thrown into a glass just for the sake of it. They’re cocktails we’d actually make, and more importantly, actually want to drink.
Start with something bright and bubbly, move into the richer pours as dinner gets closer, and save the espresso and old fashioned for later. Thanksgiving is a long day. Your cocktail lineup might as well keep up.
8 Thanksgiving Cocktails for the Whole Day
Apple Cider French 75
The First Pour
There may be no better way to start Thanksgiving than with bubbles. Our Apple Cider French 75 takes everything we love about the classic and gives it just enough fall flavor to belong on the holiday table. It’s bright, crisp and celebratory without filling you up before dinner, exactly what we want in that first drink handed over while everyone is still gathering in the kitchen.
Apple cider · Bourbon · Fresh lemon · Bubbles
Apple Pie Spritz
The Easy One
If Thanksgiving morning has already involved enough cooking, make this one. Apple butter syrup, dry prosecco and club soda come together right in the glass for a light, bubbly spritz that tastes like fall without becoming too sweet. It’s easy to build one at a time as people arrive, and the lower-key pour makes it especially good before a big meal.
Apple butter syrup · Prosecco · Club soda
Spiced Pear French Blonde
The Elegant One
Pear, elderflower and sparkling wine make this one feel a little dressed up, which seems right for Thanksgiving. Gin keeps it botanical, fresh lemon brings the brightness, and a single dash of bitters gives the pear just enough spice. It’s beautiful in a coupe and particularly good when you want something festive that doesn’t lean heavily into pumpkin or apple.
Gin · Pear nectar · St-Germain · Fresh lemon · Bitters · Sparkling wine
Apple Butter Margarita
The Unexpected One
A margarita probably isn’t the first cocktail that comes to mind for Thanksgiving, which is exactly why we love this one. Reposado tequila, apple butter syrup, fresh lime and agave get poured into a glass with a sweet-and-salty apple pie spiced rim. It’s warm and spiced but still unmistakably a margarita, and that little hit of salt keeps all the fall sweetness in check. The rim makes it. Don’t skip it.
Reposado tequila · Apple butter syrup · Fresh lime · Agave · Apple pie spiced rim
Cranberry Orange Bourbon Smash
The Crowd-Pleaser
This is the one that looks like Thanksgiving before you even take a sip. Bourbon gets shaken with tart cranberry, fresh orange and lemon, maple syrup and bitters, then finished with rosemary, orange and fresh cranberries. It’s bright enough to wake up your palate before dinner but has enough bourbon and maple underneath to still feel firmly rooted in fall. And if you’re hosting a crowd, this one batches beautifully.
Bourbon · Cranberry · Fresh orange · Fresh lemon · Maple · Bitters
Pumpkin Spice Bourbon Sour
The Dinner-Hour Pour
Once the kitchen gets a little warmer and dinner gets a little closer, we’re ready for bourbon. This sour combines it with fresh lemon and our homemade pumpkin spice syrup for a drink that has all the warmth you want from pumpkin spice without turning into dessert. The lemon is important here. It keeps everything bright and balanced and lets the bourbon stay very much in the room.
Bourbon · Pumpkin spice syrup · Fresh lemon · Orange peel · Nutmeg
Pumpkin Spice Espresso Martini
The After-Dinner Pick-Me-Up
Pie can wait a minute. Fresh espresso, vodka, coffee liqueur and pumpkin spice syrup make this a natural bridge between dinner and dessert, especially when everyone could use a little caffeine before the second half of the evening. It’s rich and frothy with plenty of coffee flavor underneath the spice, and a dusting of pumpkin pie spice on top makes it feel appropriately Thanksgiving without overdoing it.
Vodka · Fresh espresso · Coffee liqueur · Pumpkin spice syrup
Apple Butter Old Fashioned
The One to Linger Over
This is where we end the night. Bourbon, apple butter syrup and bitters, stirred until cold and poured over one large cube. It’s simple, spirit-forward and just a little richer than a classic old fashioned, with apple and warm spice sitting quietly behind the bourbon rather than taking it over. Make one after the dishes are done, find the comfortable chair, and stay awhile.
Bourbon · Apple butter syrup · Aromatic bitters · Orange bitters
A Few More Thanksgiving Cocktails
Still looking for something to pour? We shared six of our favorite Thanksgiving cocktails last year too, including a Pumpkin Pie Martini, Smoky Maple Margarita, Pomegranate Mule and a few more worth bringing back to the table.
However you’re celebrating this year, we hope there’s something good in your glass, something worth eating on the table, and plenty of reason to stay there a little longer.
Happy Thanksgiving from our table to yours.
About Kevin & Kate
We're Kevin and Kate, a husband and wife duo who turned a weekly cooking ritual into something we wanted to share. Date Nite is our subscription experience for couples: one complete evening every week with a curated dinner menu, a cocktail pairing, grocery list, playlist, and all the small details that make a night at home feel like something you actually looked forward to.
If any of these coffee cocktails are calling to you, they'd be right at home on a Date Nite table.
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