There can always be a reason to celebrate, but a New Year's Eve party won't be the same without the right champagne cocktail. It's always fun to ring in the New Year with a glass of champagne. If you're just celebrating with a few friends, it might be worth breaking out a fancy bottle of champagne or the best prosecco. However, a good sparkling wine in large quantities can quickly become expensive. So if you're hosting a New Year's Eve party, you might want to stock up. The perfect option for this would be mixed drinks with fresh ingredients such as fruits and herbs that you can prepare in a loving way. Here are some great examples that will give you the inspiration you need.
Choose the best recipe for a refreshing and festive sparkling wine cocktail
A classic cocktail with champagne or sparkling wine is a mixed drink made from sugar, bitters, champagne, brandy and garnished with a maraschino cherry. However, there are also numerous other sparkling variants to choose from. Once you have the wine with schnapps ordelicious liqueur, as well as the ingredients and the mixer, there is hardly any noticeable difference between an expensive bottle and a cheap one.
The fizz is festive for everyone and will set the right mood. To ring in the New Year with delicious and affordable drinks, you can easily mix traditional drinks with a little imagination.
Make a simple cocktail with apple cider as a welcome drink
This simple drink combines fresh apple cider, crisp Prosecco, and herbaceous, honeyed Benedictine liqueur. The result is fruity, but not too sweet and super refreshing. Make sure to use a high-quality and unfiltered cider here, with fresh and regional being best. This gives the sparkling wine cocktail sweet and rich honey notes.
Ingredients:
- 60 ml Benedictine liqueur
- 30 ml apple cider, chilled
- Prosecco, also chilled
- fresh rosemary or thyme sprigs (optional)
Preparation:
- First, combine the Benedictine and cider in a sparkling wine flute or champagne flute.
- Then fill it up with Prosecco.
- Then garnish with rosemary or thyme as desired.
Sparkling sangria with grapefruit and Lillet rose
Sangria probably isn't the first drink you associate with winter, since most fruits you'd make it with are out of season this time of year. However, the popular grapefruit is just right for the occasion, and who doesn't love sangria at a party? Reason enough to prepare a fruity New Year's Eve cocktail with grapefruit juice, mint and bittersweet Lillet Rosé, rounded off with cava.
Ingredients:
- 15 fresh mint leaves
- 1/4 cup simple sugar syrup
- 1 cup fresh grapefruit juice, made from about 2 grapefruits, plus 1/2 a grapefruit, peel intact, cut into rough pieces
- Lillet Rosé, also 1 cup
- 1 bottle of cava, chilled
Preparation:
- First, in the bottom of a pitcher, gently combine the mint leaves and simple sugar syrup.
- Then add the fruit pieces, grapefruit juice and Lillet Rosé.
- Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- When ready to serve, pour cava into the pitcher and stir gently.
- It is best to serve the mixed drink over ice.
Sparkling sparkling wine cocktail with roasted lemons and gin
Lemon juice is one of the most common ingredients in cocktails, but you've most likely never tried it like this before. Sautéing lemons in a pan gives them a much deeper flavor and tames their harsh bite. Feel free to combine this complex juice of roasted lemons with woody rosemary and gin. The caramel depth and toned down acidity of the citrus are a game-changer in this sparkling cocktail that's great for New Year's Eve.
Ingredients:
For the charred lemon juice:
- 12 lemons, halved
For the gin rosemary mix:
- 8 rosemary sprigs, halved
- 6 tablespoons sugar
- 2 cups of gin of your choice
- 1 cup charred lemon juice
For each cocktail:
- 1/4 Taxes Gin-Rosmarin-Mix
- 2 tablespoons sparkling wine
- Eis
- Rosemary sprig for garnish
Preparation:
- First, preheat a well-seasoned cast iron or stainless steel skillet over high heat.
- Then add the lemon halves, cut side down, and cook until well charred, about 2 minutes.
- Allow the pieces to cool thoroughly and juice them, removing the seeds.
- To make the cocktail with gin, mix rosemary and sugar in a jug or glass.
- Mash everything together with the back of a wooden spoon until you can smell the rosemary.
- Add gin and lemon juice and stir to dissolve sugar.
- Refrigerate and remove the rosemary sprigs after an hour.
- For each cocktail, fill a glass with ice.
- First pour the gin and rosemary mix through a fine-mesh sieve.
- Fill the glasses with sparkling wine and stir once.
- Garnish with a fresh rosemary sprig and serve.
Prepare a foamy sparkling wine cocktail with chamomile and mandarin
Floral mixed drinks can sometimes taste perfumed, but that's not the case here. The herbal gin and floral chamomile are nicely balanced by the juice of mandarin oranges and tart white balsamic vinegar, with the addition of sparkling wine making it just right for a New Year's Eve party.
Ingredients:
For the chamomile and tangerine syrup:
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 4 bags of chamomile tea
- Peel of 2 tangerines, white skin removed
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed tangerine juice
For the base:
- 120 ml Chamomile-Mandarin Syrup
- 90 ml white balsamic vinegar
- 120 ml London Dry Gin, wie Tanqueray
For each cocktail:
- 150 ml chilled dry sparkling wine, such as Cava
Preparation:
- To make the syrup, first combine the sugar and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
- Remove from heat and add tea bags, tangerine juice and tangerine peels.
- Let the mixture steep for 6 minutes and then discard the tea bags.
- After that, cover and let stand for another 30 minutes.
- Strain the zest and store the syrup in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
For the base:
- Combine syrup, white balsamic and gin in a swing top bottle.
- Toss gently to mix and refrigerate until ready to use. The base will keep refrigerated for up to 4 days.
- For each cocktail: Measure approximately 80ml of the base into a sparkling wine goblet or cocktail glass and top with sparkling wine.
Sparkling mixed drink with cranberries and spices
This recipe requires a little more effort than your typical sparkling wine cocktail, but the results are worth it. Start with sparkling wine, gin, and grapefruit juice, then add a homemade spiced cherry liqueur flavored with cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, and cloves. The liqueur can be made several weeks in advance and you will likely have some leftover. As a non-alcoholic refreshment, it tastes great with lemonade and a splash of citrus juice.
Ingredients:
For the herbal liqueur:
- 3 cinnamon sticks, halved
- 2 whole star anise pods
- 5 cardamom pods
- 3 whole cloves
- 1 cup (240 ml) water
- 2 cups (400g) sugar
- Peel an orange (use a vegetable peeler to remove only the peel)
- 2 cups (225 g) cranberries
- 1 cup (240 ml) fresh juice of about 8 limes
- 3/4 teaspoon (3 g) kosher salt
For the cocktail mix (8 servings):
- 240 ml Liqueur
- 1 cup (240 ml) freshly squeezed juice from 2 pink grapefruits
- 360 ml London Dry Gin
- 1 bottle (750 ml) of chilled Cava or other dry sparkling wine to top up
- Fresh cranberries threaded onto skewers for garnish
preparation
- To make the spiced herbal liqueur, first place cinnamon sticks, star anise, cardamom and cloves in a pot and toast over medium heat, shaking frequently until fragrant. Also make sure that they don't burn.
- Add water, sugar, orange zest, cranberries, lime juice and salt and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.
- Bring to a boil and simmer, using a wooden spoon to beat the fruit against the edge, until all the cranberries have burst.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool completely, 1 to 2 hours.
- Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a resealable container.
- The liqueur can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
For the cocktail mix:
- Mix liqueur, grapefruit juice, and gin in a pitcher, bottle, or resealable container up to 2 hours before serving.
- Use immediately or refrigerate for up to 2 hours.
- The mix for this cocktail makes 8 servings, but feel free to double the recipe.
For each cocktail:
- Fill a Collins glass with ice and add approximately 100ml cocktail mix and 60ml chilled sparkling wine.
- Stir gently and garnish with cranberries on skewers.
