The Wednesday night before Thanksgiving—Thanksgiving Eve, Drinksgiving, Black Wednesday, or whatever you may dub it—is one of the biggest nights for the bar and restaurant industry. Whether you have guests coming in to blow off steam ahead of holiday gatherings with family, to celebrate being back in their hometown, or just to kick off the holiday season, this night can mean big profits for your bar or restaurant.
Capitalize on the additional traffic with festive Thanksgiving cocktails to help jumpstart the season of merrymaking. We've got you started with a collection of Thanksgiving cocktails that will please everyone around your bar.
Spiced Fall Sangria
Ingredients:
1 bottle Spanish red wine
1 1/2 cups apple cider
1/2 cup iichiko Saiten
1/4 cup St. George spiced pear brandy
1/4 cup Cinnamon Simple Syrup
3 star of anise
1 small Gala or Fuji apple, cored and thinly sliced
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and thinly sliced
1 small red pear, cored and thinly sliced
1 small green pear, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 small pomegranate seeds
1/2 orange, thinly sliced and each sliced halved
Ice, to serve (optional)
Glassware: Large Pitcher
Garnish: Fresh seasonal fruit
Directions:
- Mix all ingredients into a large pitcher and close with a lid.
- Refrigerate 6-72 hours.
- The longer it sits, the more the flavors grow.
Pumpkin Pie Martini
Ingredients:
2 oz Jeptha Creed Wheated Bourbon
2 dash Ne Oublie Black Walnut Bitters
1 oz of egg white
½ oz Spiced Simple Syrup
1 oz Pumpkin Puree
Graham Cracker crumbs
Chocolate ganache
Directions:
- Rim martini glass with ganache and graham cracker crumbles and chill.
- Add all ingredients to the shaking tin and shake without ice.
- Add ice, shake again.
- Double strain into martini glass.
Autumn Harvest Paloma
Ingredients:
2 oz 21Seeds Grapefruit Hibiscus Infused Tequila
0.75 oz Lime Juice
0.75 oz Cinnamon Syrup
3 oz Sparkling Apple Cider
Directions:
- Rim glass with cinnamon and brown sugar.
- Pour 21Seeds Grapefruit Hibiscus Infused Tequila, lime juice, and cinnamon syrup into a shaker and shake for 30 seconds.
- Strain into a glass with ice.
- Top with sparkling apple cider and enjoy!
Spiced Pomegranate Punch
Ingredients:
12 oz Teremana Blanco
8 oz Pomegranate Juice
6 oz Cinnamon Syrup
4 oz Lime Juice
12 dashes Orange Bitters
Directions:
For the cinnamon syrup:
- In a small saucepan, boil one cup water with 2 tsp ground cinnamon.
- Reduce heat, then add one cup sugar, and stir until it dissolves.
For the punch:
- Combine all ingredients in a punch bowl and stir.
- To serve, ladle into a rocks glass or punch cup filled with ice.
- Garnish: Pomegranate Seeds, Orange Wheels and cinnamon sticks.
Spicy Bella Goa Fashioned
Ingredients:
1.7 oz Bulliet Rye Whiskey
.35 oz Allspice Dram Liqueur
3 dashes Fee Cardamom Bitters
1 piece Star Anise (for smoking the glass)
Directions:
- Smoke the serving glass with star anise on a wooden platter and put the glass upside down capturing the smoke of star anise and keep aside.
- Stir Bulliet Rye whiskey, allspice dram, and cardamom bitters with ice until chilled.
- Strain into the smoked glass over a large ice cube.
- Garnish with the smoked star anise.
It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!
Ingredients:
2 oz Pumpkin butter fat washed mezcal
.5 oz Laird’s Applejack
.25 oz Orange liqueur
.25 oz Amaro di Angostura
.25 oz Honey
.5 oz Ginger syrup
2 dashes orange bitters
3 drops of saline
Garnish: Thai orange cut with 1 whole clove in it
Pumpkin butter mix:
1 lb butter
4 cups demerara sugar
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground allspice (buy)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 15oz can of pumpkin puree
Pumpkin butter fat wash Mezcal:
240g (8oz) of pumpkin butter mix
750ml bottle of mezcal (look for a decent mezcal, no need to
break the bank but don’t go too cheap on this)
2g of agar agar
17oz cold water
Directions:
For the pumpkin butter mix:
- Melt butter in pot until melted.
- Add other ingredients and whisk in throughly.
- Store in fridge overnight to chill.
For the Pumpkin butter fat wash mezcal:
- Stir in agar agar into water throughly and let sit 8-10 min.
- Melt pumpkin butter on lowest heat.
- Once butter is melted, add agar agar mix and whisk or using emulsifion blender until completely mixed in.
- Once butter and agar agar mix starts to boil remove from heat and add to mezcal in separate container and using whisk or emulsion blender mix together until well mixed.
- Cover with lid and leave overnight in freezer.
- Double strain pumpkin mezcal with nut bag or cheesecloth inside a colander and let drip.
For the cocktail:
- Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake with ice.
- Double strain into a rocks glass with a big ice cube.
- Cut just the cheek of an orange off and stick a whole clove in the top and place on top of the ice.
Cranberry Mule
Ingredients:
2 oz Dulce Vida Organic Blanco Tequila
4 oz Ginger Beer
.5 oz Fresh Lime Juice
2 oz Cranberry Juice
Garnishes: Cranberry and Rosemary
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a copper mug.
Garnish with Cranberry and Rosemary.
Casa Apple Crisp Punch Bowl
Ingredients:
25.4 oz (1 Full 750ml Bottle) Casamigos Reposado or Casamigos Blanco Tequila
17 oz. Apple Cider
8.5 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
8.5 oz. Ginger Syrup (Suggest Liquid Alchemist)
1 oz. Aromatic Bitters
Optional: 17 Pinches Nutmeg
Garnish: 12 Red Apple Wheels, 17 Star Anise, 17 Thyme Sprigs and Cinnamon Dusting
Directions:
- Combine all ingredients directly into a large punch bowl.
- Top off with ice.
- Stir well for 8-10 seconds, then garnish.
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