14 Best Thanksgiving Drinks, From Apple Cider Mimosas to Pumpkin Spice Lattes
The turkey gets a timeline and the sides get a list. The drinks usually get sorted the moment the first guest walks in and asks what there is.
These are the Thanksgiving drinks I’d actually put out. There are a few cocktails for the grown-ups, and mocktails so nobody toasts with a glass of water. There are warm mugs for after the plates are cleared, and pumpkin coffee for the Thanksgiving morning and the pie.
Most of them batch, pour themselves, or come together in a couple of minutes, because whoever is cooking shouldn’t also be bartending.
Pick two or three and stop there. Something sparkling, something alcohol-free, and something warm will cover almost any table.
Cocktail Drinks for Thanksgiving
Two sparkling pours and two cocktails that shake or stir up quickly. All four can be set up before anyone rings the doorbell.
2-Ingredient Fall Mimosa with Apple Cider
It’s the glass to hand people as they come in on Thanksgiving morning, with the oven already on and nobody sitting down yet. Set out chilled cider, a couple of bottles on ice, and a dish of cinnamon sugar for the rims, and guests will pour their own. One bottle covers roughly eight flutes.
2-Ingredient Mimosas with Cranberry Juice
If apple cider runs too sweet for your crowd, this is the sharper mimosa: deep red, tart, and bubbly. Drop a few frozen cranberries in each flute and the glass stays cold without watering down. Two ingredients, about four minutes, and it’s made to pour alongside the appetizers.
Apple Cider Whiskey Cocktail
Crushed ice, diced crisp apple, and a rosemary sprig you smell before the first sip, with apple whiskey and fresh cider doing the rest. This is the one to batch. Eight servings go into a pitcher and chill for up to four hours, so all you have to do is pour 4 ounces a glass over fresh ice and get back to the stove. A single glass takes about 10 minutes.
Easy Apple Pie Cocktail with Fireball
Apple pie in a glass, sweet and full of cinnamon, with a brown sugar and cinnamon rim. It makes a fun after-dinner pour and shakes up in five minutes. For a crowd, stir the batch version in a pitcher and chill it at least 4 hours before guests arrive. The recipe also has a mocktail version, so the non-drinkers can have one too.
Non-Alcoholic Drinks for Thanksgiving
Both of these mix their base ahead and get their fizz at the last second. Bonus point: the glass headed to the kids’ table looks every bit as festive as the grown-up one.
Easy Fall Mocktail with Cranberry Juice and Lime
Pour this into wine glasses and the people who aren’t drinking are holding the same glass as everyone else when it’s time to toast. It’s tart and ice cold, with fresh lime keeping the cranberry from tasting like plain juice. The cranberry and lime base keeps covered in the fridge for up to a day, and the sparkling water goes in only as you pour. It’s three ingredients, and swapping in lemon-lime soda makes the sweeter version kids go back for.
Easy Mocktail with Pomegranate Juice
This one is built in a pitcher, with deep red with pomegranate seeds and lime slices floating in it, so it goes straight on the table and people enthusiastically help themselves. It scales from 2 servings to 12 by multiplying, and a punch bowl works as well as a jug.
Warm Drinks for Thanksgiving
For after the plates are cleared, when everyone has drifted to the couch and the kitchen finally goes quiet.
Homemade Hot Chocolate with Chocolate Chips
This is the pot you set out with a ladle and a tray of toppings. It’s glossy, silky hot chocolate made with real melted chocolate chips, finished with whipped cream or marshmallows. The recipe makes four mugs in about 8 minutes, and it holds in a slow cooker on warm for up to 2 hours while people build their own.
Dairy-Free Hot Chocolate with Almond Milk
Creamy and chocolatey, and vegan as written, with maple syrup and dairy-free dark chocolate chips melted into almond milk. If you’re making the Homemade Hot Chocolate with Chocolate Chips too, a small pot of this beside it means your dairy-free guests get a mug of their own. One mug takes about 9 minutes. For a crowd, multiply it in a bigger pot on low and keep it below a simmer.
Earl Grey Milk Tea with Lavender (London Fog)
Bergamot and vanilla in a mug of frothy plant milk, with a hint of lavender, for anyone who’d rather have tea with their pie. Brew it with decaf Earl Grey and it works late into the evening. It’s vegan and ready in about 8 minutes.
Thanksgiving Coffee and Dessert Drinks
Pumpkin in a mug for the morning, and something cold and spiced to go with the pie (or stand in for it).
Dairy-Free Pumpkin Spice Latte with Oat Milk
Thanksgiving morning coffee for two, frothy and spiced, with real pumpkin puree whisked into the oat milk before the kitchen gets busy. It’s vegan with maple syrup and coconut whipped cream, and barista-style oat milk gives it the most coffee-shop foam. Double or triple it when the house is full, and keep the coffee strong so the pumpkin doesn’t get lost.
Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte with Almond Milk
One big mug made exactly as sweet as you like, which is the whole point of making it at home. The pumpkin, brown sugar, and spices warm together with almond milk in a single small saucepan, and it’s dairy free. For a few people, double or triple the pan and pour it into individual mugs.
Dairy-Free Fall Iced Coffee with Maple and Cinnamon
For the friend who orders iced coffee in every season, frost or no frost, this one gets its fall flavor from maple syrup and cinnamon instead of pumpkin. It’s vegan with coconut whipped cream and a dairy-free caramel on top, and the recipe includes a pitcher version for four where everyone finishes their own glass. It takes five ingredients plus ice, and the sweetened coffee and almond milk can be mixed up to a day ahead.
Pumpkin Fall Coffee Creamer with Sweetened Condensed Milk
This is the jar that sits on the counter all Thanksgiving weekend so nobody has to hunt for the milk and sugar. It’s thick and glossy with sweetened condensed milk, flavored with real pumpkin puree and maple, and one pour does the job of cream and sugar together. Ten minutes of whisking makes about 3 1/2 cups, and it keeps for a week in the fridge, so make it the weekend before and give it a good shake before each pour.
Pumpkin Pie Spice Milkshake with Vanilla Ice Cream
Dessert in a tall glass, spiced like pumpkin pie and blended with vanilla ice cream. Four ingredients make four glasses in about 5 minutes, and a small wedge of pumpkin pie on the rim turns it into the whole dessert course.
Tips for Serving Thanksgiving Drinks
Which Thanksgiving Drink Should You Make?
One Last Pour
However many people end up around the table, three drinks usually cover it. Pour something sparkling to start, something alcohol-free that looks just as good, and a warm mug for after the pie. Batch what you can the night before and let everyone pour their own, so you get to sit down too.
Still building the rest of the menu? The easy holiday turkey with garlic, lemon and rosemary, the fall harvest salad with pears and walnuts, and the fall salad with beets and goat cheese all belong on the same table. For more seasonal pours, here are 17 of my favorite drinks for the fall.
Save this to your Thanksgiving board on Pinterest so it’s ready when the guest list is final. 🍂
