10 Sparkling Cocktail Recipes for a Bubbly New Year's Eve

Ring in the New Year with our favorite recipes for festively fizzy sparkling cocktails.

By
Rabi Abonour
Rabi Abonour is a contributing writer at Serious Eats.
Rabi Abonour
Rabi Abonour is a planner specializing in transportation, but has also been a photojournalist, writer, and editor for several online and print publications.
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Updated December 24, 2024
Two classes of a French 75

Serious Eats / Two Bites

It's always fun to ring in the New Year with a glass of bubbly. If you're celebrating with just a few other people, it might be worth busting out a fancy bottle of Champagne—or the best Cava, or Prosecco. But good sparkling wine in large quantities can get expensive quickly, so if you're hosting a party, you might want a way to stretch your supply.

That's where sparkling cocktails come in. Once you cut the wine with booze and mixers, there's little detectable difference between an expensive bottle and a cheap one, and the pop and fizz are just as festive. To toast the New Year with delicious drinks that won't break the bank, check out 10 of our favorite sparkling cocktail recipes below, including a classic French 75 (and several variations) and a bittersweet Negroni Sbagliato.

  • French 75

    Two classes of a French 75

    Serious Eats / Two Bites

    This classic drink is, without a doubt, the most elegant cocktail to ever be named after a piece of heavy artillery. It's made by combining sparkling wine with herbal gin, tart lemon juice, and a little sugar, for a drink that's perfectly balanced—the proportions of liquor and sugar make it just strong and sweet enough.

  • Pomegranate Rouge

    Pomegranate rouge cocktail garnished with a lemon twist.

    Debbie Wee

    Inspired by the classic French 75, this cocktail is fizzy, pleasantly sweet, slightly spiced, and refreshingly tart. It's made with pomegranate simple syrup, fresh lemon juice, sparkling wine, and Lillet Rouge—all of which scream winter in the best way possible.

  • Silver Daisy (Sparkling Rum Cocktail)

    A Silver Daisy sparkling cocktail and opened bottle of Cava

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    If you're in the mood to change things up this New Year's, the French 75 is ripe for variation, as this recipe (and a number of the ones that follow) proves. With its blend of lightly aged rum, freshly squeezed lime juice, and orange curaçao, this slightly tiki-inspired version will take you out of the cold grip of winter and momentarily transport you to a tropical island. A couple of drops of Angostura bitters gives the drink just a touch of spice.

  • A Minnesota Good-Bye (Cranberry French 75)

    Two Minnesota goodbyes

    Serious Eats / Two Bites

    This recipe takes a little more effort than a typical French 75, but the results are worth it. We start with sparkling wine, gin, and grapefruit juice, then add a homemade spiced cherry cordial flavored with cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, and cloves. The cordial can be made several weeks in advance, and you'll likely have some left over. It's great served with club soda and a squeeze of citrus juice for a nonalcoholic refresher.

    Continue to 5 of 10 below

  • Bellissimo Aceto (Lambrusco-Amaro Cocktail)

    Two glasses of Lambrusco-Amaro cocktails

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    There's more to sparkling wine than the most common white varieties, like Champagne and Prosecco. This French 75 twist makes use of a well-known red variant: Lambrusco. To complement the wine's bold, fruity flavor, we turn to caramelly, bittersweet Amaro Lucano, fresh mint, and just a dash of white balsamic vinegar for tartness.

  • Salzburg 75 (Grapefruit Radler French 75 Variation)

    Two glasses of Salzburg 75 with two cut pink grapefruit halves in the background

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    This drink is more of a departure from a traditional French 75 than its cousins above, as it isn't made with wine at all. Instead, we use Austrian Stiegl-Radler Grapefruit, a canned beer-and-grapefruit-soda combination. The light radler is kicked up with gin and lemon juice to make an incredibly refreshing cocktail, one that's as tasty at brunch any time of year as it is on New Year's Eve.

  • Negroni Sbagliato

    A Negroni cocktail made with sparkling wine, served in a flute and garnished with a curl of orange peel

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    Legend has it that the Negroni Sbagliato was invented when a bartender was making a Negroni and absent-mindedly reached for a bottle of sparkling wine instead of gin—sbagliato is the Italian word for "bungled" or "mistaken." The story sounds apocryphal to me, but that doesn't change the fact that sparkling wine is a lovely partner for Campari and vermouth.

  • Pop! Cider

    Pop! Cider cocktail made with apple cider, Prosecco, and Bénédictine

    Serious Eats / María del Mar Sacasa

    This simple drink combines fresh apple cider, crisp Prosecco, and herbal, honeyed Bénédictine. The result is fruity but not too sweet, and it's super refreshing. Be sure to use a good-quality cider here—fresh and local is best.

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  • The Devereaux

    The Devereaux cocktail served over ice in a tall glass garnished with a mint leaf

    Serious Eats / Wes Rowe

    The Devereaux also relies on the time-honored combination of sparkling wine and elderflower liqueur, but replaces the gin in the 23 Skiddoo with Bulleit bourbon. We also throw in a lemon's worth of juice to brighten it up, plus a standard simple syrup for sweetness.

  • Domo Arigato (Mezcal and Ginger Cocktail)

    Overhead shot of glasses of Domo Arigato cocktail and a partially filled ice tray

    Serious Eats / Kelly Puleio

    It may sound really out there to use sesame oil in a cocktail, but this fantastic drink, created by Ran Duan of the Baldwin Bar at Sichuan Garden in Woburn, Massachusetts, turns out delicately spicy, tart, and just subtly savory. Fresh ginger juice and plain club soda keep the rich and smoky mezcal in check for a drink that's complex and refreshing.

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