The 11 Best Alcohol Gifts for Cocktail Lovers

A decanter with a pop of color

When displayed among bottles of clear and amber spirits, a colorful decanter “gives some vibrancy to your bar cart,” said Cha McCoy, beverage director for the Charleston Wine + Food Festival. Her pick is from Estelle, a Black-owned, vintage-inspired glassware line founded by South Carolina–based entrepreneur Stephanie Summerson Hall.

The decanter, crafted by glass artisans in Poland, is sturdy yet graceful—but it’s not so delicate that anyone will be discouraged from actually using it. And it comes in an array of appealing pastel and vivid tones, from smoky gray to petal pink to emerald green. Just remind the recipient to note what’s in the bottle or to invest in a decanter tag, so they’re not pouring vodka when they really want gin.

A curvy cocktail glass

Even a cocktail connoisseur is unlikely to have these pear-shaped glasses in their collection. Designed by Audrey Saunders, the pioneering proprietor of the now-closed Pegu Club in New York City, the glass has a playful shape that nicely accommodates any drink normally showcased in a martini glass or a coupe. And, as Astor Wines & Spirits’ Nima Ansari explained, this glass is “not so specific that it couldn’t easily be used for many other drinks.”

The Audrey Saunders Sour Glass is nothing if not versatile. Its bowl holds a full 7 ounces—a bit more generous than the bowls of most coupes or Nick and Nora glasses. So this vessel is great for drinks that need a little breathing room, such as a gin fizz with egg whites shaken into a frothy head or an Irish coffee–style drink topped with a collar of cream.

For those who don’t love bonking their noses against narrow Champagne flutes or sloshing bubbly over the rims of shallow coupes, the Audrey Saunders Sour Glasses are also unconventional companions for sparkling wine. So your recipient could easily be toasting with these for New Year’s Eve and beyond.

A tiki-style cocktail bowl

Surely someone in your life is in need of a kitschy ceramic pineapple bowl that’s roughly the size of their head. Like an old-school scorpion bowl, the Bulu Pineapple Bowl is intended to hold a drink large enough to share with a squad. Designed with tropical-cocktails expert Daniele Dalla Pola, the fruit-shaped, foot-long bowl holds 1.6 liters. So there’s plenty of room for a concoction that will delight four to six thirsty friends (and big heap of ice to keep it all chilled).

The bowl can serve plenty of other purposes, too—a vessel for party snacks, a planter, a fruit bowl, a catchall for your friend’s keys (or bar tools), or a centerpiece on a holiday table. “The fact that it could be used as a [small] communal punch bowl as well as a basic holding vessel on your counter is brilliant,” Ansari said. “And a pineapple, historically associated with the welcoming spirit of hospitality, is always a positive presence.”

Bar expert John deBary suggests pairing this bowl with Tiki: Modern Tropical Cocktails, written by his friend and rum expert Shannon Mustipher. The book includes several drinks recipes for tiki bowls, and it’s “filled with wonderful, innovative recipes as well as fabulous photos,” deBary said.

A warming apple aperitif

Inspired by France’s Pommeau de Normandie (a fortified wine from France’s Normandy region, where Calvados is made), Neversink Spirits Apple Apéritif is a lighter take. This bottle is made with New York state–grown apples, and it has about half the alcohol of traditional brandy (around 21.75% ABV, though the exact alcohol by volume may vary from batch to batch).

The liquid blends two parts unfermented heirloom apple cider with Neversink’s one-year-old, whiskey-cask-aged apple brandy. The end result is “intensely aromatic with loads of warm spices,” said Fiasco’s McKee, who sells the drink at his shop. It’s ideal when “you just need something a little lower-proof and that can be enjoyed either at the start or the end of an evening.” He recommends serving the “super versatile” sipper over ice with a twist of lemon, as a spritz, or paired with a rich dessert.

A gift-worthy tequila

This next-generation tequila is named after co-founder and master tequilero Eduardo “Lalo” González, who happens to be the grandson of iconic tequila-maker Don Julio. He continues the family legacy with Lalo, which he launched in 2021, following the same production methods as his grandfather. The contemporary Lalo Blanco Tequila is “fresh and flirty,” according to agave expert Emma Janzen.

It’s made exclusively with agave from the Jaliscan Highlands and fermented with a Champagne yeast. The result is a fruity spirit with a delicate, featherweight finish. “It’s versatile and has a really beautiful, bright profile,” Janzen said. So it’s suitable both for sipping and for mixing into cocktails. This bottle is also a great choice for drinkers who favor a lighter, more fragrant alternative to earthier blanco tequilas.

A quality white rum

White rum is too often positioned either as a woo-hoo party mixer or a cheesy bottle that’s a shortcut to vacation mode. Ten To One White Rum founder Marc Farrell is seeking to bring sophistication back to the spirit while celebrating his native Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Caribbean culture in general. This bottling blends Dominican and Jamaican rums and packages them in a sleek bottle with a crisply designed deep-blue label—sans the tacky pirate or parrot motifs.

Ten To One also offers a dark rum, but Overthrow Hospitality beverage director Sother Teague’s choice is the citrusy, fruity white rum, which “makes a top-notch daiquiri.” It’s also well suited for punching up mojitos or blender drinks like piña coladas. This is the right gift for someone who loves tropical drinks but hates tropical clichés.

A bourbon with history

Looking for a foolproof crowd-pleaser? Consider a mellow Kentucky bourbon that’s special enough to enjoy straight but not too precious to mix into cocktails. Old Forester 1910 Old Fine Whisky is the fourth and final expression in the distillery’s Whiskey Row Series; each one was developed to approximate vintage bourbons that correspond to various points in the company’s history. But this fourth expression is the one many experts, including Ansari, pinpoint as the standout: It has the powerful, concentrated flavor typically found in much older bourbons, plus tons of toffee and spice notes.

In homage to a massive fire on the bottling line that shut down production in 1910, Old Forester ages the bourbon for a second time in barrels charred “nearly to the point of incineration,” according to former Old Forester master taster Jackie Zykan. It’s then bottled at a high proof (46.5% alcohol by volume). While no one is suggesting trying to pass this off as an actual 1910 bourbon, it is a great gift for someone who would appreciate a sip of history. Ansari said it “delivers that really old bourbon flavor,” and at a reasonable price to boot.

Bitters with a twist

Kick up the cocktails with the Bitter Queens Essential Bitters Variety Pack, a sampler of the most popular bitters from this LGBTQ-owned, small-batch company in San Francisco. The cheeky monikers are all named for women, from Opulent Odessa Orange (ideal for adding complexity to martinis) to Joker Judy Chocolate Walnut (just right as a finishing touch for agave or whiskey drinks).

Teague favors the robust Marie Laveau Tobacco bitters for whiskey or rum drinks. “It’s made with lapsang souchong tea—it’s not actually made with tobacco, so there’s no nicotine in the product, thank god,” he said. “It has a super-delicious, smoky, earthy flavor.” Since bitters are used in dashes, this is a stocking stuffer that will last a long time, enhancing drinks for months or even years.

A curated selection of bar books

What defines a so-called modern classic? According to journalist Robert Simonson (also a contributor to The New York Times), this is a drink that has enduring popularity, has traveled beyond the bar where it was created, and has inspired variations.

To be sure, readers who have followed the cocktail renaissance of the past couple of decades will recognize many favorite drinks in Simonson’s book, Modern Classic Cocktails: 60+ Stories and Recipes From the New Golden Age in Drinks. This book includes drinks like the Gin Blossom, a sleek, apricot eau de vie–laced martini variation. (This cocktail was created in 2009 by Julie Reiner for the then-new Clover Club, and the drink went on to become one of the Brooklyn bar’s defining drinks.)

The recipes are accessible enough to re-create at home, and they are accompanied by detailed stories about the origins of the drinks. In other words, this is a solid list of favorites that any cocktail buff will want to have on repeat.

Think of the fun, super-colorful Dragtails as an ideal gift for a friend who plans every special occasion around drag brunch or throws an epic watch party for the latest episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Sorry, you won’t find photos of drag queens within. Instead, the pages are filled with recipes and fanciful, brightly hued illustrations of drinks inspired by drag queens.

Most of the drinks are riffs on classics, such as the Piñarita, a pineapple margarita inspired by Manila Luzon and her iconic pineapple gown. Don’t look for dry martinis here. Many of these cocktails lean into sweeter styles, including a number of downright dessert-adjacent drinks. One example is the PB and Slay, a White Russian–esque drink enriched with peanut butter and grated chocolate, inspired by RuPaul herself.

Some fun, real-world tie-ins round out the book concept, including a foreword penned by Raja Gemini, who won the third season of Drag Race, and a drag-inspired cocktail party playlist.

Of note, although these cocktails are straightforward and easy to make, if someone follows the recipes directly, their drinks won’t look exactly like those shown in the lavish illustrations. Of course, your cocktails-loving friend can create drinks that are equally over-the-top—why use one garnish when two or three will do?

Ryan Chetiyawardana, known as Mr. Lyan, is the London-based pro behind an array of bars past and present, including Silver Lyan in Washington, DC, and Super Lyan in Amsterdam. Though Lyan is typically known for creating inventive, baroque drinks at his bars, Mr. Lyan’s Cocktails at Home is refreshingly accessible, yet it’s still far from basic. Even experienced home bartenders will learn a few new tricks here. Bonus: Many of the drinks are sized for groups, so this book is especially useful during the festive season.

Photos are light, bright, and breezy, interspersed with line drawings done by Lyan. Each recipe includes sections devoted to “method” (straightforward instruction) as well as “magic” (optional suggestions for riffing or improving upon the drink). For example, the frozen Smoked Watermelon Shandy, made with IPA and a teaspoon of peated Scotch, is accompanied by suggestions for finding a beer style that works well with fruit.

Note: Some of the recipes call for Mr. Lyan–branded bottled elixirs, which are expensive and challenging to get in the US. It’s fine to zip past those recipes because this book includes plenty of other delectable drinks.

This article was edited by Gabriella Gershenson, Marguerite Preston, and Marilyn Ong.

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