18 Easy Christmas Gin Cocktails for the Festive Season

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me… a gorgeous spin on the classic G&T! Here are 18 Christmas gin cocktails that will get you in the, ahem, holiday spirit in no time at all. Happy clinking, holidaymakers! 

1. French 75

If a gin prosecco Christmas cocktail sounds like your kind of drink, may we please introduce you to the iconic French 75? Named for a field gun used in WWII, this pretty cocktail has a fair amount of kick but goes down a treat. It combines Bulldog Gin, prosecco, fresh lemon juice, and simple syrup to create a tasty Prohibition-era drink that never seems to go out of style.  

Roaring 20s inspo: 12 Prohibition-Era Cocktail Recipes from the Roaring Twenties 

2. Cranberry Gin cocktail

The Cranberry Gin Christmas cocktail is a beautifully cheery mixed drink that casts everyone’s favourite holiday berry in the leading role. It’s also very easy to make, which makes it a great choice for festive get-togethers with plenty of friends and family in the mix. 

You simply combine 45ml Bulldog Gin, 15ml fresh lemon juice, and 150ml cranberry juice. The drink is built straight in a rocks glass with ice and garnished with fresh cranberries and mint (optional). 

3. Gin Espresso Martini

Typically, an Espresso Martini is made with SKYY vodka, but we also like to stir things up now and again by making it with gin. Add some coffee liqueur, and a shot of fresh espresso, and you’ve got the perfect after-dinner drink that’s still one of our favourite types of Martinis today. 

4. White Lady cocktail

This 1920s gin-laced sour is a tour de force that combines the zesty tartness of good gin, bitter orange botanicals and lemon juice, which are beautifully tamed by rich egg white that adds a silken texture for sophisticated sipping. 

5. Gin & Tonic

Christmas cocktails with gin don’t have to be complicated to be amazing – you can also keep it really simple and stick with the classic gin and tonic—especially if you’re on a holiday budget. Simply add a measure or two of gin to a Collins glass with ice, top it off with 150ml of your favorite tonic water, add a squeeze of lime or lemon juice, and you are good to go. If you’re feeling fancy, you can play around with garnishes like blueberries, strawberry slices, gooseberries, and even spices like pink peppercorns.  

Curious? What is Gin Made From: The Ori(gin) Story & More 

6. Rosemary Gimlet 

Ostensibly prescribed as a daily tonic to prevent disease among sailors and officers in the British Navy in the 19th century, the Classic Gimlet is said to be the brainchild of Surgeon Admiral Sir Thomas Gimlette. It combines gin, lime juice, simple syrup, and an optional splash of soda water.  

To take it into a more wintery space, we like to switch out the sugar syrup for rosemary-infused syrup and add a sprig of rosemary as garnish. It’s a small substitution but makes for a fun flavour shift. 

7. Sloe Gin Fizz

Sloe gin Christmas cocktails are synonymous with silly season, and with good reason – they are utterly delicious. Sloes are sour berries that grow on blackthorn bushes, and are infused with gin to create a typically English, purplish-red gin-based liqueur that has become a winter staple around the globe.  

To make a Sloe Gin Fizz, you simply add some lemon juice and sugar syrup, shake it up, decant it into a glass with fresh ice, and then top it up it with soda water.  

8. Hot Gin Old Fashioned

The OG Old Fashioned combines Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon, sugar syrup and bitters, but we are also rather partial to its cousin, the Hot Gin Old Fashioned. As far as old-school Christmas gin cocktail recipes go, this one hits all the high notes.  

It combines 45ml gin, 15ml sugar syrup, 2 dashes of orange bitter, and 45ml of boiling water with a twist of orange. You gently heat the gin, syrup, and bitters in a saucepan, add the boiling water, and serve it in a heat-proof serving container like a teacup or a tankard, with an orange twist as garnish. 

9. Christmas Negroni

If you like gin-based Christmas cocktails that challenge you to take your drink-making skills to the next level, we highly recommend the Christmas Negroni. It’s rather simple to pull off but does require a bit of effort beforehand.  

To make it, you first need to infuse gin with baking spices for up to three days. Once this is done, it’s as simple as adding Campari, Cinzano Vermouth Rosso, and garnishing it with orange peel, a cinnamon stick, and star anise. Pretty and festive! 

10. Gibson Martini

Arguably one of the most discussed cocktails of the last year or so thanks to its appearance in The Queen’s Gambit as Beth Harmon’s drink of choice, the Gibson Martini combines gin, Cinzano Vermouth Bianco, and ice. Strained and served in a chilled martini glass and garnished with a pickled cocktail onion, this drink is about as classic as it gets. 

11. Winter Mimosa 

The best Christmas gin cocktails are often a festive riff on much-loved drinks, and this is indeed the case with the Winter Mimosa. To usher it into the holiday space, the classic orange juice and Prosecco recipe is given a bit of an upgrade.  

It combines 60ml gin, 120ml blood orange syrup, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice, which is shaken up, poured into a Champagne flute or tumbler, charged with Prosecco, and garnished with sliced blood oranges. 

12. Hot Toddy

The Hot Toddy has been around in some shape or form for centuries. It’s completely soothing, and a drink that can also be customised to feature your favourite base spirit and steeping ingredients. We like to make it using Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon, fresh lemon juice, brown sugar, cloves, and sliced lemon.    

More cosiness this way: 13 of the Best Warm Winter Cocktails to Stave Off the Cold This Season 

13. Ginger Rickey (gin & ginger beer)

Ginger is one of those festive spices that always brings to mind fragrant home kitchens with things bubbling and brewing over the holidays. Capture the essence of this baking spice in a refreshingly tall sipper by combining 60ml of gin with 180 – 240ml of ginger beer in a tall glass over ice. Very easy, and equally delicious.

Even MORE inspo: What to Mix with Gin (The Best Gin Mixers in 2024)

14. Aviation

The Aviation cocktail is a dapper retro drink that is making a big resurgence thanks to its daring good looks. Arguably one of the most famous cocktails with crème de violette, the Aviation is a dreamy drink with plenty of old-glamour allure. The floral bouquet, in combination with the heady sweet-yet-sour flavor of gin and cherry liqueur, makes for a very striking cocktail indeed.

15. Mistletoe Martini

If you’re looking for a drink that just looks like Christmas, then you will love the Mistletoe Martini. The festive drink is an indulgent fruity Martini with a vodka base and delicious notes of cranberry and elderflower added to the mix. Serve it with your best holiday dishes and watch the magic happen.

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16. Vesper Martini

The Vesper Martini is named after Vesper Lynd, a fictional character and double agent in Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale. She is the first Bond Girl, and legend has it she was his first true love…although definitely not his last! Slightly sweet, and a little bitter with herbal tones and a dry finish, it’s a deeply sophisticated clinker.

Stay debonair, darling: 22 Types of Martinis You Should Know

17. Cranberry Martini

Whatever the festive theme or occasion, the one cocktail you can always count on is a Cranberry Martini. They’re easy to shake up and your guests will always feel like you’ve gone the extra mile. You can use sweetened or unsweetened cranberry juice depending on your preference. If you want to make it extra fancy, then rim the glass with sugar and a touch of cinnamon.

18. Clover Club

A raspberry cocktail with a 1920s gentleman’s club theme? It’s a thing! The pretty Clover Club cocktail might seem a little girly, but it was actually the drink of choice of a bunch of rather strapping lads back in the early 1900s. This picture-perfect drink tastes as delicious as it looks — like raspberry ice cream that has been infused with a hint of gin, yet not too sweet. Perfection!

There you have it – 18 very merry Christmas gin cocktails to serve over the festive season. Remember to tag us in your Xmas Insta snaps, and sign up for our newsletter so you can get holly jolly articles like this bob-sledding right into your inbox! 🎅🎄