Occasion
Date night cocktails
Date-night cocktails sit somewhere between dinner and celebration — a little more considered than an everyday drink, without tipping into full party territory. Think drinks worth making for two, slowly, with some conversation built into the process. This occasion tag is brand new, so the selection below is still growing — the dinner and nightcap pages are a good place to browse in the meantime.
What date night drinks have in common
Measured across the 19 recipes on this page, compared with the rest of the site.
- Strength
- Stronger than average — a median of 24% in the glass against 10% across the rest of the site.
- Effort
- Only 21% are built in the glass, against 46% elsewhere, so most of these want a shaker or a mixing glass.
- Difficulty
- 42% are rated easy, against 64% across the rest of the catalogue.
- Alcohol-free and low-alcohol
- 16% of this list is alcohol-free or low in alcohol, so there is something to serve everyone without making a separate drink.
If there is food involved
A drink less sweet than the pudding it accompanies will taste sour and thin next to it. This is the pairing rule that most reliably goes wrong, and the fix is to match the sweetness or beat it.
Pudding, and afterwards, and the drinks that meet it →19 date night cocktails
Bacardí Cocktail
White rum, lime and grenadine, shaken cold — a Daiquiri with a pink, pomegranate-sweetened twist.
Tommy's Margarita
Tequila, lime and agave syrup — no triple sec — a cleaner, more agave-forward take on the Margarita.
