Occasion
Party cocktails
A party cocktail has a different job to a quiet one: it needs to taste good made twelve times in a row, survive being poured by someone who isn't concentrating, and please a room with mixed tastes rather than one discerning drinker. That usually means bold, familiar flavours, forgiving ratios, and prep that doesn't chain you to the shaker for the whole evening — batch-friendly builds and highballs do a lot of the heavy lifting here.
What party drinks have in common
Measured across the 88 recipes on this page, compared with the rest of the site.
- Strength
- Noticeably lighter than average — a median of 10% in the glass against 14% across the rest of the site.
- Citrus
- 73% use fresh citrus, against 46% elsewhere — buy limes and lemons before anything else.
- Difficulty
- 72% are rated easy, against 54% across the rest of the catalogue.
- Alcohol-free and low-alcohol
- 26% of this list is alcohol-free or low in alcohol, so there is something to serve everyone without making a separate drink.
88 party cocktails
Shirley Temple
Ginger ale and grenadine with a maraschino cherry — a bright, fizzy classic mocktail.
Ginger Lime Fizz
Ginger beer, lime and soda over ice with mint — a spicy, fizzy CocktailHQ original.
Tommy's Margarita
Tequila, lime and agave syrup — no triple sec — a cleaner, more agave-forward take on the Margarita.
Between the Sheets
Cognac, white rum, triple sec and lemon in close-to-equal parts — a strong, citrus-bright Sidecar relative.
Three Dots and a Dash
Dark and gold rum shaken with citrus, falernum and allspice dram — a spiced tiki classic named for its Morse-code cherry garnish.
Sparkling Cranberry Mocktail
Tart cranberry juice lengthened with soda and lime — a bright, festive-looking three-ingredient mocktail.
Virgin Daiquiri
Lime and sugar blended with crushed ice to a frozen slush, finished with a splash of soda — the Daiquiri's citrus snap, without the rum.
Queen's Park Swizzle
Rum, lime, mint and sugar swizzled through crushed ice, with a float of Angostura on top.
Roy Rogers
Cola and grenadine with a maraschino cherry — the cola-based sibling to a Shirley Temple.
Virgin Sunrise
Orange juice and grenadine, layered so the colour bleeds from red to gold — the Tequila Sunrise without the tequila.
Alcohol-Free Bellini
Peach purée topped with alcohol-free sparkling wine — two ingredients, and the same drink the original always was.
Virgin Sea Breeze
Cranberry and grapefruit over ice — the Sea Breeze's dry, tart half, which was always the interesting part.
Lime Rickey
Lime, a little sugar and soda water — three ingredients, and the driest long drink on the site.