Thanksgiving cocktails

The 11 Thanksgiving drinks people search for most, each with exact measures. Under every recipe: calories, carbs, sugar and strength per glass, worked out from USDA FoodData Central and our own spirit data, plus a lighter swap and a zero-proof version where one works.

The short answer

The most searched by name is the apple cider margarita (179 calories). The lightest is the cranberry spritz at 84; the richest, the pumpkin pie martini at 198. For a crowd, the cider and cranberry punch serves 12 at 0.67 of a standard drink per glass.

Every drink at a glance

Per glass as written below. A standard drink is 14 g of alcohol. Tap a drink for its recipe.

DrinkCalSugarDrinks

Apple cider margarita 179 9.7g 1.33
Apple cider sangriaper glass, serves 8 145 9.6g 0.97
Cider and cranberry punchper glass, serves 12 150 18g 0.67
Bourbon apple cider 158 12g 1
Cranberry margarita 178 9.4g 1.33
Spiked hot apple cider 185 18g 1
Apple cider mimosa 111 9.8g 0.6
Cranberry Moscow mule 156 13g 1
Pumpkin pie martini 198 14g 1
Cranberry spritz 84 4.6g 0.6
Maple old fashioned 149 4g 1.33

The recipes, with the math

Spirits are 80 proof, the legal minimum for US vodka, whiskey, rum and tequila. A 90 proof bourbon adds about 12 calories per 1½ oz. ABV is the mix before ice melts into it.

Apple cider margarita

Rocks glass

A margarita lengthened with fresh apple cider. Tart, lightly sweet and quick to shake.

Ingredients

1½ oz Blanco tequila
½ oz Cointreau
2 oz Apple cider
½ oz Fresh lime juice

Shake hard with ice for 10 seconds and strain over fresh ice. A cinnamon-sugar rim is optional and not counted.

Per drink

Cal: 179
Carbs: 12g
Sugar: 9.7g
ABV: 17.8%
Drinks: 1.33

Lighter: Skip the orange liqueur and top with 1 oz soda water. 133 cal, 6.2g sugar
Zero-proof: 3 oz cider, ½ oz lime, 2 oz soda water. 49 cal, 9.2g sugar

Apple cider sangria

Pitcher, serves 8

White wine, cider and a little brandy, made a few hours ahead. Built for a crowd.

Ingredients

750 mL Dry white wine
2 cups Apple cider
½ cup Brandy
1 cup Ginger ale

Combine the wine, cider and brandy in a pitcher with 2 sliced apples, 1 sliced orange and 2 cinnamon sticks. Chill at least 2 hours. Add the ginger ale just before serving. Numbers are per glass, one eighth of the pitcher; sugar the fruit releases is not counted.

Per glass, 6.7 oz

Cal: 145
Carbs: 12g
Sugar: 9.6g
ABV: 8.7%
Drinks: 0.97

Lighter: Use soda water instead of ginger ale. 134 cal, 6.9g sugar

Cider and cranberry punch

Punch bowl, serves 12

Cider, cranberry and bourbon, lengthened with ginger ale. One bowl covers the table.

Ingredients

4 cups Apple cider
2 cups Cranberry juice cocktail
1½ cups Bourbon
¼ cup Fresh lemon juice
3 cups Ginger ale

Stir the cider, cranberry, bourbon and lemon juice in a bowl and chill. Add the ginger ale and a block of ice right before guests arrive. Numbers are per serving, one twelfth of the bowl.

Per glass, 7.2 oz

Cal: 150
Carbs: 21g
Sugar: 18g
ABV: 5.6%
Drinks: 0.67

Lighter: Use diet ginger ale. 129 cal, 13g sugar
Zero-proof: Leave out the bourbon; still serves 12. 85 cal, 18g sugar

Bourbon apple cider

Rocks or highball glass

Bourbon over cold cider with a squeeze of lemon. Two ingredients do most of the work.

Ingredients

1½ oz Bourbon
4 oz Apple cider
¼ oz Fresh lemon juice

Build over ice, stir, and garnish with a cinnamon stick or an apple slice.

Per drink

Cal: 158
Carbs: 15g
Sugar: 12g
ABV: 10.4%
Drinks: 1

Lighter: Halve the cider and top with 2 oz soda water. 129 cal, 6.2g sugar
Zero-proof: 4 oz cider, 2 oz soda water, ¼ oz lemon. 60 cal, 12g sugar

Cranberry margarita

Rocks glass

Tequila, orange liqueur, lime and cranberry juice cocktail. Tart, red and easy to scale up.

Ingredients

1½ oz Blanco tequila
½ oz Cointreau
1½ oz Cranberry juice cocktail
¾ oz Fresh lime juice

Shake with ice and strain over fresh ice. Garnish with a few fresh cranberries or a lime wheel.

Per drink

Cal: 178
Carbs: 12g
Sugar: 9.4g
ABV: 18.8%
Drinks: 1.33

Lighter: Use light cranberry juice cocktail. 162 cal, 5.9g sugar
Zero-proof: 2 oz cranberry juice cocktail, ¾ oz lime, 2 oz soda water. 42 cal, 7.8g sugar

Spiked hot apple cider

Mug

Warm cider with aged rum stirred in at the end. The one hot drink on the list.

Ingredients

6 oz Apple cider
1½ oz Aged rum

Warm the cider until it steams, pour it into a mug, then stir in the rum off the heat. A cinnamon stick or a strip of orange peel is the only garnish it needs.

Per drink

Cal: 185
Carbs: 21g
Sugar: 18g
ABV: 8.0%
Drinks: 1

Lighter: Use 4 oz cider and 2 oz hot black tea. 157 cal, 12g sugar
Zero-proof: Just the hot cider and cinnamon. 87 cal, 18g sugar

Adding the rum after heating keeps nearly all of its alcohol: USDA puts alcohol stirred into a hot liquid at 85% retained. Simmering it in for an hour leaves about 25%.

Apple cider mimosa

Flute

Equal parts cider and brut. The easiest drink here to hand out as people arrive.

Ingredients

3 oz Apple cider
3 oz Brut sparkling wine

Pour the cider into a flute and top slowly with well-chilled brut sparkling wine.

Per drink

Cal: 111
Carbs: 13g
Sugar: 9.8g
ABV: 6.0%
Drinks: 0.6

Lighter: Use half the cider and make up the rest with soda water. 89 cal, 5.4g sugar
Zero-proof: 3 oz cider topped with 3 oz sparkling water. 43 cal, 8.9g sugar

Cranberry Moscow mule

Copper mug or highball

The classic vodka mule with a splash of cranberry. Ginger beer is where the sugar is.

Ingredients

1½ oz Vodka
1 oz Cranberry juice cocktail
½ oz Fresh lime juice
3 oz Ginger beer

Fill the mug with ice, add the vodka, cranberry and lime, top with ginger beer and stir once. Garnish with lime and a few cranberries.

Per drink

Cal: 156
Carbs: 14g
Sugar: 13g
ABV: 10.0%
Drinks: 1

Lighter: Diet ginger beer and light cranberry juice cocktail. 109 cal, 1.6g sugar
Zero-proof: 1 oz cranberry, ½ oz lime, 4 oz ginger beer. 70 cal, 16g sugar

Pumpkin pie martini

Coupe or martini glass

Vodka shaken with real pumpkin, maple and half-and-half. Dessert in a glass, with the calories to match.

Ingredients

1½ oz Vodka
1 oz Half-and-half
1 tbsp Canned pumpkin
½ oz Maple syrup

Shake very hard with ice, double strain into a chilled coupe and dust with pumpkin pie spice. The pinch of spice is not counted.

Per drink

Cal: 198
Carbs: 16g
Sugar: 14g
ABV: 17.1%
Drinks: 1

Lighter: Whole milk instead of half-and-half, and half the maple. 150 cal, 8g sugar

Cranberry spritz

Wine glass

Brut, a splash of cranberry and soda over ice, with a rosemary sprig. The lightest drink on the list.

Ingredients

3 oz Brut sparkling wine
1 oz Cranberry juice cocktail
1 oz Soda water

Fill a wine glass with ice, add the cranberry and sparkling wine, top with soda water and garnish with rosemary.

Per drink

Cal: 84
Carbs: 6.3g
Sugar: 4.6g
ABV: 7.2%
Drinks: 0.6

Lighter: Light cranberry juice cocktail. 73 cal, 2.3g sugar
Zero-proof: 1½ oz cranberry topped with 3½ oz soda water. 26 cal, 5.5g sugar

Maple old fashioned

Rocks glass

Bourbon, a teaspoon of maple and bitters. Tied for the strongest drink here, and the lowest in sugar.

Ingredients

2 oz Bourbon
1 tsp Maple syrup

Stir the bourbon, maple syrup and 2 dashes of Angostura bitters with ice for 20 to 30 seconds. Strain over one large cube and express an orange peel over the top. Bitters are a few drops and are left out of the math.

Per drink

Cal: 149
Carbs: 4.5g
Sugar: 4g
ABV: 36.9%
Drinks: 1.33

There is no lighter swap: the teaspoon of maple is the only sugar. It is also tied for the strongest drink here, so it is the one to sip slowly.

The swaps that cut the most sugar

Nearly all the sugar in these drinks comes from the mixer, not the spirit. Plain vodka, tequila, rum, bourbon and brandy carry no carbohydrate at all (USDA), so the biggest savings come from diet ginger beer, light cranberry juice and soda water.

Drink and swapSugarCal

Cranberry Moscow muleDiet ginger beer and light cranberry juice cocktail. 13 → 1.6g 156 → 109
Spiked hot apple ciderUse 4 oz cider and 2 oz hot black tea. 18 → 12g 185 → 157
Bourbon apple ciderHalve the cider and top with 2 oz soda water. 12 → 6.2g 158 → 129
Pumpkin pie martiniWhole milk instead of half-and-half, and half the maple. 14 → 8g 198 → 150
Cider and cranberry punchUse diet ginger ale. 18 → 13g 150 → 129

For the lowest-sugar bottles themselves, see lowest sugar alcohol and lowest calorie alcohol.

How strong is each drink?

A US standard drink is about 14 g of pure alcohol: 1.5 oz of 80 proof spirits, 5 oz of 12% wine or 12 oz of 5% beer (NIAAA). The drinks here run from 0.6 of a standard drink for the mimosa and the spritz to 1.33 for the maple old fashioned, which is 2 oz of bourbon and very little else. The two margaritas reach the same 1.33, because Cointreau is 40% alcohol too.

Long meals make it easy to lose count. The pacing advice that holds up is simple: eat before the first drink, since food slows how fast alcohol is absorbed; stay near one drink an hour, about what the body can process; have water between drinks; and sip anything fizzy slowly, since bubbles speed absorption (Cleveland Clinic). 10 of the 11 recipes have a lighter or zero-proof version for the second round.

Batch calculator for a crowd

Punch and sangria are the easiest way to serve a table. Pick one, enter your guest count and how many glasses each, and get the shopping amounts.

Drink Guests Glasses each

Amounts round up to the nearest quarter cup. 750 mL is about 3⅙ cups.

Which spirit to pour

At 80 proof, every spirit here has about 98 calories per 1½ oz and no sugar, so the choice comes down to taste and, for some people, the next morning. Darker spirits like bourbon tend to carry more congeners than clear ones, which could worsen a hangover (NIAAA). Our Hangover Index scores each type from 1 to 10; each row links to its cleanest brands.

SpiritUsed inHangover Index

Vodka Cranberry Moscow mule, Pumpkin pie martini Cranberry Moscow mule, Pumpkin pie martini

2/10
Tequila Apple cider margarita, Cranberry margarita Apple cider margarita, Cranberry margarita

4/10
Rum Spiked hot apple cider Spiked hot apple cider

6/10
Bourbon Cider and cranberry punch, Bourbon apple cider, Maple old fashioned Cider and cranberry punch, Bourbon apple cider, Maple old fashioned

7/10
Brandy (cognac) Apple cider sangria Apple cider sangria

8/10

To build your own drink and watch the numbers change, try the Mix Lab.

Pouring wine with dinner instead

A 5 oz glass of wine lands between 112 and 125 calories, close to the lighter cocktails above. Alcohol, not sugar, is most of it: dry wines carry only a few grams of carbohydrate.

Wine, 5 ozABVCarbsCal

Carbohydrate from USDA FoodData Central, calories from each wine's ABV. More in healthiest white wine and healthiest red wine.

Getting everyone home safe

Have the zero-proof versions ready for drivers, and plan rides before the first glass. If a guest is confused, vomiting repeatedly, breathing slowly or irregularly, having a seizure or cannot be woken, call 911: those are signs of alcohol poisoning, and blood alcohol can keep rising after drinking stops (NIAAA).

FAQ

What is the most popular Thanksgiving cocktail? ▾

By Google searches, the apple cider margarita: 33,100 US searches in November 2025, ahead of apple cider sangria (27,100) and bourbon apple cider, cranberry margarita and spiked apple cider (14,800 each). "Thanksgiving punch" as a whole drew 40,500. Searches show interest, not what people actually pour.

How many calories are in an apple cider margarita? ▾

About 179 calories, 12 g of carbs and 9.7 g of sugar for 1½ oz tequila, ½ oz Cointreau, 2 oz cider and ½ oz lime. That is 1.33 standard drinks. Leaving out the orange liqueur brings it to 133 calories and 6.2 g of sugar.

How many calories are in apple cider? ▾

USDA lists apple cider at 46 calories, 11.3 g of carbohydrate and 9.6 g of sugar per 100 g, which is about 114 calories, 28 g of carbs and 24 g of sugar in an 8 oz cup. The figures are the same as unsweetened apple juice. In these drinks the cider usually carries more calories than anything except the spirit.

What is the lowest calorie Thanksgiving cocktail? ▾

The cranberry spritz, at 84 calories (73 with light cranberry juice). Among the spirit drinks, the lighter cranberry Moscow mule made with diet ginger beer comes to 109 calories and 1.6 g of sugar. The maple old fashioned has the least sugar, 4 g, but 149 calories, because it is tied for the strongest drink here.

What is a good Thanksgiving cocktail for a crowd? ▾

A punch or a sangria, both made ahead. The cider and cranberry punch fills 12 glasses at 150 calories and 0.67 standard drinks each; the apple cider sangria fills 8 at 145 calories and about 1.0 standard drink each. Add the ginger ale just before serving so it stays fizzy, and use the batch calculator to scale either one.

How strong is a glass of Thanksgiving punch? ▾

The punch here works out to 5.6% alcohol, about the strength of a regular beer, in a 7 oz serving: 0.67 of a standard drink. Punch is easy to refill without counting, so it helps to know that three cups are about two standard drinks.

Does the alcohol cook off in hot apple cider? ▾

Very little, if you stir the spirit in after heating. USDA's retention table puts alcohol stirred into a hot liquid at 85% retained and flamed alcohol at 75%. Simmering takes longer than most people think: 40% remains after 15 minutes, 25% after an hour and 5% after two and a half hours.

Can I make these drinks without alcohol? ▾

Yes. 8 of the 11 drinks have a zero-proof version listed under the numbers, from 26 to 87 calories. Without the spirit, the cider or cranberry is most of what is left, so the sugar barely changes.

How many standard drinks are in a cocktail? ▾

A US standard drink is about 14 g of pure alcohol, the amount in 1.5 oz of 80 proof spirits, 5 oz of 12% wine or 12 oz of 5% beer (NIAAA). The drinks on this page run from 0.6 (the mimosa and the spritz) to 1.33 (both margaritas and the maple old fashioned).

Which spirit makes the lightest fall cocktail? ▾

At 80 proof, vodka, tequila, rum, bourbon and brandy are equal on calories: about 98 per 1.5 oz, with no carbs or sugar. The mixer and the size of the pour decide the rest. If hangovers are the worry, darker spirits like bourbon carry more congeners than clear ones, which could make the next morning worse for some people (what helps a hangover).