The Top 10 Winter Vodka Cocktails

Brown spirits tend to dominate winter cocktails, but as a neutral spirit, vodka is so adaptable and integrates into the winter flavours wonderfully. It’s punchy and serves as great mixology foundations to build delicious flavours on.

Homemade syrups show up in a few of the recipes below, so for a guide on how to make your own click here! It’s way easier than you might expect and can do amazing things for your cocktails.

Espresso Martini

All the polls show that this is the most popular winter cocktail in the UK, so we just had to include it. The seductive white foam of the meniscus, the rich flavour, the lusciously smooth mouthfeel – you’ve got no chance hibernating after a few of these.  

Ingredients
40ml Vodka
25ml Kahlúa coffee liqueur
25ml cooled espresso
½ tbsp simple syrup
Three coffee beans (garnish)

Method
Shake everything with ice and strain into a pre-chilled martini glass, before garnishing with a beautiful trio of coffee beans for that distinct look.

Hot ‘n’ Minty White Russian

Taking inspiration from the Espresso Martini, this is a sweeter version to warm your cockles. Velvety, deliciously sweet white-hot chocolate is cooled by peppermint syrup, all built on a foundation of robust vodka and rich espresso. It’s viscous, lively, and surprisingly light with the peppermint. A uniquely indulgent concoction indeed.

Ingredients
30ml vodka
25ml espresso shot
80ml white hot chocolate
15ml peppermint syrup
Whipped cream (optional garnish)

Method
As long as your espresso and white-hot chocolate are hot, there’s no need to heat everything else up because some room temp vodka and peppermint syrup will bring the temperature together nicely. It’s just a case of combining everything gently and finishing with some whipped cream for that extra special touch.

Dirty Martini

This is another winter favourite. Getting down and dirty with your Martini brings a fantastic savoury flavour, with a salty, olive-y profile. It’s about as far from the sweet, tropical cocktails of summer as it’s possible to get, but just as satisfying with it’s crisp, saltiness.

Ingredients
70ml vodka
25ml dry Vermouth
15ml pickle juice

Pickles (garnish)

Method
Stir all your ingredients in a mixing glass with ice, and strain into a chilled Martini glass before finishing off with the signature pickle garnish. It might feel strange if this is your first, but chances are it won’t be your last. 

Elderflower Cosmopolitan

We were going to include the standard Cosmo, because that is a stalwart of winter cocktails, but this elderflower version feels a touch more wintery and aromatic. Cocktails are about experimentation after all! The delicious elderflower liqueur brings a mellower, more fragrant, and floral flavour than the usual cranberry. It feels bright and the first sip is a real life to

Ingredients
45ml vodka
20ml elderflower liqueur
20ml pineapple juice
Dash of lemon
Dash of rose water (optional)
Basil (garnish)

Method
All about the shaking here – get those arms pumping until your shaker feels cold to the touch, and strain over large ice cubes. Voila!

White Russian

How could we not? Made iconic in The Big Lebowski, it’s a dreamy combination of vodka, coffee liqueur and cream, resulting in sweet, velvety and undeniably delicious flavours. It’s heavy, indulgent, and loved by everyone, and perfect for wintertime.

Ingredients
60ml vodka
30ml coffee liqueur (Kahlúa)
15ml heavy cream

Method
Mix everything together before pouring over ice in a small tumbler glass. You could sprinkle chocolate powder or add coffee beans, but keeping it bare like a snowcapped rooftop works great too.

Moscow Mule

The refreshment of a Moscow Mule makes it a summer classic, but the dominant ginger notes absolutely resonate with winter too. It’s one of the original cocktails that made use of vodka when it wasn’t mainstream, which is strange considering it’s now the most popular cocktail spirit. It’s punchy, spicy, and gorgeously light with that fizz.

Ingredients
50ml vodka
80ml ginger beer
Juice of half a lime
Lime wedge (garnish)

Method
You don’t have to have the copper mug, but it really completes the Mule, and keeps it super cool. Just pour vodka and lime juice into the mug over ice, top up with ginger beer and finish with a lime wedge.

Cranberry and Pomegranate Punch

This is one for those winter gatherings saving you the hassle of individual cocktails. It straddles tartness and sweetness perfectly, tasting super refreshing with fruity fizz. As with any punch, you can sort of throw anything in, but we think the balance below is harmonious.

Ingredients (jug)
300ml cranberry juice
350ml pomegranate juice
350ml sparkling wine
100ml vodka
70ml cranberry syrup
2tbsp grenadine
10 mint leaves
4 lime wedges
fresh cranberries and lime (garnish)

Method
Muddle the mint first and fill the bottom of the jug with ice. After that, slowly stir everything except the sparkling wine which you should add last to keep the bubbles going. Scattered in cranberries and lime for brightness, and you’re away.

Pear and Elderflower Collins

A classic Tom Collins is an all-round cocktail, but this fruity makeover really takes it to the next level. Pear puree brings the freshness and pear liqueur brings the sweetness. It’s the lightest, fruitiest cocktail out there and vodka is perfect just to add some steel.

Ingredients (jug)
50ml vodka
15ml elderflower liqueur
2 tsp pear liqueur
25ml pear puree
20ml lemon juice
15m honey
Sparkling water to top up
Pear slice and cinnamon (garnish)

Method
Shake everything but the soda in a shaker with ice until it feels cold, and strain into a Collins glass over fresh ice. Once you’ve added the sparkling water, be gentle with the stirring to combine. Add a thin slice of pear and a dust of cinnamon for the finishing touches.

Rosemary Fizz

Rosemary is one of the key wintery scents, but it’s difficult to integrate into a cocktail. Here, it just adds an aromatic, herbal undertone to a mellow but vibrant mix of lemon juice, sparkling water and vodka. It is unbelievably refreshing, and so simple to pull together

Ingredients (jug)
50ml vodka
20ml lemon juice
20ml rosemary syrup
Top up with sparkling water
Rosemary and lemon twist (garnish)

Method
Fill a highball glass with ice, strain vodka, rosemary syrup and freshly squeezed lemon juice over and top up with those bubbles. Rosemary sprig and lemon twist are a must.

For all the syrups featured, they can be bought, but they’re all simply sugar, water, and whichever flavour you want – so it saves so much money doing it yourself. Give it a go here! If you’re still adhering to Dry Jan or just don’t drink, then check out our Wintery Mocktails here.

8 Delicious Winter Mocktails

It’s no secret that some mocktails can be a little underwhelming, but these 8 winter recipes are not about compromise – they’re bold, delicious, and completely comforting on a cold winter’s night.

Forget any hangover or sluggish feeling, because these seasonal mocktails get you in the festive spirit and leave you rejuvenated. They’re pretty simple to make, wonderfully refreshing and crucially, they leave you with that special feeling a cocktail should always come with.

We keep up to date with the latest and greatest in the world of No-Low drinks, and whilst there are recipes below that don’t use alternatives, some do, so if you haven’t found your No-Lo go-to just yet, check here and here!

Hot Spiced Apple and Ginger Ale

Get that hob on for this soul-soothing mix of zest, warmth, sweet apple, and winter spices. The juice to cider ratio is down to personal preference and the sweetness of your cider, but using both does round the mix off nicely.

Ingredients (for a jug)
250ml apple juice
150ml no-lo apple cider
1 large cinnamon stick
3 cloves
2 star anise
400ml ginger ale
Apple wedges rolled in sugar (optional garnish)

Method
As with any hot cocktail, it’s about heating gradually and stirring constantly. Slowly add everything except the ginger ale, and heat until just before a simmer. Turn the heat down just a smidge for 5 minutes, and then off all together. Let everything infuse and add your ginger ale, before serving up.

Cranberry Mojito

A festive makeover for a cocktail classic, the sweetness comes from a beautifully seasonal cranberry syrup (1:1:1 ratio of water, sugar, and cranberries, heated and strained). It’s as fresh as a winter walk and as vibrant as a crackling fire. Using a sugar cane based no-lo really makes this mix, but most no-lo gins would also work, and even just sticking with soda water is refreshing, but you may want to include orange juice then!

Ingredients
60ml white rum alternative (like Lyre’s White Cane Spirit)
25ml cranberry syrup
Soda water to top up
Juice of 1 lime
Small handful of muddled mint
Mint leaves and fresh cranberries (optional garnish)

Method
Muddle the mint with the lime juice and pour over cranberry syrup and your white rum alternative. Strain, and top up with soda water before making it pretty with a sprig of mint and a few fresh berries.

Cranberry and Pomegranate Punch

This punch walks the tightrope between tart and sweet perfectly, brimming with fruity goodness.  For extra sweetness, whip yourself up a cranberry syrup (recipe above). The sparkling water gives it a lovely, light fizz, and if you’ve got a no-lo vodka you like, add that in. So reinvigorating.

Ingredients (for a jug)
350ml pomegranate juice
70ml cranberry syrup
300ml cranberry juice
400ml sparkling water
2tbsp grenadine
10 mint leaves
4 lime wedges
100ml no-lo vodka (optional)
fresh cranberries and lime (garnish)

Method
For stronger mint taste, muddle at the bottom of the jug first. With generous helpings of ice, stir everything, except the sparkling water, together in a punch bowl or jug. Top your mix up with that, before scattering some cranberries and lime wedges to finish.

Non-Alcoholic Eggnog

It doesn’t get much more wintery than eggnog, and the great thing about is that so many spirits work in it. Some people use brandy, others bourbon, rum, Cognac... it goes on, and the same therefore goes for no-lows! It’s silky smooth, decadent, and gorgeously rich, especially once you’ve added your chosen spirit - think dark, rich fruits, and warming spices.

Ingredients (for 4)
120ml no-low spirit (like Lyre’s American Malt, Crossip ‘Dandy Smoke, or Fluére Spiced Cane)
whipped cream (optional garnish)
grated nutmeg (optional garnish)
Eggnog:
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 eggs
120ml double cream
100ml whole milk
100ml condensed milk
50g caster sugar

Method
For the eggnog, whisk your eggs with vanilla essence and caster sugar until it goes creamy. Slowly whisk in the milk, in 25ml intervals, and repeat with condensed milk. Repeat with the cream. Cover and refrigerate for over 2 hours. If you find that the mixture is too thick after cooling, add milk and blend. When ready, pour into your glasses or mugs and slowly stir in your spirit. Finish with grated nutmeg, perhaps cinnamon, and whipped cream if you want to go all out. What a treat.

Minty White Russian

This winter-filled peppermint White Russian works so well, bringing that indulgent coffee cream up front, and the refreshing herbaceous minty taste behind. The coffee hits you with that energy boost we all need now and again, but there’s a lot in here so a little relaxing CBD balances the effect out nicely, creating more of the drinking experience you get from alcohol.

Ingredients
30ml chilled coffee
30ml non-alcoholic coffee liqueur (like Lyre’s Coffee Originale)
50ml heavy cream
30ml milk
15ml peppermint syrup
dash of CBD bitters (optional) (like OTO)

Method
Peppermint syrup is super easy to make. You can use essence, or leaves, but the easiest way is to mix peppermint tea with sugar syrup (water and sugar) in a 1:1 to split on the hob. Then shake everything with ice until it’s chilled, and strain over fresh ice.  

Apple Pie Sangria Mocktail

Sangria ain’t just for summer, not with a few adaptations anyway. Simpler than it first appears, this a really nicely balanced mocktail that builds and builds on a white wine spritzer. Sweet apple and sour lemon play off your No-Lo wine, all underlined with vanilla syrup as well as honey and cinnamon on the rim is so tasty.

Ingredients (for jug)
40ml wine alternative (preferably white, like Chardonnay)
40ml apple juice
20ml lemon juice
handful of cranberries
dash of vanilla syrup
honey and cinnamon sugar (for rim)
apple slice (garnish)

Method
A simple syrup is always heating equal parts sugar and water, and simply adding vanilla pods here is enough to make your vanilla syrup with great natural flavour (you could use vanilla essence if you really want). Shake ice, the juices, the No-Lo wine, and this syrup until thoroughly cold and mixed. Roll the rim of your glass in honey and then cinnamon sugar so it’s evenly distributed all the way round. Strain carefully, especially with fresh juice, and pour, finishing with an apple slice.

Thyme Clementine

This is one normally mixed with vodka and by all means, you can use a No Lo vodka but it’s just as enjoyable without. Sweet and herby, you’re getting antimicrobial benefits from the fresh thyme and buckets of vitamin C from the clementines. It feels festive, light and refreshing, and makes you feel great too! Win win.

Ingredients
1tbsp of chopped fresh tyme
80ml boiling water
3 juiced clementines
thyme sprigs and clementine-peel (garnish) 

Method
Pour boiling water of thyme and let it steep for 20 minutes. Then strain and refrigerate. In the meantime, get juicing those clementines and straining into a glorious juice. Don’t forget the seeds! Lastly, combine the two by pouring int chilled glasses.

Tom Collins Mocktail

With their diverse botanicals, gins are some of the best and most popular non-alcoholic spirits. A lot of cocktails and mocktails drown them out, but something as simple and clean as the Tom Collins lets them shine. Lemon juice adds the zip, a simple dash of syrup sweetens proceedings, and the star of the show is your No-Lo gin.

Ingredients
60ml gin alternative (like Sea Arch or New London Light)
20ml simple syrup
25ml lemon juice (ideally fresh)
top up with soda water
lemon slice (optional garnish)

Method
Shakers at the ready. Throw everything in except the soda then pour the mixture over a tall glass with ice. Top up with soda water to your hearts content and voila.

If you need ideas for specific, No-Lo drinks then check the links in the introduction! Also, non-alcoholic creations are absolutely flourishing right now, so a lot of them are very much their own thing and not looking to duplicate any boozy version – so if the profile sounds and tastes right, experiment with it in mocktails!