Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving Cocktails for a Crowd

The turkey gets the attention, but the drinks set the mood. Whether you're hosting the whole family or heading to a Friendsgiving, these bartender-designed cocktails make it easy to pour something people remember.

The host gift: The Fireside Sessions

Skip the bottle of wine. The Fireside Sessions is our November box, created with Jeffrey Morgenthaler, the Portland bartender behind Clyde Common's seven-time James Beard-nominated bar program and author of The Bar Book.

It's three rum cocktails built for cold-weather gatherings:

An old fashioned made for slow sipping
A hot toddy to warm from the inside out
A tiki-leaning share drink built for the whole room

Flavor highlights include rich rum character and baking spice, warm apple and smoke, and tart grapefruit with nutty orgeat. Inside: house-made syrups, premium ingredients, and step-by-step recipes for 12 drinks. It ships the week of November 9, in time for Thanksgiving.

For the rum crowd

Different Beat Kit from our Rum Pum Pum Pum box. Dark roast cold brew and pandan banana demerara syrup, brightened with orange bitters and finished with a banana chip. A rich after-dinner pour. Makes 4.

Wake Me Up Before You GO GO Kit by Speed Rack alum and Drink Masters competitor Kate Gerwin. Rum, coconut, cold brew, and tonic. $96 from every kit goes to The Pink Agenda for breast cancer research. Makes 4.

For the bourbon and whiskey crowd

Backyard Bourbon Barbecue by Ronnie Bertellotti. Three bourbon cocktails: a tropical highball, a rum-rinsed pecan old fashioned, and a blackberry bramble. Flavor highlights include mango, passionfruit, spiced pecan, blackberry, and Earl Grey. Makes 12.

Horsefeather Kit, the signature serve of Kansas City's J. Rieger & Co. and a favorite of Ryan Maybee. Kansas City Whiskey, super lemon juice, ginger beer, an Angostura bitters float, crystallized ginger, and lemon oil. Light and refreshing, a good one for the early afternoon. Makes 4.

Dad Rock n' Ole Kit. Whiskey, dark-roast cold brew, and pandan-banana syrup, with orange bitters and a veil of hickory smoke. Makes 4.

For a table that shares

Good Spirits by Tiffanie Barriere (The Drinking Coach, Drink Masters, High on the Hog). A sorrel-forward box built for cognac or rum, with zero-proof recipes included. The drinks are meant to be shared easily: stirred, shaken, topped with bubbles, and enjoyed in good company. Makes 12.

For guests who aren't drinking

Zero Proof RTD Box. A mystery 6-pack of ready-to-drink zero-proof cocktails. Chill, open, sip. Easy to set out next to the bar so everyone has something good to hold.

Hosting tips

Pick one cocktail to welcome guests, one for dinner, and one for dessert.
Each kit makes 4 drinks. For 12 guests, grab 3 kits and use code KIT3 for $15 off.
Set the zero-proof options out with the rest, not off to the side.

Make every month feel like a holiday

Love the Fireside Sessions? Start a subscription and get a new bartender-designed box every month. Save 15% on your first box with code CHEERS15 through December 25.