Thanksgiving cocktails work best when they follow the meal. Pour a bitter aperitif such as the Negroni while the turkey rests, set a pitcher of gin and cranberry on the table, raise a French 75 for the toast, and stir a Martinez to go with the pie. All four are classics built on a juniper-led gin, which has the backbone to stand up to cranberry, citrus and the warm spice of the season, and only the pitcher needs any planning.
Below: a recipe card for each drink, the arithmetic for scaling the pitcher from eight glasses to sixteen, an alcohol-free glass for the same table, and the rule that fixes the date.
| The drink | What is in it | Glass | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before the meal | Negroni | Gin, sweet vermouth, red bitter aperitivo | Rocks glass |
| At the table | Gin and cranberry, by the pitcher | Gin, cranberry juice cocktail, lime | Highball |
| The toast | French 75 | Gin, lemon, sugar, sparkling wine | Coupe or flute |
| With the pie | Martinez | Gin, sweet vermouth, maraschino, orange bitters | Cocktail glass |
| Without alcohol | Cider and soda | Apple cider, soda water, lemon | Highball |
Before the meal: the Negroni
An aperitif is the drink poured before a meal, and the Negroni is the classic Italian one: equal parts gin, sweet red vermouth and a bittersweet red aperitivo, built over ice and finished with orange. Wikipedia's entry on the Negroni finds the equal-parts recipe in French cocktail books of the late 1920s, and the short, iced version known today from the 1950s or 1960s. It takes three bottles and one stir, so it can be poured as guests arrive. In our cocktail library it goes by the name of the West Egg.
How to make a Negroni
Glass: a rocks glass. Garnish: half an orange slice, or a strip of orange peel. Makes: one drink.
- 1 oz (30 ml) Gatsby Gin
- 1 oz (30 ml) sweet red vermouth
- 1 oz (30 ml) red bitter aperitivo
- Ice, enough to fill the glass
- Fill the glass with ice, large cubes if you have them.
- Pour in all three directly over the ice.
- Stir gently until the outside of the glass is cold.
- Add the orange, a half slice tucked into the glass or a strip of peel twisted over the top.
The measures follow the International Bartenders Association's official Negroni.
At the table: a pitcher of gin and cranberry
Cranberries are among the New England harvest foods a Thanksgiving dinner is built around, usually as cranberry sauce, as Wikipedia's entry on Thanksgiving notes. In a glass, their tartness does what the sauce does on the plate: it cuts through a rich meal. Gin and cranberry is the gin version of the Cape Codder, the cranberry highball that a cooperative of cranberry growers on Cape Cod came up with in 1945 under the name Red Devil, as the drink's history records. With gin in place of the vodka, juniper and citrus peel give it a drier, more aromatic finish.
It is also the easiest drink here to make for a crowd, because it is built in the glass rather than shaken, and it scales by simple multiplication. We pour it like any gin highball, one part gin to three of mixer, the ratio set out in what to mix with gin.
How to make gin and cranberry
Glass: a highball. Garnish: a lime wheel, or a few fresh cranberries. Makes: one drink, or a pitcher from the table below.
- 1½ oz (45 ml) Gatsby Gin
- 4½ oz (135 ml) cranberry juice cocktail, chilled
- ¼ oz (7.5 ml) fresh lime juice
- Ice, enough to fill the glass
- Fill the glass with ice, right to the rim.
- Pour in the gin, then the cranberry juice and the lime.
- Stir once and garnish.
Use cranberry juice cocktail, the sweetened kind. Unsweetened cranberry juice is far sharper; if that is what you have, lengthen it with soda water or soften it with a little simple syrup.
Scaling the pitcher for a crowd
To batch any drink that is built rather than shaken, multiply each ingredient by the number of glasses. A cup is 8 fluid ounces, so 12 ounces of gin is 1½ cups and 36 ounces of juice is 4½ cups.
| 1 glass | 8 glasses | 12 glasses | 16 glasses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gin | 1½ oz (45 ml) | 12 oz, 1½ cups (360 ml) | 18 oz, 2¼ cups (540 ml) | 24 oz, 3 cups (720 ml) |
| Cranberry juice cocktail | 4½ oz (135 ml) | 36 oz, 4½ cups (1.08 L) | 54 oz, 6¾ cups (1.62 L) | 72 oz, 9 cups (2.16 L) |
| Fresh lime juice | ¼ oz (7.5 ml) | 2 oz, ¼ cup (60 ml) | 3 oz, 6 tbsp (90 ml) | 4 oz, ½ cup (120 ml) |
| Total | 6¼ oz | 50 oz, 6¼ cups | 75 oz, 9⅜ cups | 100 oz, 12½ cups |
The batch for eight comes to 50 ounces, a little over 6 cups, which fits a 2-quart (64-ounce) pitcher with room to stir. For twelve or sixteen, fill two pitchers. Mix the gin, juice and lime in the pitcher and refrigerate it for a few hours before dinner, but keep the ice in the glasses rather than the pitcher, so the batch does not water down as it waits. Stir before each round and pour 6 ounces over a glass full of ice. Every glass then holds the same 1½ ounces of gin as a single highball, which keeps the evening easy to count. How many of those pours a bottle gives is worked out in how many ounces in a shot.
The toast: the French 75
When someone stands to give thanks, the glass should sparkle. The French 75 is gin, lemon and sugar topped with sparkling wine, and the barman Harry MacElhone said it was named after the French 75 millimeter field gun. The recipe took its classic gin form in Here's How in 1927 and spread through The Savoy Cocktail Book in 1930, as Wikipedia's entry on the French 75 records. In our cocktail library we serve it in a coupe.
How to make a French 75
Glass: a chilled coupe, or a flute. Garnish: a lemon twist. Makes: one drink.
- 1 oz (30 ml) Gatsby Gin
- ½ oz (15 ml) fresh lemon juice
- ½ oz (15 ml) simple syrup
- 2 oz (60 ml) Champagne or another dry sparkling wine, chilled
- Shake the gin, lemon juice and syrup hard with ice.
- Strain into the chilled glass.
- Top with the sparkling wine and stir once, gently.
- Twist a strip of lemon peel over the glass and drop it in.
The measures follow the IBA's official French 75. Simple syrup is equal parts sugar and water, stirred until clear. To toast a whole table at once, mix the base ahead: for twelve glasses, 12 ounces of gin, 6 of lemon juice and 6 of syrup, kept cold. Shake 2 ounces of the base with ice for each glass and top it with 2 ounces of sparkling wine. A 750 ml bottle of wine holds about 25 ounces, enough for all twelve.
With the pie: the Martinez
After the meal, the drink should be small, cold and rich. The Martinez is gin stirred with sweet vermouth, a spoonful of maraschino liqueur and orange bitters, and it is widely regarded as the direct precursor of the martini. The 1887 edition of Jerry Thomas's Bar-Tender's Guide includes a recipe, and O.H. Byron's guide of 1884 described it as a Manhattan made with gin, as Wikipedia's entry on the Martinez sets out. It is darker and sweeter than a martini, with cherry and spice under the juniper, which is what pumpkin and pecan pie ask for.
How to make a Martinez
Glass: a chilled cocktail glass or coupe. Garnish: a strip of lemon zest. Makes: one drink.
- 1½ oz (45 ml) Gatsby Gin
- 1½ oz (45 ml) sweet red vermouth
- 1 bar spoon (about 1 teaspoon) maraschino liqueur
- 2 dashes orange bitters
- Stir everything with ice in a mixing glass for about 30 seconds, until very cold.
- Strain into the chilled glass.
- Twist the lemon zest over the drink and drop it in.
The measures follow the IBA's official Martinez.
Without alcohol: cider and soda
Not everyone at the table will be drinking, and the same glass of ice can hold something just as seasonal. Fill a highball with ice, pour in 4 ounces of cold apple cider and 2 of soda water, squeeze in a wedge of lemon and add a cinnamon stick. For a drier glass, closer to a cocktail, use tonic water in place of the soda. Tonic is a non-alcoholic soft drink made bitter with quinine, as we explain in what is tonic water.
Whatever is poured, count the drinks, keep water and food on the table, and make sure everyone gets home safely.
Why gin suits the flavors of Thanksgiving
The season's flavors are tart, bright or warm: cranberry and apple, orange and lemon, cinnamon and clove. Gin meets all of them through juniper, the botanical every gin is built on. Its resinous, piney note comes with a citrus edge and a dry, faintly bitter finish that cuts through sweetness, as we describe in what gin tastes like. That is why a juniper-led gin holds its own beside cranberry juice or sweet vermouth.
Gatsby Gin is a London Dry gin with juniper first among its ten botanicals, made in small batches in a copper pot still in Fort Myers, Florida. Its lemon peel and bitter orange peel, cassia bark and cardamom sit easily beside cranberry, orange and the warm spice of a Thanksgiving table. The full list is in the ten botanicals behind the bottle, and what makes a gin London Dry is in what is London Dry gin.
When is Thanksgiving 2026?
Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26, 2026. Federal law sets it as the fourth Thursday in November, in the list of legal public holidays at 5 U.S.C. 6103. It was not always fixed. In 1939, when the last Thursday fell on the last day of the month, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday a week earlier to lengthen the Christmas shopping season. Thirty-two states followed him, sixteen did not, and for two years the country kept two Thanksgivings. Congress settled it with a joint resolution naming the fourth Thursday, which Roosevelt signed on December 26, 1941, as the National Archives recounts. This year's date has an older precedent too: George Washington's proclamation named Thursday, November 26, 1789, as the first Thanksgiving under the Constitution.
Frequently asked questions about Thanksgiving cocktails
What is a good Thanksgiving cocktail with gin?
A French 75 for the toast and a pitcher of gin and cranberry for the table are the easiest to serve. A Negroni suits the hour before the meal, and a stirred Martinez the hour after it.
What drinks go with Thanksgiving dinner?
Tall, tart drinks suit the table, because they cut through a rich meal. Gin and cranberry over ice is a good example; keep stirred, sweeter drinks such as the Martinez for after dinner.
How do you make a big-batch cocktail for Thanksgiving?
Multiply each ingredient by the number of glasses. For eight glasses of gin and cranberry, mix 12 ounces of gin, 36 ounces of cranberry juice cocktail and 2 ounces of lime juice in a pitcher, chill it, and pour 6 ounces over ice for each glass.
How far ahead can you make a batch cocktail?
A pitcher of gin, juice and lime can be mixed a few hours ahead and kept in the refrigerator. Add ice, soda water or sparkling wine only as you pour, so nothing goes flat or watery.
Does gin go with cranberry?
Yes. Cranberry's tartness sits well against juniper, and gin and cranberry is the gin version of the Cape Codder, the cranberry highball created on Cape Cod in 1945.
What is a good after-dinner gin cocktail?
The Martinez: gin stirred with sweet vermouth, a spoonful of maraschino liqueur and orange bitters. It is richer and sweeter than a martini, and widely regarded as its forerunner.
What is a good Thanksgiving drink without alcohol?
Apple cider and soda water over ice, with a squeeze of lemon and a cinnamon stick. Tonic water in place of the soda makes a drier, more bitter glass.
What should I serve at Friendsgiving?
The same drinks work. A pitcher of gin and cranberry is the easiest for a group, and a French 75 base mixed ahead lets everyone toast at once.
When is Thanksgiving in 2026?
Thursday, November 26. Federal law sets Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday in November, under a joint resolution signed on December 26, 1941.
