19 Low-Alcohol Cocktails That Still Bring the Party
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These low-alcohol cocktail recipes are less potent than your average drink, but that doesn’t make them any less exciting. Just because you’re skipping your usual manhattan, negroni, or margarita this go around, doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy something with complex flavor and micro-dose that relaxation factor.
These drinks take inspiration from classic cocktail recipes, replacing the tequila, rum, and whiskey with strongly-brewed strongly brewed teas, floral fruit juices and syrups, and fizzy kombucha. They use spirits usually relegated to background players—things like vermouth, amaro, sherry, and liqueurs—and make them the star. Or they dilute a strong base with plenty of seltzer or tonic water to mellow it into a refreshing spritz cocktail.
But what exactly constitutes a low-alcohol (or low-ABV, a.k.a. the percentage of alcohol-by-volume) cocktail? Most bartenders define the term as any drink that falls in the range of 3–10% ABV. To put that in context, a dry martini is upwards of 30% ABV.
Not drinking any alcohol these days? We have plenty of nonalcoholic drink options. But if you’re looking forward to an afternoon of mindful drinking, or you simply want to cut back on your alcohol consumption while keeping the party going the low-alcohol drinks below will take you from happy hour to last call. And if you want the exact ABV of any drink (one on this list or from anywhere at all), plug the recipe into The Epicurious Cocktail ABV Calculator.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich1/19Pimm’s Cup
Pouring out a low-alcohol drink couldn’t be easier than this British classic, which starts with Pimm’s, a gin-based fruit liqueur. In the UK, it’s traditionally paired with fizzy lemon soda, but in the States, ginger ale is the norm. Either way, go big on the garnishes.
Photo by Eric Medsker2/19Apercot Spritz
The Aperol spritz is already an ideal low-alcohol cocktail. The fruity riff has even less alcohol since it swaps some of the prosecco for apricot nectar. Go even lower by leaving the sparkling wine out entirely and using extra soda water to make a drink that’s just as fizzy.
Photo by Kristin Teig4/19Sherry and Vermouth
This is the lower-proof cocktail for manhattan drinkers. Nutty sherry and softly herbal, spiced vermouth makes for an intriguing drink without any mixers. Trade the white vermouth for red to suit your mood.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich6/19Gin Rickey
You’ll really taste the gin in this 3-ingredient cocktail, so pick a good one. And feel free to switch up the lime with whatever citrus suits you.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton8/19Gunshop Fizz
Turn cocktail bitters into the star of a drink: This one uses two whole ounces of Peychaud’s bitters, which is how it gets its scintillating color, mixed with muddled cucumbers and strawberries, and Italian orange soda.
Photo by Kristin Teig9/19Love Language
One way to lower alcohol content in drinks is to use just a splash from a few complementary bottles (sherry, dry vermouth, strawberry liqueur, and Lillet Rosé) to make this light summer sipper from Drink Lightly by Natasha David.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Prop styling by Anne Eastman, Food styling by Judy Haubert10/19Prizefighter No. 1
This drink looks like a sour, but veers off the tracks by splitting the drink’s base between sweet vermouth and bitter Fernet-Branca. Balance the amaro’s intense flavor with simple syrup and lemon juice.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton11/19Cosmopolitan Spritz
Reinterpret the classic Cosmo into this bubbly low-ABV cocktail. You can batch the base up to 10 hours in advance to cut down on last-minute fuss.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Judy Haubert12/19Lemon, Lime, and Bitters
The origins of this beloved Australian cocktail are murky, but we know it was a favorite of golfers before going mainstream. It may seem nonalcoholic, but the bitters make its ABV roughly 0.6%—slightly higher than commercially produced kombucha.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Kat Boytsova13/19The Sicilian Slush
This fruity frozen cocktail marries citrus juices (lemon and orange, but you could mix and match with grapefruit, lime, tangerine, or whatever you have on hand) with Campari, gin, and lots of ice.
Photo by Isa Zapata, Prop Styling by Christina Allen, Food Styling by Emilie Fosnocht14/19Pimm’s Shandy
When a classic Pimm’s Cup meets a classic shandy (a beer and lemon cocktail), magic happens: This easy, refreshing drink.
17/19Classic Michelada
Much like a Bloody Mary but with beer’s mellow vibe, the michelada features a generous splash of fresh lime juice and a pinch of salt to highlight the tomato, resulting in an exceptionally bright-tasting drink.
Photo by Gentl & Hyers18/19Strawberry-Rhubarb Spritz
This low-proof cocktail from the Via Carota cookbook pairs homemade rhubarb syrup and fresh strawberries with vermouth, lemon, and sparkling water. If you don’t want to make the syrup, look for a ready-made substitute or thin out some rhubarb jam.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, food styling by Liberty Fennell, prop styling by Gerri Williams19/19Lumberjack
