Brunch is a special occasion where friends and family can enjoy the best two culinary worlds while enjoying some fantastic mid-day cocktails. In fact, it’s perhaps one of the few occasions where consuming alcoholic spirits early in the day is socially acceptable unless you’re lucky enough to live in New Orleans.
Who doesn’t love brunch? For some of us, brunch is an extension of breakfast and it’s all about quiche, bacon, breakfast pastries, and other sweet goodies.
However, for other folks, brunch is more savory than sweet. For example, crisp green salads, finger sandwiches, and other protein-filled light meals.
As the weekend rolls around and you’re looking to enjoy a leisurely brunch with friends or family, it’s important not to overlook the delicious and refreshing addition of brunch cocktails. These wonderful concoctions can elevate your meal and create a social and festive atmosphere, perfect for making the most of your time with loved ones.
Experimenting with brunch cocktails allows you to enjoy classic flavors with a twist or discover entirely new pairings. Whether you prefer the tangy zip of citrus, the deep warmth of coffee, or the bubbly effervescence of champagne, there’s a range of drinks to suit your palate.
So, without further delay, let’s delve into the world of brunch cocktails and uncover some truly remarkable beverages to complement your next weekend brunch. Keep an open mind, as you never know which combinations might surprise and delight you!
One thing most people can agree on is this: morning cocktails are awesome.
Maybe you like juice-based cocktails like the mimosa or the bellini. Alternatively, there are creamy and sweet cocktails such as frozen mudslide and Irish coffee.
But there’s a whole different group of morning alcoholic drinks. How does a cucumber mint gimlet sound to you? Maybe a cocktail made with Earl Grey tea is just your cup of tea (ha).
Brunch cocktails are perfect for so many occasions, including a Mother’s Day brunch, wedding day brunch, or just a fun brunch with your close friends and family members.
However you want to drink your brunch (or breakfast!), there’s something on this list of brunch drinks for you. Let’s dive in and explore the 31 best breakfast cocktails!
When you pair a Honey Crisp apple with apple vodka and spiced apple cider, you’re got a delicious fall treat.
This brunch cocktail is perfect for holiday brunches or Thanksgiving brunch. Just imagine sipping on this brunch cocktail while you’re waiting for the turkey to cook.
To make this Salty Dog cocktail, you need vodka, fresh grapefruit juice, and sparkling water (or club soda). The recipe calls for grapefruit La Croix, and that sounds delicious!
Be sure to salt the rim of your glass. You can run the lime wedge along the sides of the cocktail glass or make it sticky with Rose’s Lime Juice.
To make a peach bellini, you need champagne or Prosecco.
Use frozen peaches for this bellini. If you want to use fresh peaches, slice them and freeze them for about half an hour so that your bellini is nice and cold.
You also need nectar or peach juice for this bellini.
Berries for breakfast are always a treat, and nothing says “treat” like a champagne cocktail made with blackberries.
The blackberry champagne mule needs only seven ingredients that you can easily find, including fresh lemon juice, fresh mint leaves or mint sprigs, club soda, vodka, and fresh blackberries.
You can also use frozen blackberries to make this yummy and refreshing berry cocktail.
Garnish your blackberry champagne cocktail with fresh mint sprigs and fresh blackberries.
Light brown sugar adds complexity and sweetness to this daiquiri, but you can use simple syrup or maple syrup if you prefer. Garnish your citrus cocktail with a lime wedge.
A Bellini is a classic brunch cocktail, and you can make this brunch drink with peaches, but we love the idea of creating a bellini with fresh mango and orange liqueur.
For orange liqueur, you can use Cointreau or Triple Sec. The recipe calls for Prosecco, but you can use any sparkling wine or even champagne.
Garnish your mango bellini with a slice of mango and a mint sprig.
This recipe for drunken mocha calls for Kraken dark rum and Godiva Chocolate liqueur, and we’re here for all of it.
As if this drunken mocha isn’t rich enough, this recipe also specifies Ben & Jerry’s famous ice cream flavor Fudge Brownie.
Top off your iced drunken mocha with a dollop of whipped cream and some crushed pistachios. You can also use chocolate sprinkles like chocolate ganache.
A Bloody Mary with hot sauce is a classic breakfast or brunch cocktail, and we love the idea of a Bloody Mary bar.
To make a Bloody Mary, you need tomato juice, vodka, hot horseradish sauce, Worcestershire sauce, celery salt, garlic salt (or garlic powder) black pepper, and Tabasco salt.
Traditionally, a Bloody Mary is garnished with a celery stick, a lime wedge, and green olives, but for your Bloody Mary bar, you can have everything from pickled asparagus to shrimp, bacon, and cheese.
We love a cool and refreshing mojito, and when you bring fresh fruit like blueberries into this classic Cuban cocktail, it’s absolutely perfect.
This mojito recipe calls for fresh lime juice, fresh mint leaves, white rum, club soda, and crushed ice.
Muddle the lime juice, sugar, mint leaves, and blueberries in a cocktail shaker so that you can get all of the flavor out of the mint leaves and blueberries.
We all love sipping on a cup of Earl Grey tea and when it’s spiked with dark rum, that’s even better.
This Earl Grey tea cocktail is super easy to make and you probably have all the ingredients in your pantry and fridge.
All you need is dark rum (any type of rum is fine), simple syrup to make the Earl Grey cocktail nice and sweet, fresh lemon juice, and of course, some Earl Grey tea.
The pomegranate packs so much flavor, and they’re super healthy, too. Why not use pomegranates and pomegranate juice in champagne brunch cocktails?
This champagne brunch cocktail is made with pomegranate juice, fresh mint leaves, blood orange juice, Cointreau, a ginger beer, and champagne (or Prosecco).
Add all of the ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice cubes and shake vigorously. Strain the mixture into a glass and serve over ice cubes.
Garnish with an orange slice and pomegranate arils.
Nothing refreshes like a big glass of sweet tea, whether for an afternoon thirst quencher or with brunch.
Spiking sweet tea sounds like an excellent idea to us, and this sweet tea sangria is amazing.
Also called Moscato Sangria, this sweet tea sangria recipe calls for a white wine that complements the fruity flavors of peaches, mint, lemon, and raspberry.
Use Moscato to make this sweet tea sangria if you can find it. Other ingredients are frozen peaches, fresh raspberries, fresh lemon slices, Triple Sec, sweet tea, and fresh mint.
With vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and chocolate sprinkles, this frozen mudslide cocktail is like a breakfast dessert in a drink.
Even though this frozen mudslide is like a tasty milkshake, the three liquors and liqueurs in this breakfast cocktail pack a powerful punch.
You need Bailey’s Irish Cream, Kahlua (or similar coffee liqueur), and vodka to make this frozen mudslide. The chocolate syrup adds tons of chocolate flavor.
Top your frozen mudslide with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.
When is a good time for a champagne celebration? Hey, every day there is a reason to celebrate, and you can whip up this impressive champagne punch to celebrate life’s simple pleasures.
This champagne punch is made with more than just champagne (you can use Prosecco or another dry sparkling wine). For this champagne punch recipe, you also need vodka and Grand Marnier (or Cointreau).
Add fresh raspberries, pomegranate seeds, mint leaves, orange slices, and lemon slices to garnish this gorgeous champagne punch.
Making this Sea Breeze cocktail drink is a breeze! You need just some fruit juice and vodka and you’re ready to roll.
Also called a Hawaiian Sea Breeze, this cocktail differs from the classic Sea Breeze cocktail somewhat because it has grapefruit juice instead of pineapple juice.
Also, the Sea Breeze cocktail (this one, too) has cranberry juice, which is so naturally delicious. Use vodka to make this cocktail, and garnish the Sea Breeze with a lime wedge.
Who says you can’t have a slushy for a brunch or breakfast drink? This recipe for a frozen Aperol spritz cocktail is like sunshine in a glass.
This orange prosecco frozen cocktail is as fruity as can be because it contains orange juice, frozen strawberries, grapefruit slices, and orange slices.
Garnish your frozen Prosecco with an orange slice, grapefruit slice, and fresh mint leaves.
How does a mimosa made with raspberry sorbet and fresh raspberries sound?
A mimosa doesn’t have to be made with orange juice. With this raspberry mimosa, you have a refreshing take on a classic brunch cocktail recipe.
You can use Prosecco to make this raspberry mimosa, or you can opt for champagne or Cava.
Grenadine adds delightful sweetness.
It’s also easy to make this a non-alcoholic cocktail for kids. Just use sparkling juice instead of Prosecco.
How about some bonus breakfast alcoholic drinks? Watch the video below to learn how to make frozen sangria margarita swirls, peach bellini granita, peach mimosa slushie, sunrise mimosa, and champagne pink lemonade.
Our 30+ BEST Refreshing Brunch Cocktails (+Cucumber-Mint Gimlet)
These recipes are sure to please. So, gather your family and friends and enjoy. Let us know your thoughts!
Cassie brings decades of experience to the Kitchen Community. She is a noted chef and avid gardener. Her new book "Healthy Eating Through the Garden" will be released shortly. When not writing or speaking about food and gardens Cassie can be found puttering around farmer's markets and greenhouses looking for the next great idea.
