Birthday Drink Ideas

Festive & Yummy Birthday Cocktail ideas & Recipes

Bright & colorful drinks are the choice for your Birthday-theme party, and we have compiled a few great cocktail ideas and recipes, including:

Pre-made signature drinks
Birthday drinks for bar service
Birthday martinis
Rimming the glass

The type of cocktails you serve will depend on the type and size of your party.

For cocktail parties: We recommend a pre-mixed signature drink to:

Ensure everyone's drink tastes fabulous
Control costs
Reduce time mixing cocktails

For dinner parties: We recommend martinis to:

Relax the crowd quickly and facilitate conversation and laughter during dinner
Mix in batches and reduce the time mixing cocktails
Add style and panache

For bar service: We recommend keeping it simple by:

Offering drinks with 1 to 4 ingredients
Preparing mixes beforehand, for more complicated cocktails
Not serving frozen drinks

Regardless of the type of drink you serve, rename the drink for your guest of honor, in the spirit of your theme, your group of guests, or a current event.

Signature Drink

When choosing a signature drink to mix in large batches the day before the party, look for the following:

A drink that will appeal to most tastes
No carbonated mixers, look for juices

A designated drink is also an excellent way to control costs. Rum is a great choice here because it is the cheapest liquor, mixes well with juices, and makes a large number of cocktails with universal appeal.

Remember: Only put ice in cocktail glasses, this means never put ice in pre-mixed batches. If you have room, put your signature drink mixture in the freezer, but don't forget to defrost before the party.

Obviously, if your recipe calls for carbonated ingredients wait until right before serving to add them.

For all batch mixed drinks, first mix a single serving cocktail in the same proportions, then make adjustments to suit your personal taste. This will also give you a reference point for the final mixture.

Parts vs Ounces

Parts are used for mixing batches, while ounces (oz) in parentheses indicate single-serving measurements.

Parts are relative measurements, meaning the actual volume depends on how much you want to make.

Example: 2 parts vodka, 1 part lemon juice can be mixed as 2 oz vodka, 1 oz lemon juice for a small batch or 2 cups vodka, 1 cup lemon juice for a larger batch.

Parts can be any unit of liquid measure, such as ounces, cups, liters, or gallons—just keep all ingredients in the same unit.
Ounces in parentheses (oz) show exactly how much to use per drink or serving.

Example: Vodka (2 oz), Lemon Juice (1 oz) means each drink gets 2 oz of vodka and 1 oz of lemon juice.

"By serving" means the ingredient is added per drink, not mixed into the batch.

Example: Club soda (By serving) means you add club soda to each drink individually, not in the mix.

Bubblicious Birthday
Sweet and fruity bubblegum flavored cocktail.

1 part Vodka (1 oz)
1 part Midori* (1 oz)
1 part Creme de banana (1 oz)
1 part Sour Mix (1 oz)
4 parts Orange juice (4 oz)
For color: Grenadine syrup (Splash)

Mix all ingredients and adjust for taste.
You may also wish to rim your glasses before guests arrive.
To serve:
Add ice to a double old-fashioned glass rimmed in nonpareils.
Fill with the pre-mixed cocktail, and garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Birthday Hurricane
Delicious and potent version of the Hurricane with a fresh citrus finish.

1 part Vodka (1/2 oz)
1 part Gin (1/2 oz)
1 part Light rum, optional (1/2 oz)
1 part Gold rum (1/2 oz)
1 part Almond liqueur (1/2 oz)
1 part Triple sec (1/2 oz)
4 parts Grapefruit juice (2 oz)
4 parts Pineapple juice (2 oz)
For color: Grenadine syrup (Splash)

Mix all ingredients and adjust for taste.
You may also wish to rim your glasses before guests arrive.
To serve:
Add ice to a hurricane, stemmed, or highball glass rimmed in nonpareils.
Fill with the pre-mixed cocktail, and garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Birthday Him-icane
A more masculine blue version of the Birthday Hurricane.

1 part Vodka (1/2 oz)
1 part Gin (1/2 oz)
1 part Light rum (1/2 oz)
1 part Gold rum (1/2 oz)
1 part Almond liqueur (1/2 oz)
1 part Blue curacao (1/2 oz)
4 parts Grapefruit juice (2 oz)
4 parts Pineapple juice (2 oz)

Mixed Drinks for Bar Service

Birthday Cake
Tastes like a birthday cake!

1-1/2 oz Stolichnaya vanilla vodka*
1/2 oz Coconut rum
3 oz Pink lemonade

Combine ingredients over ice in a double old-fashioned glass rimmed in nonpareils, then stir.
Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Strawberry Cheesecake
Who would have guessed, but it looks & tastes like strawberry cheesecake!

1 oz Stolichnaya vanilla vodka*
3 oz Cranberry juice

(yes, cranberry)

Combine ingredients over ice in a double old-fashioned glass rimmed in nonpareils, then stir.
Garnish with a strawberry.

Martinis

For a birthday dinner party, we recommend the Bubblegum Martini before dinner and the much sweeter Chocolate Cake Martini for after dinner.

Bubblegum Martini
Highly recommended. This drink looks and tastes just like bubblegum.

2 oz Three Olives Bubble vodka*
1 oz Cask & Cream cream liqueur*
Splash Grenadine syrup

Pour ingredients into an ice-filled cocktail shaker and shake for 30 seconds.
Strain into a martini glass rimmed in nonpareils.

Chocolate Cake Martini
Tastes like a chocolate-raspberry gourmet cake and very sweet.

2 oz Chocolate vodka
1 oz Creme de cocoa, dark
1 oz Creme de cocoa, white
1/2 oz Raspberry liqueur

Pour ingredients into an ice-filled cocktail shaker or martini pitcher and shake or stir.
Strain into a martini glass rimmed in rainbow jimmies.
Garnish with a lemon twist.

Rimming the Glass

To rim the glass:

Moisten the rim of a your cocktail glass with a citrus, grenadine, or liqueur depending upon which is used in your cocktail.
Fill a saucer or bowl with rainbow nonpareils (candy sprinkles) or rainbow jimmies.
Roll the outside rim of the glass in the nonpareils or jimmies to cover.
Shake off excess.

*Compare other brands before making a substitution here. For many cocktails, an off-brand is acceptable in a mixed drink, but not always. For example, we have yet to find a cheaper replacement for Midori, but that does not mean one does not exist.