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The best cocktails of 2025 – Dan’s Daily | Dan Murphy’s
It’s been a big 12 months of cocktails for us. Here are 20 recipes you went nuts for last year.
We can’t say we’ve ever had a quiet year when it comes to bringing you cocktails, but 2025 might have been the busiest (and best) yet. We launched our very first recipe book – The Dan’s Cocktail Book, which brings us to your reminder that if you’re a My Dan’s member, you can get your hands on 68 glorious recipes for less than 30 bucks.
So, now that we've welcomed 2026, we’ve taken a look back at your favourite cocktails of 2025. These are the cocktails you searched, stirred and shook up. Maybe you made them for date night, that afternoon barbie, when Mum came to visit or just because – but boy do you lot love cocktails. You can expect cult classics, Martinis – lots of Martinis – and trendy new go-tos. Here are the best cocktails of 2025, as searched by you.
It’s no secret everyone loves an Amaretto Sour, especially if we’re going by how many of you searched for this cocktail. It’s a classic for a reason. It wins year-round, but it hits especially well in the festive season. It’s surprisingly simple to make – all you need is amaretto, lemon juice, sugar syrup and an egg white. Hot tip: it’s best served with an amaretti (that dreamy crunchy and chewy Italian biscuit).
The Marg is the world’s most popular cocktail, so it’s no surprise that it’s made your faves of 2025. Tequila, Cointreau, lime juice and sugar syrup – what’s not to love? Exactly. And if you’re a Margarita fiend, then we have plenty of riffs for you to try, including our Pineapple and Coconut, Frozen Watermelon, Spicy Mango and, of course, the Tommy’s.
This isn’t the only coffee-spiked cocktail in the line-up, but it’s the OG. You loved the Espresso Martini hard last year. It’s frothy, bitter and sweet all in one, and it’s back on high rotation in bars. To make it at home, you need a few bar staples: vodka, coffee liqueur, sugar syrup and your choice of coffee (espresso coffee will bring the most intense flavour but instant will still work).
The Old Fashioned truly never goes out of style, it might be old but it still reigns supreme on cocktail menus around the world (and on your hit list). The best part? It’s only two ingredients (okay three if you count the bitters, or four for the all-important citrus-twist garnish), but seriously it’s just bourbon and sugar syrup, and it tastes a whole lot fancier than that.
This is the Spritz for summer or for when your mates are all basking in the Euro sun and you’re sitting on the couch in a hoodie and ugg boots. We’ve taken the Hugo Spritz and added the in-thing (limoncello). There’s fresh mint, zippy lemon acidity and a little sweetness from the elderflower liqueur. No wonder you all love this one.
Dessert drinks had a big moment in 2024, and happily for us, that trend held on for 2025. The Carrot Cake cocktail is our take on the underdog birthday cake (we know you secretly love it). And we’ve got this one tasting pretty damn close to your nan’s recipe (not to mention it looks awesome). Cognac, vanilla liqueur, Frangelico, fresh carrot juice and a healthy helping on thickened cream and you're on your way.
My word of 2025 might just be Martini; they’re everywhere (which we love). The French Martini breaks all the rules – it’s more of a sweet, fruity cocktail than what you might associate with a Martini. There’s vodka paired with black raspberry liqueur, along with lime juice and pineapple juice.
Told you they were everywhere. That’s it, we’re calling it – 2025 was the year of the Martini. You know we love a riff, and apparently you do, too. The Lychee Martini, or Lycheetini, was high on your list. Not only is it delicious, but it’s also budget-friendly because it’s just two ingredients – vodka and lychee liqueur – and all you need to do is shake and strain (oh and skewer a lychee to garnish).
If Martini isn’t the word of 2025, then perhaps it’s Guinness? And if you haven’t watched ‘House of Guinness’ on Netflix yet, consider this your sign. But back to the drink. Two words: Black Velvet. Two ingredients: Guinness and Champagne (or your preferred sparkling). That’s right, beer and Champagne – don’t knock it until you try it.
We did non-alc cocktails very well last year – a Martini, a Berry Spritz and plenty more. But your favourite? The Tropical Non-Alc Sgroppino. A Sgroppino (scroe-pee-noe) is a mix of sorbet, prosecco and vodka, but we’ve reimagined it without the alcohol and still with all the flavour. There’s passionfruit sorbet, grapefruit juice, lime juice, a pinch of salt, sugar and then it’s all topped off with non-alc beer. This baby is a cinch to make, but you’ll need a blender or a bullet.
How does simply reading ‘salt and vinegar’ make your mouth water? We may never know. But what we do know is how to make a bloody good Martini – the Salt and Vinegar Martini, to be exact. It’s savoury, tangy and everything you love about that pink bag of chips – just in a drink. Best of all? We’ve designed the S&V ’tini to work with gin or vodka, so there are no wrong answers when it comes to the base spirit.
Pisco was on-trend in 2025 (and we reckon it’ll hang around in this year, too). Our Pisco Punch was the cocktail you were batch-making in 2025. It’s a crowd pleaser, that’s for sure. This punch is a two-parter, but it’s worth it. First make the pisco soak (we reckon it’s best to do this the night before) and then add the punch – your soak, lemon juice, pineapple juice and sparkling wine.
It’s hard to remember a time when we weren’t drinking Aperol Spritzes. It certainly wasn’t last year. Pre, post or during dinner, al fresco vibes – there’s no bad time to drink an Aperol (especially if it’s during summer on the other side of the world). We’ve made our Spritz so easy to remember you won’t even need to search it: 60mL Aperol, 90mL prosecco and 30mL soda water.
This is the order for those who often find it hard to decide between an ice-cold beer and a cocktail. Part beer, part Marg, the Lagerita is a serious hybrid. Start by putting reposado tequila, lime juice and agave syrup into a cocktail shaker with ice, strain your cocktail and then top with Mexican lager. There’s obviously a salt rim and a lime wedge to garnish. Salud!
The Mojito is Cuba’s most famous cocktail (and one of your top picks for the year). It’s just one of those drinks that always hits, right? It’s the ultimate refreshment in summer, but we think there’s a year-round case for it, too. You’ll need rum, fresh mint, lime juice, sugar syrup and a lot of crushed ice. Pro tip: if you don’t have crushed ice handy, pop some ice cubes in a tea towel and break it up using a rolling pin.
We love all our cocktails equally, but we do think the Raspberry Tequila Sangria is special. Another tequila hybrid, this time with Sangria (a Marg crossed with Sangria? You bet). Just don’t leave this one to the last minute as there’s a syrupy base that needs an hour to work its magic. Then it’s all blanco tequila, rosé and ginger ale from there.
J’aime’s top cocktails of the yearOkay, not to be biased, but we make some very good cocktails around here, and these cocktails are hands-down my favourite drinks of 2025. There’s our alcoholic take on the Insta-famous Mont Blanc. I absolutely love a Cosmo, so I had to put our spicy take in here. There’s also a Mandarin Sour (not sure I need to say more?) and at the top of my list is Matt Linklater’s Passionfruit and Fennel Marg. Summer is for sunshine and testing your cocktail skills, so let’s get shaking and making.
The Mont Blanc might be hyper-Melbourne, but it’s the most Instagramable coffee right now, so how could we not put a whisky spin on it? If you’ve been to Good Measure, then you know all about the Mont Blanc. The cocktail version? You’ll need thickened cream, caster sugar and brown sugar syrup, a blended Scotch whisky and that bottle of coffee liqueur. And you’ll obviously need some coffee – you can use premade cold brew or make a batch of filter or French press coffee and chuck it in the fridge (just skip the instant, please).
This is a riff that Carrie Bradshaw would be proud of. We love a classic Cosmo, but sometimes you just need a little heat, so in our Spicy Cosmo we’ve swapped Cointreau for peach liqueur and added some hot sauce (cue Beyonce's ‘Formation’). For those who can handle the heat, the Tajin rim is for you. And because we look after everyone, we’ve gone ahead and made a non-alc Cosmo, too.
Sour fans, we present to you… the Mandarin Sour. Think classic Whiskey Sour but with a little sweet citrus from mandarins. You’ll need to muddle the mandies (peel on for the full flavour), then it’s Irish whiskey, lemon juice, sugar syrup and an egg white (or aquafaba – the gluggy liquid in a can of chickpeas). Now, this is a winter cocktail, but only because mandies aren’t in season all year, otherwise it would be a year-round crowd pleaser.
This is the Marg riff we didn’t know we needed; now I wonder how I could ever go back. Passionfruit and fennel? Yum. Matt says he’s kicking off all the summer barbies with this drink, but I’m serving it at Christmas. You’ll need blanco tequila, lime juice, passionfruit pulp (fresh, please!), agave and the star of the show – fresh fennel. You can expect to be making these summer-round.
J’aime CardilloJ’aime is the Editorial Content Lead at Dan’s Daily, a Western Bulldogs tragic, and has been known to swap a protein shake for a Margarita.