Thanksgiving is no time for moderation—one turkey leg, one piece of pie, or, for that matter, one drink just won't do. Here are 23 cocktails to pair with your turkey this Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving isn't just a marathon day of eating at my house—it's also a marathon day of drinking. My family always celebrates the holiday with plenty of beer, wine, and especially cocktails. We're always mixing up what we drink—one year someone gets really excited about individually mixed drinks, the next year we make it easier on ourselves with make-ahead punches, and every year we try to keep around some lower-alcohol drinks to make Friday less painful.

Whatever kind of cocktail you and your family are looking for this Thanksgiving, we've got plenty of festive recipes to choose from—popcorn-flavored spiked cider, woodsy gin punch, a wintry French 75 variation, and more.

Thanksgiving just isn't right without a mug of spiked cider, and this recipe makes the classic even better. Rather than using plain old bourbon, we first infuse the whiskey with sweet, nutty caramel popcorn. In a nod to hot buttered rum, we float a pat of butter on top of the drink for a rich finish.

Hot Caramel-Popcorn Bourbon Apple Cider Recipe »

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If you think you're going to be in the mood for cider, but you don't want a warm cocktail, try this classy, perfect-for-a-party drink. Aside from the bourbon, ginger beer, and hard cider, all you'll need is some ice, Angostura bitters, a few wedges of lemon.

Into the Woods Recipe »

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If every Thanksgiving finds you struggling to revive yourself from a food coma, spiked coffee is just what you need. This recipe uses a few ounces of rum and an easy homemade butterscotch whipped cream, but you could also try a version with Frangelico, Fernet, or amaro and bourbon.

Everything Nice (Spiced-Rum Coffee With Butterscotch Whipped Cream) Recipe »

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The name alone makes Wild Turkey 101 an appropriate Thanksgiving spirit, but that's not the only reason we use it in this cocktail. An overproof bourbon stands up best to the intense sage, and Wild Turkey's caramel and vanilla notes perfectly complement the pumpkin. Store-bought pumpkin butter varies in sweetness, so make sure to taste it before you use it here (or go with a homemade version).

Turkey and Sage Cocktail Recipe »

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Premade mixers are a godsend on Thanksgiving—you can do most of the heavy lifting early in the day and minimize the amount of work you have to do when it's time to drink. Here, we make the mixer with clove-scented roasted pears, bourbon, and maple syrup, then top it off with sparkling wine to serve.

Sparkling Bourbon Pear Cocktail Recipe »

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The mixer for this cocktail combines gin with rosemary, sugar, and the juice from charred lemons, which develop a remarkably rich, complex, and mellower flavor after being seared in a skillet. As with the previous recipe, all you have to do to serve is top the mixer with sparkling wine—though a sprig of fresh rosemary is a nice finishing touch.

Charred Lemon Gin Sparkler Recipe »

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I'm celebrating Thanksgiving in Los Angeles this year, and given how fall is going so far, it's probably going to be a warm one. Luckily, this bourbon punch, which pairs whiskey with lemon juice and five-spice syrup and tops off the mixture with club soda, is refreshing enough for an LA November. Forget about the powdered mixes at the store and make the syrup with whole spices instead.

5-Spice Bourbon Punch Recipe »

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If you live somewhere with more seasonally appropriate Thanksgiving temperatures, this punch might be just what you want. It's packed with intense flavors perfect for a cold day: smoky blended Scotch, aromatic chai tea, nutty sherry, and spicy Angostura bitters. We sweeten the punch with a woodsy vanilla-cinnamon syrup.

9 Ladies Dancing Punch Recipe »

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The smokiness in this big-batch punch comes from lapsang souchong tea, which we mix with gin, orange curaçao, oleo-saccharum, and sage syrup. The sage syrup can be made up to a week ahead of time, and the oleo-saccharum can be made the night before, meaning you'll have minimal prep to do on Thanksgiving Day itself.

Smoky Sage Punch Recipe »

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Making an individual Old Fashioned takes only a minute or two, but when you're juggling a million other tasks on Thanksgiving, it's convenient to have a batch ready ahead of time. Along with the whiskey, simple syrup, and bitters, add a few ounces of water to make up for the fact that you aren't diluting the cocktail by stirring it with ice. For a fun variation, check out our peanut-flavored Old Fashioned in a bottle, too.

Old Fashioned Cocktails (for a Crowd) Recipe »

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An easy way to update a classic Old Fashioned cocktail is by fat-washing the bourbon with toasty, nutty browned butter, which adds richness while mellowing things out. This recipe starts with an entire bottle of bourbon, making 12 cocktails, and you can easily multiply it as needed.

Brown-Butter Old Fashioned Recipe »

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Another drink for fans of strong whiskey cocktails, this one pairs rye with fernet and triple sec. Your first instinct is probably to reach for a bottle of Fernet-Branca, but its minty, medicinal flavor doesn't work here—instead, go for something with a warmer, more cinnamon-forward flavor, like Jelínek Czech-style fernet.

Old Timber (Rye Cocktail With Fernet) Recipe »

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A savory twist on the Boulevardier, this cocktail uses peaty Islay Scotch in place of the bourbon or rye and swaps out the Campari for vegetal Cynar. The vermouth we prefer is Martini & Rossi Bianco, which has a citrusy, herbal flavor reminiscent of Lillet Blanc.

Drunk Uncle (Scotch and Cynar Cocktail) Recipe »

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I can tell you from experience that it's good to have some Thanksgiving cocktails in your repertoire that are lighter on the booze. This one gets all of its alcohol from sparkling wine, which we flavor with orange bitters and a sweet-tart, spicy cranberry–black pepper shrub. The shrub will last up to a month, so make it now if you really want to get a head start on the Turkey Day prep.

Tangy Cranberry–Black Pepper Shrub Cocktail Recipe »

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This twist on the French 75 gets its cranberry flavor from a cordial made by simmering the fruit in a simple syrup with cinnamon sticks, star anise, cardamom, cloves, and orange peel. To make the drink, just mix equal parts cordial and pink grapefruit juice with gin, then top with sparkling wine.

A Minnesota Good-Bye (Cranberry French 75) Recipe »

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This sparkling cocktail combines nutty oloroso sherry with apple in two forms: muddled fresh apple and Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy. We sweeten the cocktail with Mandarine Napoléon liqueur; if that proves hard to find, feel free to use Grand Marnier or a good dry orange curaçao instead.

Sparkling Apple Sherry Cocktail Recipe »

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Here's another warming sparkler, one that has the added benefit of coming together in mere seconds: Slightly sweet ruby port gets mixed with tart pomegranate juice, orange bitters, and sparkling wine, and the mixture is given a spritz of lemon just before serving.

Portmanteau Recipe »

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The hardest part of making this easy-drinking sipper is finding the right Madeira—you want to find one labeled "Malmsey" to get the right sweet, nutty flavor. Beyond that, there's nothing more to the cocktail than simple syrup, lemon juice, and a dusting of nutmeg.

Shagbark's Sangaree (Madeira and Lemon Cocktail) Recipe »

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A combination of unsweetened cranberry juice and Scotch whisky makes this a tart and warming big-batch cocktail that's ideal for a fall gathering. Marmalade syrup balances the cocktail's sharpness, for a smooth drink you'll want more of, right away.

Sweater Weather Punch (Scotch and Cranberry Cocktail) Recipe »

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This cocktail is perfect for wintertime entertaining because you can make the easy cinnamon-spiced cranberry mixer ahead of time, long before the last-minute party chaos sets in. When the time comes, just add the booze and offer the drink in a pitcher for guests to serve themselves.

Cranberry in a Can (Batched Rye-Cranberry Shrub Cocktail) Recipe »

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In this big-batch rum punch, dried figs and Madeira balance out the slight bitterness of black tea. The best part is that you can put this easy drink together in advance, so on Thanksgiving Day, all you need to do is serve it—and drink it.

Make-Ahead Fig and Cinnamon Punch Recipe »

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A lively riff on the Sidecar, this citrusy sipper is perfect for parties, since it's easy to make in big batches, so long as you hold the ice until the end. Spritz each filled coupe before serving and you're good to go.

Ridealong Recipe »

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Think of this as a much more sophisticated vodka-cranberry, with fresh and bright lemon juice and some orange bitters contributing a degree of complexity entirely absent from the dive bar staple. Rosemary honey adds aromatic sweetness and is, thankfully, extremely easy to make. Better yet, it also stars in our Two Turtledoves cocktail, so it's nice to have extra on hand.

Dickory Dock Recipe »

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