The 2-Ingredient Trader Joe’s Cocktail I’m Making for the Holidays

Whether you’re hosting a holiday gathering or merely attending, a welcome cocktail is essential. For hosts, it’s the first thing you hand to a guest as you greet them, setting the tone for a relaxed and fun meal or party. For attendees, bringing a low-lift cocktail is an easy way to contribute to the festivities that any host would appreciate.

All this to say, if you’re planning to celebrate the holidays in any fashion, you’re going to need a cocktail. Luckily, said cocktail does not need to be complicated. Sure, you can spend time and effort making infusions and simple syrups and the like, or you can do what I’m going to do—grab two bottles at Trader Joe’s and call it a day.

You can call me lazy, I don’t mind. Believe me when I say this is a delicious, crowd-pleasing cocktail that no one would guess is made up of just two affordable ingredients. I’ll keep your secret if you’ll keep mine.

Two Ingredients Are All You Need

This cocktail is basically a sparkling bourbon punch, but it takes just two clever ingredients to make:

• Trader Joe’s Old Fashioned ($19.99): This bottle might look like plain old whiskey, but it’s actually pre-mixed old fashioneds, really for pouring. The old fashioned is pretty good on its own—it’s not the best bourbon ever, and it’s a bit too sweet for my tastes. That said, it’s excellent in this cocktail and saves you time and effort at a lovely price point.
• Dry sparkling wine ($7 to $20): What takes the old fashioned mix to the next level is a bit of fruity, dry bubbles. It doesn’t really matter what brand you buy here, just look for something dry. Sparkling wine, champagne, and prosecco are all good choices. I’ve used a few TJ’s branded bottles with great success.

Depending on what wine you choose, you can make sophisticated cocktails for about 12 people for just over $2 apiece. Bargain!

How To Make My 2-Ingredient Trader Joe’s Sparkling Bourbon Punch

To make your choice of servings (1 to 12 cocktails), you’ll need:

Combine equal parts chilled old fashioned and dry sparkling wine in a glass of your choosing. Good options include a wine glass, champagne flute, rocks glass, or collins glass. If your bottles are well-chilled, you won’t need any ice.

For one large cocktail, combine 3 ounces of each. For a smaller cocktail, use 2 ounces of each. Garnish with an orange peel, if desired, and serve immediately.

Tips for Serving

This cocktail is super easy to scale up and down, and since the ratio of the ingredients is 1:1, you will use up each bottle in tandem without awkward leftovers. I recommend chilling the bottles and serving neat rather than with ice. Since the pre-mixed bottle of old fashioneds is already watered down the right amount and we’re using sparkling wine, the ice will just get in the way.

I like to serve these with a simple strip of orange peel for aroma and color, which pairs nicely with the wine and the bourbon. Lemon peel would also be good. No matter how you serve it, don’t add the sparkling wine until just before serving so it has maximum bubbles.