20 Brunch Cocktails to Make While Nursing Your Hangover

We're all guilty of the occasional—or weekly—bougie brunch with friends. The habit can really start to drain your bank account, unless you start being that friend who only orders a coffee and a side of toast. Brunch cocktails—especially those bottomless mimosas and Bloody Mary's—are the ultimate rip off in the whole brunch game. They're usually made with the bottomest of bottom shelf liquors, and in meager proportions, to really make the most profit off of those most likely to post a picture of their pancakes or avocado toast on Instagram. Be a sucker no longer! Invite your pals over and get them properly pissed at 11 a.m. with these brunch cocktails that are actually worth every penny you'll spend on the booze. And people will definitely still Instagram the shit out of these, too.

If this buzzy mix of booze and caffeine doesn’t get you going the morning after a long night, well, then you might as well go back to bed.

Five Leaves is a beloved Brooklyn brunch spot, so beloved that the lines are often heinously long. If you’re not the waiting type, steal their Bloody Mary recipe—and make it while you’re hungover at home in your jammies.

With fresh squeezed citrus juice and herbaceous honey, this cocktail is basically iced tea. With mezcal. Make a big batch and start flipping pancakes.

Oh, Canada. Always trying to one-up us Americans. A Caesar, for the uninitiated, is essentially a Bloody Mary where the tomato juice is infused with clam broth. Garnish with a skewered shrimp for an extra taste of the sea.

Mint and mango keep this easy sipper light and refreshing—the perfect complement to a rich, decadent plate of brunch food.

Following the laws of mimosas, any cocktail that includes fruit and is topped with champagne is a brunch cocktail. Look it up. This cosmo-pink delight, from Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ Lisa Vanderpump, comes from the British restaurateur’s menu at SUR where the décor is also very, very pink. Watch Vanderpump Rules power couple Ariana Madix and Tom Sandoval make it here.

Everyone’s got an opinion about Bloody Marys. Don’t even bother trying to play to the crowd and just let the picky bastards make their own.

This grapefruit beermosa is fit for a crowd, and it’s budget-friendly, too: Your favorite cheap beer is just fine here, since there’s plenty of citrus to perk it up.

New York’s beloved Irish cocktail bar, Dead Rabbit, lent us this killer hair-of-the-dog, whose origins allegedly lie with legendary Irish satirist Jonathan Swift. If it’s good enough to start Swift’s morning, it’s good enough for you.

Aperol spritzes are a wonderful aperitif, just a little bitter to really wake up your appetite. With the addition of citrus juice, this is basically a mimosa that’s working extra hard.

You can make a pot of coffee for your friends after you get them a little tipsy with this.

A Bloody Maria—itself a riff on a Bloody Mary—is still pretty straightforward. It’s about creating the perfect balance of salty, savory, spicy, and boozy. It’s pretty easy to find that sweet spot with bacon-infused mezcal.

Who doesn’t love a themed signature cocktail? The name might be a reference to the heart-wrenching Dear John letter in the Academy Award-winning movie Carol, but you might as well fully lean into your bougie brunch tendencies.

Again we say: shy not away from how basic you really want to be at 11 am on a Sunday morning. Frosé for all!

Beer cocktails tend to be a little weird, but a michelada was made for drinking with huevos rancheros or chilaquiles. Or breakfast tacos. Or, hell, a bowl of cereal.

Cachaça is a sugar cane-based spirit—like rum, but from Brazil. This fruity, vibrant drink lends itself well to being made in big batches for better brunching.

Save yourself some hassle in the morning and make a big batch of this slushie the night before. Definitely don’t skip the umbrellas.

Harneet Barweja and Nirmal Save of London’s Gunpowder are known for harnessing the flavors of their Indian upbringing in bold and delicious ways. Their take on the Bloody Mary—with Bengali mustard seeds and fresh green chile—is an excellent testament to their style.

You’re never too old for Cocoa Puffs, especially when they’re used to infuse vermouth for what is otherwise a classic negroni. This is sufficiently both childish and adult enough to warrant serving either eggs benedict or a buffet of sugary cereal, it could really go either way.

Can’t decide between your morning tea or your brunch booze? You don’t need to—this riff on a mojito is sweetened with Earl Grey simple syrup.