5 festive drinks to toast the New Year

Last call for 2014! Bid a festive farewell to the past (and the holiday season) with one of these dreamy drinks found around the city.

From creamy spiked cocoas to bubbly elixirs, there are plenty of cheery sips to guide you softly into the new year.

A sip that’s a trip

Caipiruva, $10 at Sekend Sun, 32-11 Broadway, Queens, 917-832-6141

If you’re already searching for a virtual vacation from the cold, the answer may be found in Astoria, where Sekend Sun co-owner Jay Zimmerman combines 4 red grapes, 4 green grapes, 3 teaspoons of sugar, 2 ounces Avuá cachaça and the juice of half a lime, shaken with ice, to fashion his caipiruva — a deceptively tropical drink dressed up for the season. “It’s definitely festively colored, but also a great way to bring up warm memories of a Brazilian beach in the doldrums of winter,” says Zimmerman.

Bubble up

The Bracebridge, $18 at Eli’s Table, 1413 Third Ave., 212-717-9798

“The holidays are a period where we wrestle with tradition, and we try to understand what is, what was and what is going to be,” waxes Grant Wheeler, the mixologist at Eli Zabar’s new restaurant, Eli’s Table. His holiday cocktail combines Saint-Chamant Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne with calvados apple brandy, locally produced apple cider and elderflower liqueur to put a unique twist on the traditional bubbles. It drinks like a nice Champagne “but with a little bit of the warmth, Old World rusticness and complexity that often accompany the holiday season,” he says.

Egg dream

Festive Egg Nog, $16 at the Gander, 15 W. 18th St., 212-229-9500

To create the creamy Festive Eggnog at the Gander, beverage director Jordan Lari whips up a classic base with eggs, sugar, milk and cream, then spikes it with two different whiskeys: Compass Box “Orangerie,” a navalina orange-infused Scotch whisky; and Great King Street “Glasgow Blend” Scotch whisky. To finish, he adds a spritz of house-made holiday bitters with notes of clove, allspice, star anise, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. “Eggnog, to me, is the quintessential holiday drink,” states Lari. “But the holiday bitters also seem to capture all the other flavors of the season. I’d wear it as cologne if it wasn’t weird.”

Rock out

Mister Katz’s New Year’s Eve Punch, $11 at The Shanty, 79 Richardson St., Williamsburg, 718-878-3579

Raise a glass to 2015 at the Shanty — the bar outpost of boutique spirits biz the New York Distilling Company. Their festive punch mixes the company’s Mister Katz’s Rock & Rye — a blend of rye and rock-candy syrup that dates to the 19th century — with Rooibos tea, Banks 5 Island rum and fresh lime juice. “The combination features the rich, warm notes of the two spirits and the refreshing and seasonal fruit notes of the tea,” says co-owner Allen Katz.

Adult entertainment

Hot Chocolate Corretto, $9 at Il Buco Alimentari, 53 Great Jones St., 212-837-2622

Treat yourself to an adult take on Swiss Miss. It’s made of cocoa powder and Valrhona chocolate steamed with Battenkill Creamery milk, then dosed with a shot of Varnelli — an Italian liqueur made from aniseed — and topped with house-made marshmallows. “What could be more seasonal and delicious than that?” enthuses Il Buco Alimentari’s wine-cellar director, Roberto Paris.