Which Cocktails Are Vegan? 6 Vegan Cocktails

You may be surprised to find that vegan cocktail recipes are in limited supply, mostly due to the ingredients used in many cocktails.

The dedicated vegan will find a lot of popular products actually contain animal produce or by-products and these are not common knowledge for most casual drinks. 

We’re looking to change that and give some viable alternative to non-vegan cocktails so read on to see our best vegan cocktail recipes. 

6 Best Vegan Cocktails

Vegan Irish Cream

Baileys is a non-vegan product – but one that is great for a number of cocktails, unfortunately. 

When you’re looking for a rich and creamy cocktail, Baileys is often a go-to option. So, check out this vegan Baileys alternative to the Irish Cream cocktail that uses a DIY Bailey’s without the milk. 

Ingredients

50ml Whiskey

75ml Almond Milk

50ml Condensed Coconut Milk

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Tsp Instant Coffee

Method

Add all ingredients into a mixing glass filled with ice and stir until the ingredients are mixed together and blended. 

Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice and garnish with a dusting of cocoa powder. 

Aquafaba Gin Fizz

We’ll cover some cocktail ingredients to avoid later if you’re vegan and one, in particular, is egg whites.

Egg whites give a foamy head to most cocktails and a good alternative for a modern cocktail connoisseur is Aquafaba. 

A relatively new ingredient on the block, Aquafaba is the liquid from canned chickpeas and gives a similar foam when shaken in a cocktail.

Check out its best use in an Aquafaba Gin Fizz.

Ingredients

50ml London Dry Gin

25ml Lime Juice

15ml Aquafaba

15ml Sugar Syrup

Top Soda Water

Method

Add the gin, lime juice, Aquafaba and sugar syrup to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until cold to touch. 

Strain the shaker into a rocks glass filled with ice and top with soda water. Garnish with a lime wedge. 

Vegan White Negroni

Unfortunately, Campari (a key ingredient in a classic Negroni) is not vegan friendly.

It doesn’t contain animal products but can contain by-products due to the filtration process used.

If you enjoy a classic Negroni and are devastated to find this out then don’t worry, we have just the vegan-friendly recipe to replace it with. 

Ingredients

25ml London Dry Gin

25ml Lillet Blanc

25ml Suze

Method

Fill a lowball glass with ice and add the ingredients above. Stir to chill and dilute the ingredients. 

Garnish with a lemon twist.

Vegan White Russian

Before the days of alternative milk, you couldn’t really enjoy a White Russian if you had any intolerance to dairy or were vegan.

Fortunately, alternative milks do now exist and do a great job of adding new depths of flavour to your favourite cocktails. 

For this version of the White Russian, cashew milk adds a creamy yet subtle texture to the drink and compliments the vodka and Kahlua perfectly.  

Ingredients

50ml Vodka

25ml Kahlua

Top Cashew Milk

Method

Fill an Old Fashioned glass with ice. Add the vodka, Kahlua, and top with cashew milk to taste. 

Maple Whiskey Sour

Another great cocktail to fall foul off egg white use, the classic Whiskey Sour is again not vegan-friendly. 

For a slightly Canadian twist, we’ve added maple syrup and again replaced egg whites with Aquafaba to get the desired texture for this sours cocktail. 

Ingredients

50ml Whiskey (or Bourbon)

25ml Lemon Juice

25ml Maple Syrup

35ml Aquafaba

3 Dashes Citrus Bitters

Method

Add all ingredients (except the Aquafaba) to a shaker filled with ice and shake until chilled. Remove the ice and add the Aquafaba. 

Shake for 20 seconds to create a foamy texture. Pour into a chilled rocks glass and leave it to set. 

Garnish with a lemon peel. 

Vegan Bloody Mary

A traditional Bloody Mary will be made using Worcestershire sauce which is not even vegetarian (never mind vegan). Therefore, check out our simple recipe below that acknowledges the Worcestershire sauce but calls for a vegan-only option. 

Ingredients

50ml Vodka

100ml Tomato Juice

15ml Lemon Juice

15ml Lime Juice

2 Dashes Tabasco Sauce

2 Dashes Vegan Worcestershire Sauce

Pinch Celery Salt

Pinch Black Pepper

Pinch Paprika

Method

Salt the rim of a glass using a lime wedge and the celery salt and set to one side. 

Add all other ingredients into a shaker filled with ice and shake for 15 – 20 seconds. Strain into a glass and garnish with a celery stick and lemon wedge. 

Which Cocktails Are NOT Vegan

It’s very easy to make assumptions when it comes to alcohol, and cocktails in particular. While we’re listing the best vegan cocktails recipes it’s important to keep in mind that not all the cocktails you assume would be vegan actually are.

The following are standard (and popular) cocktails that are not vegan:

• Cocktails made with milk or cream (standard White Russian as an example)
• Cocktails with foam as these will be made by whipping egg whites (sour cocktails)
• Cocktails using honey (Chambord) or honey liqueurs
• Wine based cocktails. Some wines are made with processes that use animal-based products (yes, we were surprised too) so make sure the wine clearly states vegan if used. The same is true for Prosecco.