From your Kris Kringle to your grumpy grandpa, the best drink gifts for everyone on your list

Festive parties and long Christmas lunches tend to attract a motley crew of family, friends, colleagues, neighbours and blow-ins. Check off just about everyone on your gift list with these beverage-related ideas.

For the TikTok trend-following (18+) teen

Milky Lane has long served sweet sensations and weird and wonderful, fairy-floss-topped cocktails at over-the-top eateries across the nation. Now, their bonkers concoctions are available in cans. The trio of Milky Lane RTDs includes the Lychee and Passionfruit Mojito, the Bondi Sour and the Creaming Soda Spider. They’re bright, boozy and utterly ridiculous. Would I drink them? No, but they’re enough to send young cousins into a meticulously choreographed TikTok spin. $84 a case (16-pack), 4.5 per cent ABV, milkylane-rtd.com

For the non-alc TikTok crowd, fancy ice cubes are a winner. Etsy has some great monogrammed options or look for the TrueZoo Jumbo Iced Out trays, which create ice cubes in the shape of large diamonds. Add edible flowers before freezing for extra wow factor. $24.95 at cocktail merchants Only Bitters, onlybitters.com/truezoo-jumbo-iced-out-tray-diamond-ice-cubes

For the celeb-loving aunty

Got a relative who spends Christmas morning glued to Britney Spears’ Insta account? Gift them a celebrity-endorsed wine this year. A bottle of Kylie Minogue Signature Prosecco Rosé will set you back $22.99 at Dan Murphy’s. Or really make her swoon with a bottle of Brad Pitt’s Champagne Fleur De Miraval “Exclusive Release 3″ (ER3). The catch is the ultra-limited release can only be found at Sydney’s Icebergs, Stokehouse in Melbourne, and Brisbane’s SK Steak & Oyster, Sushi Room, and Hellenika. Oh, and it clocks in at $1299 RRP, so you really need to love that aunty.

For the neighbour over the back fence who’s become a friend

Reward the neighbour who delivers regular doses of gossip (and lends you sugar when you need it) with a bottle of Zonzo Panettone Gin. The Yarra Valley brand worked hard to create this utterly festive drop. There are lashings of orange, vanilla, hazelnut, raisin, juniper and spice. The secret ingredient? Burnt figs from Mildura. It’s Christmas in liquid form and when it first launched ahead of Christmas 2022, it sold out in five days. This year, just 2000 bottles were made. Tell your neighbour to serve it over ice or with soda. If she’s feeling extra fancy, drizzle the gin on a slice of panettone and add a scoop of ice-cream. Delish.
$68, 40 per cent alcohol, zonzo.com.au

For your Kris Kringle

You can’t go wrong with boozy baubles. The gin-filled Christmas decorations are increasingly popular (hit “search” and ye shall find). The likes of Newy Distillery in Edgeworth, New South Wales, does a two-pack for $24.95 (37 per cent alcohol); Margaret River’s Dune Distilling does a four-pack (Signature Gin, Lime and Green Tea Gin, Pink Grapefruit Gin and Xmas Plum Gin) for $59; and Adelaide’s Pennant Distillery does a boxed, single 150ml gin bauble for $20.

For your gin-loving grandma

Gran will lose her marbles over this one. To make the 2023 Four Pillars Australian Christmas Gin ($100 a bottle), head distiller Cameron Mackenzie and his family distilled Christmas puddings (made using his late mother Wilma’s recipe), then aged the resulting gin in 100-year-old muscat barrels. After 12 months, Rutherglen Classic Muscat is used to round out the palate. Four Pillars also produces its own Christmas Gin Pudding, a ham glaze made using gin-steamed oranges ($10), and a ham bag featuring the Christmas Gin label art by Jo White ($30). fourpillarsgin.com

For your grumpy grandpa

Nothing turns a frown upside down like a hit of nostalgia. Stone’s Original Green Ginger Wine ($15 for 750ml) is a classic drop that evokes many a memory. The ginger-packed wine has long been used to warm cockles during camping trips and community footy matches (players used to sip it between quarters). To really rock Pop’s socks, buy him a bottle of the chocolate and orange-infused Green Ginger Wine. $21 a bottle, 13.9 per cent alcohol, stonesoriginal.com.au

For the fierce, feminist sister

Australian Women in Wine has re-released a second batch of Hear Me Roar Gin, just in time for Christmas. It sells out every year, largely because 100 per cent of profits go towards programs and professional development for women in the Australian wine industry. This ferocious beauty was made using a combination of blackcurrant leaf, native finger lime and Tasmanian pepper berry. $110 a bottle, womeninwine.com.au

For Mum, with love

Bubbles are always a winner where Mum is concerned. So, too, is a pretty, limited-edition gift box. Champagne-Pommery’s Kashmir collection ticks both columns. The packaging is inspired by Indian paisley, also known as cashmere motifs, which originated about 2000 years ago and are believed to be an ancient symbol of life and fertility. Now that’s something for Mum to ponder while she sips. The Pommery Brut Royal NV starts at $89 and is available at David Jones, various independent fine wine stores and at champagnepommery.com.

For the wine snob

There’s always one who’s seen and tried it all. Bend their mind with the Whisson Lake 2020 Le Gris de Noir, a white wine made from pinot noir fruit. Boutique Adelaide Hills brand Whisson Lake only makes it when conditions are just right, so it’s not available every year. Fun fact: owners Mark and Andrie Whisson’s pinot noir is grown on the highest commercial vineyard in South Australia. It’s a special drop, and just 1320 bottles were made. $65 a bottle, 12 per cent alcohol, whissonlake.com.

For the know-it-all dad

Education is the gift that keeps giving. When wine professionals Jane Lopes and Jonathan Ross wrote How to Drink Australian, their aim was to help the world fall in love with Australian wine. The dynamic duo collaborated with Australian wine legends Mike Bennie, Kavita Faiella and Hannah Day, who provided on-the-ground perspective. It’s a brilliant, award-winning read. $80, Murdoch Books, howtodrinkaustralian.com

For the hip brother

Got a bro who won’t drink anything but ultra-craft beer and obscure small-batch wines? Wildflower Beer’s Lambrewski is just the ticket. This sparkling red ale begs to make an appearance on the Christmas table. In a nutshell, Sydney-based Wildflower worked with pal Tim Ward (from Tim Ward Wines) to make ale using lightly pressed lambrusco maestri grape skins. “It comes out in early December and is available through summer,” says Wildflower head brewer and co-founder Topher Boehm. “It’s fizzy and red ... evocative of sparkling shiraz season.” Such fun. $26 a bottle, 4.7 per cent alcohol, wildflowerbeer.com

For the self-obsessed in-laws
A personalised bottle of gin or whisky is enough to make anyone feel like the centre of attention. The new Archie Rose Tailored Spirits labels feature designs by Naarm/Melbourne artist Gemma Leslie and there’s an option to customise the front and back labels. Choose between gin or vodka (both $99) and whisky ($149). Leslie is also the founder of culinary poster shop Food For Everyone and for a limited time, a bespoke tea towel is also available on the Archie Rose website and Roseberry cellar door. archierose.com.au

For the beer-swilling uncles

This collaboration between Aussie underwear and workwear brand Tradie and Melbourne’s Brick Lane Brewing should make your tradie uncles chuckle. The Tradie Beer range includes a crisp lager, a pale ale, and a zero-carb lager. From $15 a six-pack at Liquorland, First Choice Liquor Market and Vintage Cellar stores across the country. tradie.com/beer-range

For the socially and eco-conscious cousin

Let’s face it, we should all be making more conscious purchasing decisions. The new OzHarvest x Kakadu Kitchen Conscious Drink warms the heart and cools the palate. A partnership between Kakadu Kitchen and OzHarvest Ventures, it’s a sparkling wine-alternative made from rescued blueberries and wild-harvested native botanicals, which were ethically sourced from First Nations-owned companies. $30 a bottle, zero per cent alcohol, harvestbites.com.au

For the designated drivers

A NoLo Christmas hamper is a cracking way to reward anyone taking on driving duties or genuinely devoted to abstaining this festive season. Sydney’s P&V Merchants sends its Non Alc Christmas Hamper Pack nationwide. It’s a tote bag packed with Lyre’s Classico Grande Non-Alcoholic Sparkling Wine, Gruppetto Spritz Camomilla, and snacks including Proper Crisps, Hunted + Gathered Four Pillars Gin Chocolate, Nice Pickles Table Pickle, and a Mat’s Hot Shop Hot Sauce. $70, pnvmerchants.com. Or, if booze-free beer is more appealing, Beer Cartel’s Alcohol-Free Mixed 12-Pack contains brews by Heaps Normal, Brewdog, Bridge Road, Capital Brewing Co, Deeds Brewing, Brick Lane, Hop Nation, Beneficial Beer, Gage Roads Brew Co, Big Shed Brewing, and Nort Beer. $49.99, beercartel.com.au

For the unannounced guests

It happens every year. Someone turns up uninvited and you have to rustle up a gift at short notice. Boozy bonbons are a great go-to. The likes of Chief’s Son distillery in Victoria sell bonbons containing 50ml bottles of handcrafted single malt whisky. $12 each or six for $69, chiefsson.com.au. Or, for my ultimate Christmas hack: make your own bonbons. I’m opting to use Heaps Normal and Victoria’s Yumbo Soda Co’s Tough Stuff Shandy. It’s nostalgia in a can and my NoLo hit of the year. Buy a case for $74.99, wrap each one up, bonbon style, and you have presents for days. heapsnormal.com