Planning to ring in the New Year with a champagne toast?

Think outside of the box with these creative cocktail recipes – they’re sure to start 2013 off with a bang!

Poinsettia Champagne Cocktail 

Ingredients (makes one drink)

• 1/2 ounce Cointreau or triple sec
• Champagne
• 3 ounce cranberry juice

Directions

Chill all of the ingredients beforehand.

Pour the Cointreau and cranberry juice into a chilled champagne flute. Stir well and top with champagne.

Black Velvet Cocktail

Ingredients (makes one drink)

• 5 oz chilled Guinness
• 1 ½ ounce chilled champagne

 Directions

Pour Guinness into champagne flute. Add champagne slowly, use the back of a spoon if you need. The goal is to float the champagne on top of the Guinness. Serve and enjoy!

Lemon Drop Champagne Punch

Ingredients (serves 6 – 8)

•   3 lemons, room temperature
•   1/2 cup sugar
•   1 bottle (750 milliliters) Champagne, chilled
•   3/4 cup best-quality vodka, chilled
•   4 ounces candied lemon peels

 Directions

With a vegetable peeler, remove zest from each lemon in a long, continuous spiral. Juice lemons, and strain pulp (you should have 3/4 cup juice). Set aside.

Heat sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Add zest. Let syrup cool completely, about 2 hours.

Pour champagne, vodka, lemon juice, and syrup into a punch bowl; stir. Serve glasses of punch with candied peels.

What’s your favorite cocktail recipe?