Mardi Gras Cocktails That Bring the Party Home

This brunch staple blends bourbon, vanilla ice cream, honey, and cinnamon into an adult milkshake with a caramel-cinnamon sugar rim. Fair warning: despite tasting like a creamy dream, this sweet sipper definitely lives up to its "punch" name.

New Orleans' official cocktail started its life with cognac before switching to rye whiskey when the French stuff got hard to find. This understated vintage cocktail requires absinthe, which might be the one ingredient missing from your bar cart, but it's worth tracking down for a taste of America's oldest cocktail that still knows how to party.

Give your standard Bloody Mary a Louisiana makeover with extra hot sauce, cayenne and horseradish thrown in for good measure. Garnished with pickled okra or green beans, this spicy morning eye-opener will make you forget about your hangover through sheer willpower and cayenne-induced tears.

This creamy, dessert-like martini captures the flavor of the iconic Mardi Gras cake in drinkable form (minus the traditional plastic baby that might cause a lawsuit). Shaken vodka, liqueur and crème de cacao get topped with colorful sprinkles. Who needs a fork when you have a martini glass?

When Louisiana heat strikes with the subtlety of a steam room, locals cool down with this effervescent mix of gin, fresh lemonade and 7-Up. The fresh cucumber garnish adds a crisp, refreshing touch, because vegetables absolutely count when they're swimming in booze.

Forget those giant plastic cups and neon mixes you see on Bourbon Street. The real Hurricane deal contains just three ingredients: dark rum, passion fruit syrup and lemon juice, creating a balanced rum sour with a molasses-y kick.

Purple, green and gold jello gets spiked with vodka and topped with whipped cream and sprinkles for the party starter that never went out of style. These wiggly wonders prove that sometimes the most fun traditions are the ones that peaked in the '90s.

Add a little elegance to your Mardi Gras with a cocktail that combines lavender extract with gin or cognac, Champagne, lemon juice and sugar. Floral, bubbly and sophisticated, it delivers a surprising kick that proves even the prettiest drinks can pack a punch.

CCR wrote a song about it, and now there's a cocktail to match the swampy vibes. Mango puree meets whiskey finished in rum casks, with orgeat, apple juice and basil vinegar to create a tropical-Southern mashup. And no, the andouille sausage garnish is not a typo.

Not to be confused with Jack Tripper, this aromatic cocktail uses Peychaud's bitters, invented in New Orleans by an apothecary who knew his way around flavor. Dark amaro and herbal liqueur Strega create a bitter-meets-sweet situation that'll make you feel like the most sophisticated person at the party, even if you're drinking alone on your couch.