13 Best Mardi Gras Drinks That Are Famous in New Orleans

As anyone who has ever traveled to New Orleans for its notoriously raucous Fat Tuesday festivities will tell you: No Mardi Gras celebration is complete without glittery masks, colorful parades, beaded necklaces (in purple, green, and gold, of course), sugar-coated king cake—and lots of extravagant drinks.

That's because while the Big Easy is the birthplace of many brag-worthy things—Cafe du Monde, jazz music, and Reese Witherspoon, to name a few—its greatest claim to fame may be that many of the most enduring drinks were invented in New Orleans, including the nearly two-centuries-old Sazerac, the crowd-pleasing Ramos Gin Fizz, and the famously fruity Hurricane (which also happens to be the unofficial drink of Mardi Gras).

And while Mardi Gras in New Orleans will look very different this year (all official parades have been cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic), the good news is that you can easily get a taste of the action right at home on February 16: Just whip up some of the city's most iconic foods (think: grits, biscuits, and beignets), make yourself one the most popular drinks in New Orleans, and turn on the Hoda Kotb-hosted Mardi Gras for All Y'all (kicking off on February 12).

Ahead, we've compiled a list of the best Mardi Grad drinks—whether you prefer your cocktails to be tequila-based or rum-based, sweet or stiff, or even nonalcoholic—all of which will get you in the Carnival spirit.