Game Day Drinks And Cocktails For All 32 NFL Football Teams
Football season means great tailgate parties away at the stadium for home games and at your in home bar for away games when your team is on road. These NFL football team inspired cocktails* will give you lots of game day party ideas for themed drinks for all 32 NFL teams out on the gridiron.
The cocktails were chosen based on a number of factors including team names, colors, mascots, player and squad nicknames as well as city, regional and state monikers, landmarks, festivals and more. A few were created as signature drinks for specific football teams, but most were added to the roster because they were a good fit for that club.
Whether its pre-season scrimmages, regular season games or the playoffs; Wild Card, Divisional, Conference and the Superbowl, there’s a drink listed here that’s perfect for your pigskin party. Some of the squads have several symbolic sips which lets you substitute your drink line-up based on the schedule.
So, with one hand waving your favorite team’s foam finger shouting you’re #1 and the other hand free for a refreshment, the only question is:
Are You Ready For Some NFL Football Team Cocktails?
American Football Conference Team Themed Drinks
AFC East
Buffalo Bills:
- Buffalo Bill – equal parts apple cider or juice and bourbon or rye whiskey.
- Niagara Falls – a fancy drink named after the natural attraction nearby the city along the Canadian border.
Miami Dolphins:
- Mojito – the national drink of Cuba is a favorite in Little Havana as well as one of the most popular cocktails in Florida and throughout the rest of the states.
New England Patriots:
New York Jets:
- Manhattan – along with Brooklyn has the highest concentration of fans according to a 2013 Facebook study.
- Bronx – followed by Queens borough, the former home of Shea stadium, also love the J-E-T-S. This drink is basically an Income Tax cocktail minus the bitters.
AFC North
Baltimore Ravens:
- Purple Hooter – black raspberry liqueur colors these tailgate party potations plum perfect.
Cincinnati Bengals:
Cleveland Browns:
- Brown Cocktail – equal parts gin, light or dark rum and dry vermouth.
- Brown Derby Drink – legendary football coach Paul Brown who the NFL team is named after was known for wearing his iconic hat on the gridiron sidelines. It was a fedora, but the (brown) derby is de rigueur.
- Brown University Cocktail – their namesake college football team drink would love to be drafted by pros for game day. The “Brunonian” is equal parts bourbon and dry vermouth with a couple dashes of orange bitters.
Pittsburgh Steelers:
- Black & Gold – refining iron ore put this steel town on the grid. Their NFL football team inspired gridiron drink adds a precious metal to the mix. Combine black vodka with gold flaked cinnamon schnapps two to one.
- Monongahela Cobbler – named for one of the waterways which flows past Heinz Field (formerly Three Rivers Stadium) that’s known for its rye whiskey.
AFC South
Houston Texans:
- Black Gold – a nod to the city’s former franchise, the Houston Oilers.
- Longhorn – another college sports team themed cocktail that would like to be drafted by the NFL, especially from the same great state and mascot. The burnt orange color of the University of Texas at Austin inspired this recipe with lemon rum, orange rum, vodka, orange vodka, orange soda, ice and oranges.
Indianapolis Colts:
Jacksonville Jaguars:
- Jaguar – a Barina Craft original drink recipe that is spotted with southern sipping favorites.
Tennessee Titans:
- Lynchburg Lemonade – Tennessee whiskey, sweet & sour mix, orange liqueur and lemon-lime soda makes a southern sip worth suing the distillery over.
- Tennessee Tea – same as above, just substitute cola for lemon-lime soda.
AFC West
Denver Broncos:
- Orange Crush – this NFL football team inspired drink celebrates the nickname given to Denver’s opponent crushing 3-4 defense and the Broncos bright colored home uniform jerseys in the 1970s.
Kansas City Chiefs:
- Arrowhead Cocktails – the Chiefs’ logo is carved in stone and one of these drinks is cherry.
- Kansas City Ice Water – flows thru the fountains at Arrowhead stadium and in the veins of the players and fans who as of this writing boast the loudest sports crowd roar.
Las Vegas Raiders:
- Casino Cocktails – now that the team is located in the Entertainment Capital of the World, famous for gambling and other activities throughout all the city’s mega casino-hotels, these drinks are a sure bet for Raiders fans.
- Oakland Raider Cocktail – a black rum and cola mixed with a shot of silver tequila over ice. This silver and black drink symbolizes Raider Nation whether they’re playing in Oakland, Los Angeles or Las Vegas.
Los Angeles Chargers:
- Charger Cocktail – toast the team’s moniker to ‘charge’ when the bugle call sounds with this cherry brandy and rum sour.
- San Diego Seabreeze – this legacy drink preserves team history. 1 oz vodka, ½ oz each blackberry brandy and blueberry & raspberry schnapps, plus 2 oz each orange and pineapple juice in a tall collins glass over ice.
National Football Conference Team Themed Drinks
NFC East
Dallas Cowboys:
- Cowboy Cocktail – throw the cream away and drink the shot of whiskey straight up.
- Fedora Cocktail – in honor of their legendary head coach Tom Landry who wore his heralded headgear on the sidelines for 29 seasons.
- Thanksgiving Cocktails – dubbed America’s team, they always play football on this holiday.
New York Giants:
- The New York Cocktail – the entire state loves the NY Football Giants, except for parts of the city per Facebook 2013. This is an interesting whiskey sour style drink with rye, lime juice, grenadine and an old fashioned sugar cube.
Philadelphia Eagles:
- Eagle Cocktail – Philly is the perfect roosting place for this classic drink.
- Eagle’s Dream – sugar and egg whites substitute for maraschino liqueur in this variation of the Aviation drink recipe.
Washington Commanders:
- Cherry Blossom – this national flowering festival held locally is closely associated with the area as is a rumored story of a namesake founding father chopping down a certain tree.
- Gin Rickey – “air conditioning in a glass” is the unofficial official drink of D.C.
- Political Cocktails – any number of these drinks could be served at a game day party in this city if you want to mix politics with religion, er, football that is.
NFC North (Black and Blue Division)
Chicago Bears:
Detroit Lions:
- Lion’s Tail – Detroit is one of two NFL teams along with Dallas to always play a game on Thanksgiving to start the Xmas holidays so the use of an allspice liqueur, dubbed “Christmas in a glass” by Murray Stenson, in combination with the drink’s name make this cocktail a perfect match. 2 oz bourbon, ½ oz each pimento dram and lime juice, ½ tsp simple syrup and 1 dash aromatic bitters.
Green Bay Packers:
- Blood and Sand – Johnny ‘Blood’ McNally, who took his nickname from the movie and loved to sing Galway Bay while standing up on bar table tops, was a star player for four championship Packer teams in Green Bay and one of the original members inducted into the Pro Football Hall Of Fame.
- Brandy Old Fashioned – to wet your whistle in Wisconsin, just replace the bourbon or rye you normally use in the recipe.
Minnesota Vikings:
NFC South
Atlanta Falcons:
- Georgia Peach Cocktails – did you know some suggested the Falcons be christened after the official state fruit?
- Scarlett O’Hara & Rhett Butler – these two drinks are both named after characters in Gone With The Wind which was set in and around Atlanta.
Carolina Panthers:
- Carolina Iced Tea – spiced rum, vodka and both peach liqueur & schnapps along with some southern style sweet tea in a tall glass or mason jar.
New Orleans Saints:
- Sazerac – the official drink of New Orleans often referred to as America’s oldest cocktail.
- Vieux Carré – the signature drink of the French Quarter named after the “old square” at the center of the Crescent City.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers:
- Bumbo – a pirate’s poison.
- Filibuster – although its more closely associated with politics these days, the word originally derives from the Dutch term vrijbuiter for pirate, which means “to plunder,” where vrij means “free” and buiter means “booty.”
NFC West
Arizona Cardinals:
- Cardinal Cocktail – a Kir drink variation also known as Communard which substitutes red wine for white.
Los Angeles Rams:
- Greatest Show On Turf – a nickname for the team’s record breaking offense during the 1999 through 2001 National Football League seasons when they were the Saint Louis Rams.
- Ram Cocktail – seems appropriate that the helmet battering Rams namesake drink is a variation of a Harvey Wallbanger.
San Francisco 49ers:
- Barbary Coast Cocktails – a pair of pigskin party picks named after the city’s seedy, crime ridden, red-light district during the California gold rush and beyond. One drink has equal parts gin, scotch whisky, white chocolate creme de cacao and light cream or half and half. The other is mixed with dry gin, cherry brandy, lemon juice and grenadine.
- Frisco Sour – the tasteless moniker given to this gold drink garnished with a red cherry which matches the football team colors.
Seattle Seahawks:
- Emerald City – a signature drink for this city with the blue green nickname whose major league football, baseball and soccer teams all sport these colors.
Share & Compare This List Of NFL Team Drinks For More Ideas
This list of libations is a work in progress. Be sure to check back for updated ideas, more NFL football team inspired cocktails and links to additional information.
Have a suggestion for a game day drink recipe for your favorite NFL team? Contact us or post on our Facebook wall.
Want a generic gridiron geared gulp instead? Check out these pigskin potations penned for plays, points and positions like the Block & Fall, Quarterback and Touchdown.
Please, always drink responsibly.
* – DISCLAIMER: NFL related images, logos, etc. are shown only as a point of reference / commentary for names, mascots, colors and so on as potential drink inspirations and do not represent an affiliation, sponsorship or endorsement by the league, any individual team or associated person or group.
