December 31, 2025

NYT Wirecutter

Well, folks. We’ve made it to the final day of 2025. We hope we’ve been some help to you this year. Whether our rigorous testing informed a big-ticket purchase, or you turned to us to suss out if that viral TikTok thing is worth the hype, or we simply delighted you in your inbox: Thanks for trusting us.

We firmly believe in the best things at all times — but especially in the big moments, so please allow our kitchen experts to guide your beverage choices this evening. Cheers.

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Michael Murtaugh/NYT Wirecutter 12 great tequilas Of our favorites, no two taste exactly alike; some offer savory, herbaceous qualities while others burst with bright, refreshing citrus notes. All of them are well suited to sipping neat, should that be your style→

Michael Murtaugh/NYT Wirecutter The best nonalcoholic drinks A good NA drink should be just as nuanced and compelling as an alcoholic one or otherwise hold its own as an interesting gustatorial experience. These do just that — and their lovely-looking bottles should add a little extra delight to your midnight toast→

Connie Park/NYT Wirecutter 5 excellent vodkas Our picks include a briny vodka that’s great for martinis, a richer option for sweet tooths, and a creamy workhorse that hails from ... Costco. (Yep)→

Marki Williams/NYT Wirecutter Actually good canned cocktails The canned-cocktail industry has burgeoned in recent years from spring-break staples to mixologist-vetted creations. Our favorites are balanced and complex enough that we wouldn’t mind sipping them at even the swankiest New Year’s parties→

Sarah Kobos/NYT Wirecutter The best gins We believe there’s a gin for almost any imbiber — even the folks who think they don’t like it. If you’re turned off by assertive, sprucy gins, we have a pick that’s smooth and bright. If you like old pine boxes in dusty attics and want to capture that sensory experience in a glass, well, we have a gin for you, too→

Michael Murtaugh/NYT Wirecutter 8 nonalcoholic wines we love We considered more than 80 bottles to find these winners — all of which stood out for being satisfyingly complex and special enough to sip and savor. One of our picks, a convincing decoy, impressed our testers by how much it looked and tasted like an actual sparkling white→

Ben Keough/NYT Wirecutter Hop water isn’t trying to be beer. That’s why we like it. A great hop water is crisp and refreshing, and delivers a bit of what folks love about a good beer — without any of the alcohol-induced side effects. These are our favorites→

Michael Murtaugh/NYT Wirecutter; food styling by Maggie Ruggiero

We tasted more than 70 kinds of plain salted potato chips, from kettle-fried to classic thin-and-crispy to rippled and ridged — and came away with 12 golden, delicious picks.

The very best potato chips→

For a classic martini, remember: A little vermouth goes a long way.

You can reach the Wirecutter Newsletters team at newsletters@wirecutter.com. We can’t always respond, but we do love to hear from you.

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