You’re probably familiar with at least a few classic cocktails such as Martinis or Mimosas, but bartending guides can contain hundreds of recipes using dozens of liquors and mixers. Whether you’re building your bar stock or just want to know more about what to order for a night out, start with the basics. Most bartenders can make a competent Cosmopolitan, but fewer will be able to serve up a proper Drunken Elf.
While the list of the most popular cocktails through the ages changes as drinks go in and out of fashion, a few perennial favourites never leave the world of cocktails, including:
Old fashioned: Made with whiskey or bourbon, bitters, sugar and a twist of lemon, this classic is the grandfather of all rock glass cocktails.
Margarita: a well-composed Margarita features fresh lime, tequila, and salt with just enough triple sec to sweeten it.
Negroni: Another short cocktail like the old fashioned, a traditional Negroni contains gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth.
Whiskey sour: Sours are a favorite category of drinks, and the most popular is the whiskey sour with its simple trinity of whiskey, lemon juice, and sugar.
Mimosa: This elegant cocktail contains roughly equal parts of champagne and orange juice and is a delight for brunch. Other sparkling cocktails play on this theme with different juices or sparkling wines.
Sazerac: Developed in New Orleans, a Sazerac brings rye whiskey, a sugar cube, a dash of Angostura bitters, and a nip of absinthe together in elegant harmony.
Daiquiri: Frozen variations as sweet as desserts exist, but the original Daiquiri is made with rum, lime juice, and just enough simple syrup to balance the tartness.
Martini: Like the Daiquiri, many drinks borrow the name, but the quintessential Martini contains only gin or vodka, dry vermouth, and an olive. Martini cocktails may not have much more in common with this drink but the name and the shape of the distinctive glass. Jame Bond notwithstanding, purists typically prefer them stirred.