If you’ve been dreaming of creating great cocktails for yourself and your friends, here’s a primer on a few of the basics that will get you through most small parties.
And if you have someone else mix your drinks, it’s a good idea to have some basic cocktail recipe knowledge at hand so you know what you’re ordering and how it should be done.
DAIQUIRI
- 2 oz light rum
- 1 oz plus 1 tsp fresh lime juice
- .5 oz simple syrup (a 1:1 mixture of granulated sugar and water, boiled or left on counter until sugar dissolves. Also sold in liquor departments.)
Shake vigorously with ice, then strain into cocktail glass.
MANHATTAN
- 2 oz rye whiskey
- 1 oz sweet vermouth
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
Stir ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Strain into chilled martini glass or cocktail coupe.
MARGARITA
- 2 oz silver tequila
- 1 oz Cointreau
- 1 oz lime juice
- Salt for the rim
This recipe includes fresh juice, so it should be shaken. Serve over ice in a glass with a salted rim.
MARTINI
- 3 oz gin or vodka
- .5 oz dry vermouth
- Lemon peel or olive
Stir ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Strain into chilled martini glass. Squeeze oil from lemon peel into the glass or garnish with olive.
NEGRONI
- 1 oz gin
- 1 oz Campari
- 1 oz sweet vermouth
Stir with ice.
MOJITO
- 3 mint leaves
- 2 oz white rum
- .75 oz lime juice
- .5 oz simple syrup
Muddle mint into a shaker tin, then add ice and all other ingredients. Shake to chill and strain into a highball glass with ice. Top with club soda if desired and garnish with mint.
OLD FASHIONED
- 2 oz bourbon or rye whiskey
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
- 1 sugar cube or 1 tsp sugar
- Orange twist garnish
Put sugar in glass. Cover it with dashes of bitters. Add whiskey and stir until sugar dissolves. Add ice, stir again, and serve.
WHISKEY SOUR
- 2 oz whiskey
- 1 oz lemon juice
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 egg white (optional)
Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake without ice, especially if you’re using egg white. Then add ice and shake again. Strain over ice in a rocks glass.
