Classic Cocktails
726 recipes. The recipes everything else is a variation on.
A classic earns the label by outliving the fashion that produced it. Most of the drinks here were written between about 1860 and 1935, and they survive because their proportions are right rather than because anyone is being nostalgic.
They are also the most useful thing to learn, because modern drinks are overwhelmingly variations on them. Know the Old Fashioned, the Martini, the Manhattan, the Daiquiri and the sour template and you can reverse-engineer most cocktail menus.
Start with one and make it three times, changing one thing each time. That teaches more than making three different drinks once.
Start here
The ones worth knowing before the rest.
Add one more bottle
What a second bottle opens up.
All 726 recipes
Page 3 of 16.
- Whiskey Cobbler Pineapple, Orange, Lemon
- Greyhound Gin, Grapefruit Juice
- Queen Elizabeth Dry Vermouth, Gin, Bénédictine(R) Herbal Liqueur
- Balalaika Vodka, Cointreau(R) Orange Liqueur, Lemon Juice
- Baltimore Eggnog Jamaican Rum, Brandy, Madeira
- Carrol Cocktail Sweet Vermouth, Brandy
- Coronation Cocktail Dry Vermouth, Gin, Dubonnet(R) Rouge
- Cosmos Light Rum, Lime Juice, Caster Sugar
- Egg Sour Brandy, Dry Orange Curaçao Liqueur, Lemon Juice
- Horse's Neck with a Twist Scotch, Ginger Ale
- Morticia Gin, Pernod(R), Dry Vermouth
- Piccadilly Cocktail Gin, Dry Vermouth, Anise
- Pousse Cafe Grenadine, Crème de Cacao Brun Liqueur, Maraschino Cherry Liqueur
- Sloe Gin Flip Sloe Gin, Light Cream, Confectioners' Sugar
- Tequila Cocktail Tequila, Lemon Juice, Grenadine
- Vanderbilt Cognac, Cherry Brandy, Sugar Syrup
- Cosmo Vodka, Triple Sec Liqueur, Cranberry Juice
- Presidente White Rum, Rosso Vermouth, Dry Vermouth
- Scotch Daisy Scotch, Lemon Juice, Caster Sugar
- Sidecar Cocktail Brandy, Triple Sec Liqueur, Lemon Juice
- Allegheny Dry Vermouth, Bourbon, Blackberry Brandy
- Allies Cocktail Dry Vermouth, Gin, Kümmel Liqueur
- Ann Sheridan Cocktail Bacardi(R) Superior Rum, Orange Curaçao Liqueur, Lime Juice
- Brandy Cocktail Brandy, Sugar Syrup, Aromatic Bitters
- Buckeye Martini Gin, Dry Vermouth
- Bullshot Vodka, Beef Bouillon, Salt
- Club Cocktail Brandy, Maraschino Cherry Liqueur, Pineapple Juice
- El Presidente Edwardo Aged Rum, White Curaçao Liqueur, Dry Vermouth
- Flapper Rum, French Vermouth, Angostura(R) Bitters
- King's Peg Brandy, Champagne
- Kir Dry White Wine, Crème de Cassis Liqueur
- Seelbach Cocktail Champagne, Bourbon, Triple Sec Liqueur
- Straight Law Cocktail Dry Sherry, Gin
- Tailspin Cocktail Sweet Vermouth, Gin, Green Chartreuse Liqueur
- Teacher's Pet Blended Whiskey, Dry Vermouth, Sweet Vermouth
- Ginger Syllabub Medium Dry Sherry, Brown Sugar, Nutmeg
- Bourbon Daisy Bourbon, Lemon Juice, Grenadine
- Bourbon Toddy Bourbon, Water, Aromatic Bitters
- Charlie Chaplin Apricot Brandy, Sloe Gin, Lemon Juice
- Confirmed Bachelor Gin, Grenadine, Rose's(R) Lime Juice
- Cutty Rickey Cutty Sark(R) Scotch Whisky, Lime Juice, Soda Water
- Cuyahoga Cocktail Sweet Vermouth, Dry Vermouth, Gin
- Cynar Cocktail Vermouth, Cynar(R) Liqueur
- Death in the afternoon Pernod(R), Champagne
- Douglas Fairbanks Gin, Marie Brizard(R) Apricot Brandy, Lime Juice
- East India Cocktail #2 Dry Sherry, Dry Vermouth, Aromatic Bitters
- Fare Thee Well Martini Gin, Dry Vermouth, Sweet Vermouth
- Palmer Cocktail Blended Whiskey, Lemon Juice, Aromatic Bitters
Worth reading
- Shake or Stir? The Rule and Its Exceptions Shake anything cloudy, stir anything clear. The rule takes one line, and knowing why it works tells you what to do with the drinks it does not cover.
- The Sour Formula: One Ratio, Twenty Drinks Two parts spirit, one part citrus, one part sweet. Learn the shape and the Daiquiri, the Margarita, the Gimlet and the Whiskey Sour come free.
