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 4 of 16.
- Renaissance Cocktail Gin, Dry Sherry, Light Cream
- Ideal Cocktail Dry Vermouth, Gin, Maraschino Cherry Liqueur
- Applejack Cocktail Laird's(R) Applejack Brandy, Grenadine, Lemon Juice
- Champagne Fizz Gin, Lemon Juice, Caster Sugar
- Cherry Cobbler London Dry Gin, Cherry Brandy, Sugar Syrup
- Dry Rob Roy Scotch, Dry Vermouth
- Duke Cocktail Champagne, Triple Sec Liqueur, Maraschino Cherry Liqueur
- Dutch Trade Winds Jenever, Curaçao Liqueur, Lemon Juice
- English Rose Cocktail Apricot Brandy, Gin, Dry Vermouth
- Hemingway Special Rum, Grapefruit Juice, Luxardo(R) Maraschino Liqueur
- Irish Whiskey Highball Irish Whiskey, Ginger Ale
- Lillet Cocktail Lillet(R) Blanc, Gin
- Manhattan Dry Canadian Whisky, Dry Vermouth, Angostura(R) Bitters
- Milk Punch Bourbon, Milk, Dark Rum
- Monkey Gland Cocktail Gin, Bénédictine(R) Herbal Liqueur, Orange Juice
- Mr. New Yorker French Vermouth, Gin, Dry Sherry
- Pink Gin Aromatic Bitters, Plymouth(R) Gin
- Vesuvio Light Rum, Sweet Vermouth, Lemon Juice
- Stone Fence Whiskey, Apple Cider, Aromatic Bitters
- Belle of Ellis Island Dry Vermouth, Brandy, Cointreau(R) Orange Liqueur
- Bourbon Crusta Bourbon, Cointreau(R) Orange Liqueur, Maraschino Cherry Liqueur
- Bumbo Dark Rum, Lemon Juice, Grenadine
- Delmonico Cocktail Gin, Brandy, Sweet Vermouth
- Egg Nog #1 Egg Yolk, Granulated Sugar, Bourbon
- Golden Dream Galliano(R) Herbal Liqueur, Crème de Cacao Blanc Liqueur, Triple Sec Liqueur
- Mint Julep #2 Mint Leaves, Caster Sugar, Bourbon
- Napoleon Gin, Curaçao Liqueur, Dubonnet(R) Rouge
- Oriental Cocktail Blended Whiskey, Sweet Vermouth, Triple Sec Liqueur
- Papa Doble White Rum, Rose's(R) Lime Juice, Grapefruit Juice
- Twin Peaks Blended Whiskey, Dubonnet(R) Rouge, Cointreau(R) Orange Liqueur
- Vodka Salty Dog Grapefruit Juice, Vodka, Salt
- London Cocktail Gin, Orange Bitters, Simple Syrup
- Maritime Martini Gin, Dry Vermouth
- Ninotchka Cocktail Vodka, Crème de Cacao Blanc Liqueur, Lemon Juice
- Pousse L'Amour Bénédictine(R) Herbal Liqueur, Cognac, Maraschino Cherry Liqueur
- Affinity Scotch, Sweet Vermouth, Dry Vermouth
- Black Velvet Stout, Champagne
- Brown Derby Dark Rum, Lime Juice, Maple Syrup
- Dinah Cocktail Blended Whiskey, Confectioners' Sugar, Lemon Juice
- Farthingale Sweet Vermouth, Dry Vermouth, Gin
- La Floridita Cocktail White Rum, Rosso Vermouth, Crème de Cacao Blanc Liqueur
- Manhattan Sweet Canadian Whisky, Sweet Vermouth, Angostura(R) Bitters
- Octopus's Garden Gin, Dry Vermouth
- Rum Scaffa White Rum, Bénédictine(R) Herbal Liqueur, Angostura(R) Bitters
- Sherry Cobbler Amontillado Sherry, Palo Cortado, Granulated Sugar
- Sherry Flip Cream Sherry, Light Cream, Confectioners' Sugar
- The Classic Cognac, Lemon Juice, Maraschino Cherry Liqueur
- Frozen Margarita Tequila Blanco, Triple Sec Liqueur, Lime Juice
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.
