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Straight answers about making drinks at home. Substitutions, ratios, technique and what to buy first, written for people with a normal kitchen and a short shelf.

• Which Ice for Which Drink

  Big cubes, small cubes and crushed do different jobs. Ice is an ingredient, it is most of the volume, and it is the cheapest upgrade to any drink.

• What to Use When You Are Out of Limes

  Bottled juice, cordial and lemon all work as lime substitutes, but each one changes the drink. Here is what to reach for and what to make instead.

• Triple Sec vs Cointreau vs Curacao

  They sit on the same shelf and they are not the same bottle. What separates them, and which one a Margarita or a Sidecar actually wants.

• 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.

• The First Five Bottles for a Home Bar

  Buy for coverage, not for variety. Five bottles chosen this way make more drinks than ten chosen one favourite at a time.

• Simple Syrup: Ratios, Method and Shelf Life

  One to one or two to one, hot or cold, and how long it keeps. The five-minute ingredient that half of all cocktails ask for.

• 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.

• How Long Does Vermouth Last Once Opened?

  Vermouth is wine and it goes off. About a month in the fridge, and a warm shelf is the most common reason a home-made Martini tastes flat.

Looking for a recipe instead? Browse cocktails by spirit.