21 Must Try Classic Cocktail Recipes
You have heard about, seen it and possibly gone out and tried it yourself. What am I talking about? The 21 Drink Salute. You know the one. Turn twenty-one and it is the rite of passage to go out and drink twenty-one alcoholic drinks within the day. This rite of passage is a bad idea for reasons too numerous to count.
However, thinking on the whole idea of people going out to drink when they turn twenty-one sets the thinking cap in motion. They are dipping into the waters of drinking, assuming they have never imbibed before coming of age. These newbie drinkers will try anything their buddies place before them and dare them to throw down the hatch. Not a quality drinking experience to be sure. But it gives one pause to think. There certainly are a fair amount of partakers out there who drink whatever is on the cocktail menu or never veer from their tried and true standard.
Why not be like the twenty-one year old newbie and dabble in cocktails that revolutionized the cocktail as we know it? Instead of trying them all in one day, take the time to savor the flavor.
Americano
2 ounces Campari
2 ounces Sweet Vermouth
Club Soda
Orange Slice for Garnish
Fill a Collins glass two-thirds full of ice. Pour in Campari and Sweet Vermouth. Top off with club soda. Garnish with orange slice.
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Bacardi Cocktail
2 ounces Bacardi Superior
1 ounce Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice
1/2 ounce Grenadine
Maraschino Cherry for Garnish
Combine all ingredients in cocktail shaker filled one-third full of ice. Shake for 10 to 15 seconds. Strain into a well chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with maraschino cherry dropped to the center. Bacardi Rum must be used in this cocktail for it to be a true Bacardi Cocktail.
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Bellini
1 ounce Pureed White Peaches
1/4 teaspoon Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
Prosecco Sparkling Wine
Peach Slice for Garnish
Pour pureed white peaches and lemon juice in bottom of a champagne flute. Carefully top off with Prosecco. Stir gently. Garnish with peach slice. A 1/4 ounce of peach schnapps may be added to the pureed white peaches to give this cocktail added punch.
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Black Russian / White Russian
2 ounces Van Gogh Double Espresso Vodka
1 ounce Kahlua Especial
Fill a rocks glass two-thirds full of ice. Build drink in glass beginning with vodka and then Kahlua. Insert stir straw. To turn this into a White Russian: 1 ounce Vodka, 1 ounce Kahlua, 1 ounce half and half. Build in a rocks glass in the same manner.
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Bloody Mary
2 ounces Pepper Infused Vodka
1/2 Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice
6-8 Dashes Worcestershire Sauce
4-6 Dashes Tabasco Sauce
2-3 Dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
3 Dashes Celery Salt
2 Dashes White Pepper
2 Dashes Garlic Powder
2 Dashes Onion Powder
Clamato Juice
Coarse salt for rimming
Garnishes: Celery stalk is standard. Try a dill pickle spear, jalapeño stuff olives on a skewer or shrimp cocktail for something off the beaten track.
Rim a Collins glass with salt. Fill glass half full with ice. Season ice with sauces, bitters, powders, peppers and salts. Pour in vodka. Top off with Clamato Juice leaving a half inch at the rim of the glass. Squeeze in lime and drop into glass. Garnish. For a fantastic Bloody Mary Vodka infusion recipe click on my recipe here Bloody Mary
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Buck’s Fizz
2 ounces Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
Brut Champagne
Pour freshly squeezed orange juice into the bottom of a champagne flute. Carefully top off with Brut Champagne.
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Caipirinha
2 ounces Cachaca
1 lime cut into wedges
1/2 ounce bar syrup
Place lime wedges in cocktail shaker, reserving one for garnish. Muddle. Pour Cachaca and bar syrup into cocktail shaker and fill two-thirds with ice. Shake to combine well. Place ice into old-fashioned glass. Do not overfill. Strain contents of shaker into glass. Garnish with one reserved lime wedge.
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Champagne Cosmopolitan
The Cosmo has been done so many times, so here is one with a twist from a friend of mine, Dan Crowell. You can find more about Dan at Libation Association.
1 ounce Belvedere Cytrus Vodka
1 dash Grand Marnier
1-1/2 ounce Cranberry Juice
1/2 ounce Fresh Lime Juice
1 Twist Orange
1 ounce Moet & Chandon White Star Champagne
Shake Vodka, Grand Marnier, cranberry juice and lime juice over ice in a cocktail shaker. Strain into a chilled champagne flute. Top off with champagne. Garnish with orange twist.
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Harvey Wallbanger
2 ounces Vodka
Orange Juice
1/2 ounce Galliano
Build in a Collins glass filled two-thirds full of ice. Pour in the vodka. Add orange juice leaving room for the Galliano to float on top. A simple drink yes, but how often do you find Galliano in a cocktail?
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Horse’s Neck with a Kick
This recipe is credited to Difford’s Guide Cocktail’s #7. It makes the list for the garnish alone.
2-1/2 ounces Buffalo Trace Bourbon Whiskey
3 dashes Angostura Bitters
Ginger Ale
Garnish: Peel entire rind of a large lemon in a spiral and place in glass with end hanging over rim
Pour ingredients into an ice filled Collins glass. Stir. Add garnish.
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Irish Coffee – Unsweetened
1-1/4 ounce Irish Whiskey
Hot Strong Coffee
Whipped Cream (optional)
Three Whole Coffee Beans for Garnish
Place a metal spoon in hot toddy glass. Measure in whiskey. Top off with hot coffee. Optional whipped cream may be added to the top with three coffee beans sprinkled on top.
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Irish Coffee – Sweetened
1/2 ounce Irish Whiskey
3/4 ounce Bailey’s Irish Cream
Whipped Cream (optional)
Three Whole Coffee Beans or three chocolate covered espresso beans for Garnish
Place metal spoon in hot toddy glass. Measure in whiskey and Bailey’s Irish Cream. Top off with coffee. Optional whipped cream may be added to the top with coffee bean garnish sprinkled atop.
Kamikaze Cocktail
While most twenty-one year olds are throwing back shots, this Kamikaze is a cocktail instead. An easy way to remember this one; throwing back too many will make for a Very Tough Landing.
1-1/2 ounce Vodka
1 ounce Triple Sec
3/4 ounce Lemon Juice
Lime Wedge for Garnish
Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled two-thirds full of ice. Shake for ten to fifteen seconds. Strain into a well chilled cocktail shaker. Garnish with a lime wedge.
Mai Tai – Original
This is an adaptation of the original formula as interpreted in The Joy of Mixology by Gary Regan.
2 ounces 17 year old J. Wray Nephew Jamaican Rum
1/2 ounce French Garnier Orgeat
1/2 Holland DeKuyper Orange Curacao
1/4 ounce Rock Candy Syrup
1 ounce Fresh Lime Juice
1 Sprig Fresh Mint for Garnish
Combine all liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake for 10 to 15 seconds. Strain into an old-fashioned glass filled half with crushed ice. Add mint sprig garnish.
Mai Tai – Variation
These ingredients are much easier to find and this makes a fantastic Mai Tai. Credited to Dan Crowell at Libation Association.
2 ounces 10 Cane Rum (or 1 ounce each 10 Cane and Captain Morgan Private Stock)
3/4 ounce Orange Curacao
3/4 ounce Fresh Lime Juice
1/4 ounce Orgeat Syrup
2 Mint Springs & Lime Wedge for Garnish
Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled one-third with ice. Shake well. Strain into an old-fashioned glass filled with ice. Garnish with mint springs and wedge of lime.
Manhattan – Dry, Perfect, Sweet
Manhattan Dry
2-1/2 ounces Bourbon
1 ounce Dry Vermouth
3 Dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
Orange Twist for Garnish
Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with orange twist.
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Manhattan Perfect
2-1/2 ounce Bourbon
1/2 ounce Sweet Vermouth
1/2 ounce Dry Vermouth
3 Dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
Orange Peel & Maraschino Cherry for Garnish
Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a skewered maraschino cherry wrapped with an orange peel creating a flag.
Manhattan Sweet
2-1/2 ounces Bourbon
1 ounce Sweet Vermouth
Bar Spoon of Syrup from Maraschino Cherry Jar
3 Dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
Maraschino Cherry for Garnish
Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with maraschino cherry.
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Margarita
Everyone has their version of the perfect Margarita and their favorite tequila to add to the equation. Here is a basic recipe to build upon so you won’t have to pick up a mix from the corner grocery.
2 ounces Tequila
1 ounce Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
1/2 ounce Triple Sec
Lime Wedge for Garnish
Salt for Rimming
Rim edge of margarita glass with salt. Combine liquid ingredients in cocktail shaker filled two-thirds with ice. Shake for 10 to 15 seconds. Place ice in margarita glass. Strain contents of shaker into margarita glass. Garnish with lime wedge. To upgrade this margarita use quality tequilas such as Patron Silver or Reposado and Cointreau or Grand Marnier in place of the Triple Sec.
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Martini
A “real” martini doesn’t have to be difficult, yet there are so many ways to mess it up. Stirred, shaken, up with a twist (is that a lemon or lime?), with an olive (stuffed with blue cheese, almonds, jalapeño, or pimento?) gin or vodka and did you say dirty or dry or extra dry? Oh, so many questions. This martini is pretty straight forward. When you saddle up at the bar all you have to say is, “Tanqueray 10 Martini dry, up with a twist, please” and then sit back and watch an inexperienced bartender squirm and an experienced bartender do their job. Make sure you get that “please” and “thank you” in there with a nice tip.
2-1/2 ounces Tanqueray 10 Gin
Noilly Pratt Dry Vermouth
Lemon Twist
Place ice in a martini glass. Drizzle approximately 1/4 to 1/2 ounce of dry vermouth in the ice and set aside. Measure out Tanqueray 10 Gin into a cocktail shaker filled one-third full of ice. Shake or swirl the gin (depending on your theory of “bruising” the gin) for at least fifteen seconds. Your goal is to chill the gin thoroughly. Take the martini glass with vermouth in hand. Swirl the glass so the vermouth coats the inside and pour out. Do not shake the glass until every drop is gone. Strain the contents of the cocktail shaker into the vermouth coated martini glass. Take your lemon twist and circle it around the rim of the martini glass before placing it halfway on the edge and partially inside the gin as garnish. Serve and drink while still chilled.
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Negroni
1 ounce Gin
1 ounce Campari
1 ounce Sweet Vermouth
Orange Twist for Garnish
Fill an old-fashioned glass half to two-thirds full of ice. Add liquid ingredients in the order given. Garnish with orange twist.
Old Fashioned
There is much debate over what is “real” Old Fashioned and what is just a fruity version of one.
2 ounces Bourbon
2 Dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
3 Maraschino Cherries (save one for garnish)
2 orange slices (save one for garnish)
Bar Spoon of Maraschino Cherry Juice from Jar
Place all ingredients (save one cherry and one orange slice) into a cocktail shaker. Muddle. Fill one-third full of ice. Shake for ten to fifteen seconds. Fill an old-fashioned glass half full with ice. Strain contents of shaker into old-fashioned glass. Garnish with cherry and orange slice skewered.
Orgasm Cocktail
1-1/2 ounce Cointreau
1-1/2 ounce Bailey’s Irish Cream
1 ounce Grand Marnier
Maraschino Cherry for Garnish
Fill an old-fashioned glass half full with ice. Place ingredients in glass in the order given. Garnish with cherry. Insert cocktail stirrer.
Rob Roy
2 ounces Scotch
1 ounce Sweet Vermouth
2 Dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
Maraschino Cherry for Garnish
Place liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake for ten to fifteen seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the maraschino cherry. This drink can also be built in an old-fashioned glass on the rocks.
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Salty Dog
This twist on an old favorite is proof that an old dog can be taught new tricks.
2 ounces Charbay Grapefruit Vodka
2-1/4 ounces Freshly Squeezed Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice
Bar Spoon of Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
Salt for rimming
Rim a chilled cocktail glass with salt and set aside. Combine liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake for ten to fifteen seconds until well mixed. Strain into salt rimmed cocktail glass.
That is it for the “21 Must Try Cocktails” on this list. Of course these are only a few of the basics. Some you may have tried or thought you would get around to one day. Why not today?
List post was moved from “The Intoxicologist Is In” blog. Suggested drinks to add to this list from comments included:
Long Island Iced Tea
Russian Quaylude
Many more classic cocktails have been suggested as Top 10 classic cocktail favorites. Have a suggestion to add to the list? Add a comment or send me a tweet of your top 10 classic drink favorites. Twitter the Intoxicologist.
Copyright 2009 Cheri Loughlin – The Intoxicologist – All Rights Reserved
