The Art of the Stirred Cocktail: Timeless Spirit-Forward Drinks

New York's greatest contribution to bartending. The ratio is everything: too much vermouth and it becomes soft; too little and it's just whiskey with bitters. The standard formula — 2.5:0.75 bourbon to sweet vermouth — gives you the right architecture. A Maraschino cherry (Luxardo if you're serious) completes it. The Manhattan taught American drinkers that whiskey could be civilised. Ingredients: Sweet Vermouth 3/4 oz, Bourbon 2 1/2 oz, Angostura bitters dash.

The Old Fashioned is a return to first principles every time you make it: a spirit made more interesting by a small amount of sweetener and a few dashes of bitters, served over ice with a citrus garnish. The technique is almost meditative. Muddle the sugar cube with bitters and a splash of water, add the whiskey, stir with a single large ice cube. In an era of elaborate cocktail theatre, the Old Fashioned's restraint is radical. Ingredients: Bourbon 4.5 cl, Angostura bitters 2 dashes, Sugar 1 cube, Water dash.

The Martini is the purest expression of gin's character: the vermouth simply frames the botanical landscape of the spirit, the ice provides the correct temperature and dilution, the olive or lemon peel completes the aromatics. The ratio of gin to vermouth has drifted drier over the decades — 6:1 or even 8:1 is not uncommon in modern bars — but the drink benefits from a little more vermouth than fashion currently allows. Ingredients: Gin 1 2/3 oz, Dry Vermouth 1/3 oz, Olive 1.

The Aviation is one of the great early 20th-century cocktails: gin, lemon juice, maraschino liqueur, and (in the original recipe, though often omitted) creme de violette, which gives it its famous pale blue colour and floral fragrance. Hugo Ensslin's 1916 recipe is the foundation. It fell out of fashion when creme de violette became unavailable and was revived by the craft cocktail movement. Ingredients: Gin 4.5 cl, Lemon juice 1.5 cl, Maraschino liqueur 1.5 cl.

The Dirty Martini is the democratic version of its purer counterpart: olive brine clouds the gin (or vodka), softening the botanicals and adding a saline, oceanic quality that many drinkers prefer. The "dirtiness" is measured by how much brine you add — a splash for the restrained, a generous pour for the convert. Stir as you would a classic Martini, serve with the olive on a pick. Ingredients: Vodka 70ml, Dry Vermouth 1 tbsp, Olive Brine 2 tbsp, Olive 1.

The Cosmopolitan became the defining cocktail of the late 1990s through Sex and the City, but its reputation as a "girly" drink has always been unfair. Dale DeGroff's refinement of the recipe — citrus vodka, Cointreau, fresh lime, cranberry juice — produces a genuinely well-balanced cocktail: tart, slightly sweet, and beautiful in a chilled coupe. Ingredients: Vodka 1.25 oz, Lime juice 0.25 oz, Cointreau 0.25 oz, Cranberry juice 0.25 cup.

Dick Bradsell invented the Espresso Martini in 1983 at the Soho Brasserie, reportedly for a supermodel who asked for a drink that would "wake me up and f**k me up." The combination of vodka, Kahlua, and a freshly pulled espresso shaken hard for maximum foam has become one of the most requested cocktails of the 21st century. Ingredients: Vodka 5 cl, Kahlua 1 cl, Sugar syrup 1 dash.

Named after the 75mm field gun used by the French army in World War I, the French 75 delivers its payload with similar efficiency: gin, lemon juice, and sugar, shaken and strained into a champagne flute, topped with Champagne. The combination of gin's botanicals and wine's effervescence is more elegant than it has any right to be. Ingredients: Gin 1.5 oz, Sugar 2 tsp superfine, Lemon juice 1.5 oz, Champagne 4 oz.

This TheCocktailDB variant on the Old Fashioned adheres even more strictly to the 19th-century method: bitters muddled with water into a sugar cube, ice cubes added, bourbon poured over, garnished with orange slice and cherry. The TheCocktailDB recipe uses 3 oz of bourbon — a more generous pour than many modern interpretations, which is historically accurate and entirely defensible. Ingredients: Bitters 3 dashes, Water 1 tsp, Sugar 1 cube, Bourbon 3 oz, Orange slice, Maraschino cherry.

New York's greatest contribution to bartending. The ratio is everything: too much vermouth and it becomes soft; too little and it's just whiskey with bitters. The standard formula — 2.5:0.75 bourbon to sweet vermouth — gives you the right architecture. A Maraschino cherry (Luxardo if you're serious) completes it. The Manhattan taught American drinkers that whiskey could be civilised. Ingredients: Sweet Vermouth 3/4 oz, Bourbon 2 1/2 oz, Angostura bitters dash.

The Old Fashioned is a return to first principles every time you make it: a spirit made more interesting by a small amount of sweetener and a few dashes of bitters, served over ice with a citrus garnish. The technique is almost meditative. Muddle the sugar cube with bitters and a splash of water, add the whiskey, stir with a single large ice cube. In an era of elaborate cocktail theatre, the Old Fashioned's restraint is radical. Ingredients: Bourbon 4.5 cl, Angostura bitters 2 dashes, Sugar 1 cube, Water dash.

The Martini is the purest expression of gin's character: the vermouth simply frames the botanical landscape of the spirit, the ice provides the correct temperature and dilution, the olive or lemon peel completes the aromatics. The ratio of gin to vermouth has drifted drier over the decades — 6:1 or even 8:1 is not uncommon in modern bars — but the drink benefits from a little more vermouth than fashion currently allows. Ingredients: Gin 1 2/3 oz, Dry Vermouth 1/3 oz, Olive 1.

The Aviation is one of the great early 20th-century cocktails: gin, lemon juice, maraschino liqueur, and (in the original recipe, though often omitted) creme de violette, which gives it its famous pale blue colour and floral fragrance. Hugo Ensslin's 1916 recipe is the foundation. It fell out of fashion when creme de violette became unavailable and was revived by the craft cocktail movement. Ingredients: Gin 4.5 cl, Lemon juice 1.5 cl, Maraschino liqueur 1.5 cl.

The Dirty Martini is the democratic version of its purer counterpart: olive brine clouds the gin (or vodka), softening the botanicals and adding a saline, oceanic quality that many drinkers prefer. The "dirtiness" is measured by how much brine you add — a splash for the restrained, a generous pour for the convert. Stir as you would a classic Martini, serve with the olive on a pick. Ingredients: Vodka 70ml, Dry Vermouth 1 tbsp, Olive Brine 2 tbsp, Olive 1.

The Cosmopolitan became the defining cocktail of the late 1990s through Sex and the City, but its reputation as a "girly" drink has always been unfair. Dale DeGroff's refinement of the recipe — citrus vodka, Cointreau, fresh lime, cranberry juice — produces a genuinely well-balanced cocktail: tart, slightly sweet, and beautiful in a chilled coupe. Ingredients: Vodka 1.25 oz, Lime juice 0.25 oz, Cointreau 0.25 oz, Cranberry juice 0.25 cup.

Dick Bradsell invented the Espresso Martini in 1983 at the Soho Brasserie, reportedly for a supermodel who asked for a drink that would "wake me up and f**k me up." The combination of vodka, Kahlua, and a freshly pulled espresso shaken hard for maximum foam has become one of the most requested cocktails of the 21st century. Ingredients: Vodka 5 cl, Kahlua 1 cl, Sugar syrup 1 dash.

Named after the 75mm field gun used by the French army in World War I, the French 75 delivers its payload with similar efficiency: gin, lemon juice, and sugar, shaken and strained into a champagne flute, topped with Champagne. The combination of gin's botanicals and wine's effervescence is more elegant than it has any right to be. Ingredients: Gin 1.5 oz, Sugar 2 tsp superfine, Lemon juice 1.5 oz, Champagne 4 oz.

This TheCocktailDB variant on the Old Fashioned adheres even more strictly to the 19th-century method: bitters muddled with water into a sugar cube, ice cubes added, bourbon poured over, garnished with orange slice and cherry. The TheCocktailDB recipe uses 3 oz of bourbon — a more generous pour than many modern interpretations, which is historically accurate and entirely defensible. Ingredients: Bitters 3 dashes, Water 1 tsp, Sugar 1 cube, Bourbon 3 oz, Orange slice, Maraschino cherry.