The Classics Never Die: 10 Essential Cocktails Everyone Should Know

The Old Fashioned is the oldest cocktail in continuous use, and its formula — spirit, sugar, bitters, ice, citrus garnish — is essentially the definition of what a cocktail is. It began as a "whiskey cocktail" in the 19th century and was named by drinkers who asked for the drink made the "old-fashioned way", before citrus juice and liqueurs began complicating things. Bourbon or rye over a large ice cube, sweetened with a sugar cube and Angostura bitters, finished with an orange twist. Ingredients: Bourbon 4.5 cl, Angostura bitters 2 dashes, Sugar 1 cube, Water dash.

Count Camillo Negroni — real or invented, it barely matters — asked a Florence bartender in 1919 to strengthen his Americano by replacing the soda water with gin. The result was the Negroni: equal parts gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth, stirred over ice, served in a rocks glass with an orange peel. Bitter, complex, and deeply satisfying, it is the cocktail that converted an entire generation of drinkers to the pleasures of aperitivo. Ingredients: Gin 1 oz, Campari 1 oz, Sweet Vermouth 1 oz.

The Manhattan — bourbon or rye, sweet vermouth, bitters, cherry — is the whiskey cocktail in its most refined form. Where the Old Fashioned keeps the spirit dominant by using minimal modifiers, the Manhattan creates a conversation between the rye and the vermouth, the bitters providing the bridge. Stirred (never shaken), strained into a chilled coupe, garnished with a Luxardo cherry. The cocktail that made New York City's bar culture famous. Ingredients: Sweet Vermouth 3/4 oz, Bourbon 2.5 oz, Angostura bitters dash.

Mexico's greatest cocktail export: tequila, triple sec, and lime juice, served in a salt-rimmed glass. The Margarita's origins are fiercely disputed — at least seventeen people claim to have invented it — but its genius is undeniable. The salt rim is not decoration; it enhances the lime's acidity and the tequila's earthiness in a way that transforms the drink entirely. Make it with fresh lime juice or don't make it at all. Ingredients: Tequila 1.5 oz, Triple sec 0.5 oz, Lime juice 1 oz, Salt for rim.

The Daiquiri is one of the simplest, most elegant cocktails ever devised: rum, lime, sugar, shaken and strained. Ernest Hemingway drank his at El Floridita in Havana with double rum and no sugar, which tells you more about Hemingway than it does about the drink. The classic formula — bright, balanced, cold — is almost impossible to improve. Use white rum, fresh lime, and superfine sugar. Ingredients: Light rum 1.5 oz, Lime juice of 0.5 lime, Powdered sugar 1 tsp.

The Martini is the cocktail of cocktails: gin and vermouth, stirred with ice until ice-cold, strained into a chilled glass, garnished with olive or lemon peel. Its precise ratio has been debated for more than a century — James Bond's vodka-shaken version is heresy to purists, and Churchill's "pour gin while glancing at the vermouth bottle" instruction is a joke that stopped being funny around 1960. But properly made, with good gin and quality dry vermouth, it has no equal. Ingredients: Gin 1 2/3 oz, Dry Vermouth 1/3 oz, Olive 1.

The Whiskey Sour — whiskey, lemon juice, sugar, sometimes egg white — occupies a central place in the sour family of cocktails. It is one of the most forgiving of the classic templates: the lemon juice cuts through the spirit's heat, the sugar provides balance, and the egg white (optional but recommended) creates a silky foam that carries the aroma. Make it with rye for a more complex result. Ingredients: Blended whiskey 2 oz, Lemon juice of 0.5 lemon, Powdered sugar 0.5 tsp.

The Long Island Iced Tea is the cocktail that honest bartenders have complicated feelings about: a high-volume spirit delivery system dressed up as something more refined, containing equal parts vodka, rum, gin, tequila, and triple sec with a splash of cola for colour. It tastes nothing like iced tea. It is, however, genuinely refreshing in the right circumstances. Ingredients: Vodka 0.5 oz, Light rum 0.5 oz, Gin 0.5 oz, Tequila 0.5 oz, Lemon juice, Coca-Cola splash.

The Moscow Mule — vodka, lime juice, and ginger beer, served in a copper mug — was invented in 1941 as a marketing strategy to sell Smirnoff vodka and a brand of ginger beer. It worked better than anyone expected. The copper mug keeps the drink extremely cold and concentrates the aromatics, the ginger beer provides a spicy, effervescent counterpoint to the vodka's neutrality. Ingredients: Vodka 2 oz, Lime juice 2 oz, Ginger ale 8 oz.

The Old Fashioned is the oldest cocktail in continuous use, and its formula — spirit, sugar, bitters, ice, citrus garnish — is essentially the definition of what a cocktail is. It began as a "whiskey cocktail" in the 19th century and was named by drinkers who asked for the drink made the "old-fashioned way", before citrus juice and liqueurs began complicating things. Bourbon or rye over a large ice cube, sweetened with a sugar cube and Angostura bitters, finished with an orange twist. Ingredients: Bourbon 4.5 cl, Angostura bitters 2 dashes, Sugar 1 cube, Water dash.

Count Camillo Negroni — real or invented, it barely matters — asked a Florence bartender in 1919 to strengthen his Americano by replacing the soda water with gin. The result was the Negroni: equal parts gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth, stirred over ice, served in a rocks glass with an orange peel. Bitter, complex, and deeply satisfying, it is the cocktail that converted an entire generation of drinkers to the pleasures of aperitivo. Ingredients: Gin 1 oz, Campari 1 oz, Sweet Vermouth 1 oz.

The Manhattan — bourbon or rye, sweet vermouth, bitters, cherry — is the whiskey cocktail in its most refined form. Where the Old Fashioned keeps the spirit dominant by using minimal modifiers, the Manhattan creates a conversation between the rye and the vermouth, the bitters providing the bridge. Stirred (never shaken), strained into a chilled coupe, garnished with a Luxardo cherry. The cocktail that made New York City's bar culture famous. Ingredients: Sweet Vermouth 3/4 oz, Bourbon 2.5 oz, Angostura bitters dash.

Mexico's greatest cocktail export: tequila, triple sec, and lime juice, served in a salt-rimmed glass. The Margarita's origins are fiercely disputed — at least seventeen people claim to have invented it — but its genius is undeniable. The salt rim is not decoration; it enhances the lime's acidity and the tequila's earthiness in a way that transforms the drink entirely. Make it with fresh lime juice or don't make it at all. Ingredients: Tequila 1.5 oz, Triple sec 0.5 oz, Lime juice 1 oz, Salt for rim.

The Daiquiri is one of the simplest, most elegant cocktails ever devised: rum, lime, sugar, shaken and strained. Ernest Hemingway drank his at El Floridita in Havana with double rum and no sugar, which tells you more about Hemingway than it does about the drink. The classic formula — bright, balanced, cold — is almost impossible to improve. Use white rum, fresh lime, and superfine sugar. Ingredients: Light rum 1.5 oz, Lime juice of 0.5 lime, Powdered sugar 1 tsp.

The Martini is the cocktail of cocktails: gin and vermouth, stirred with ice until ice-cold, strained into a chilled glass, garnished with olive or lemon peel. Its precise ratio has been debated for more than a century — James Bond's vodka-shaken version is heresy to purists, and Churchill's "pour gin while glancing at the vermouth bottle" instruction is a joke that stopped being funny around 1960. But properly made, with good gin and quality dry vermouth, it has no equal. Ingredients: Gin 1 2/3 oz, Dry Vermouth 1/3 oz, Olive 1.

The Whiskey Sour — whiskey, lemon juice, sugar, sometimes egg white — occupies a central place in the sour family of cocktails. It is one of the most forgiving of the classic templates: the lemon juice cuts through the spirit's heat, the sugar provides balance, and the egg white (optional but recommended) creates a silky foam that carries the aroma. Make it with rye for a more complex result. Ingredients: Blended whiskey 2 oz, Lemon juice of 0.5 lemon, Powdered sugar 0.5 tsp.

The Long Island Iced Tea is the cocktail that honest bartenders have complicated feelings about: a high-volume spirit delivery system dressed up as something more refined, containing equal parts vodka, rum, gin, tequila, and triple sec with a splash of cola for colour. It tastes nothing like iced tea. It is, however, genuinely refreshing in the right circumstances. Ingredients: Vodka 0.5 oz, Light rum 0.5 oz, Gin 0.5 oz, Tequila 0.5 oz, Lemon juice, Coca-Cola splash.

The Moscow Mule — vodka, lime juice, and ginger beer, served in a copper mug — was invented in 1941 as a marketing strategy to sell Smirnoff vodka and a brand of ginger beer. It worked better than anyone expected. The copper mug keeps the drink extremely cold and concentrates the aromatics, the ginger beer provides a spicy, effervescent counterpoint to the vodka's neutrality. Ingredients: Vodka 2 oz, Lime juice 2 oz, Ginger ale 8 oz.