Cocktail

An earthy and juicy cocktail that leans heavily upon the bright and sweet flavor Irish whiskey is known for.

Nikka's grain whisky is corn-sweet like bourbon, but goes tropical and citrus where you'd expect vanilla.

Irish Coffee served cold. An Ethiopian espresso brings the floral edge that makes it work.

Amazake, a low-alcohol fermented rice drink from Japan, amplifies the apple and lactic notes in the Johnnie Walker Gold Label.

Four Roses spent years mismanaged before its revival, and its quiet sweetness is what makes this digestif work.

Mixed at your table at London's Connaught, where you choose the bitters and the pour comes from a great height. Any bitters you like will do.

Herb-infused gin with muscat and tea liqueur. The infusion pushes the pine into the background and lets the rest come forward.

Punsch was in everything before Prohibition and in almost nothing after. This is the argument for bringing it back.

Kennedy drank Tanqueray, and this is built around it. Grand Marnier, fino sherry, and a flamed orange peel.

The green notes of the kiwi suit absinthe surprisingly well.

Rothman & Winter is the apricot liqueur worth buying, made from Austrian fruit and it tastes like it.

The vivid green color may be a throwback to an era when cocktails featured sugary, processed ingredients, but in truth the taste is timeless.

A brief rest in American white oak gives Spirit Works barrel gin spicy, floral and dark fruit notes.

Sumomo plums are usually sold as Japanese plums, Chinese plums, or Asian plums in English-speaking countries.

A serve that shows off maraschino’s talent for binding disparate flavors together.

Small, delicate, and Japanese to the bone. Matcha and Muscat over a gentle gin.

Tropical fruit dragged over a campfire. Big, smoky, dangerously easy.

Strawberry jam and habanero. Sweet, smoky, and it bites back.

Pumpkin-oil-washed tequila and four fortified wines. Exactly as far over the line as promised.

Three ingredients, one of which does all the work. Make the cordial and the drink makes itself.

Grapefruit and black pepper over smoke. Sharp in three directions at once.

Tamarind and Campari with cinnamon underneath. Sour, bitter, sticky in the best way.

Named for the liqueur it doesn't contain. Chartreuse and sage do the talking.

Cold is the entire point. Chill everything longer than you think you need to.

The template every stirred, spirit-forward drink is measured against.

A Negroni that swapped gin for bourbon, and got warmer for it.

The sour that teaches the ratio. Egg white is optional, but ask first. Not everyone wants it.

The Boulevardier's drier cousin: rye and dry vermouth in place of bourbon and sweet.

Gin, Lillet and orange juice — a Martini that spent the morning at brunch.

The crème de violette is what makes it gray-blue and what makes it worth finding.

All brandy, no citrus. The heavier and much rarer of the two.

Gin and lime, sweetened just enough to stop it biting.

Four equal parts, one of them Chartreuse. It should not work as well as it does.

Stirred is proper, but cold is the only thing that actually matters.

A Martini with olive brine stirred through it. Go carefully — too much and it is gone.

No vermouth unless it's asked for. Cold, clean, and over in four sips.

A Martini with a pickled onion. The brine is the whole point.

Equal parts, no measuring skill required, and bitter in the way that makes you want another.

A gin sour with mint through it. The Fizz version is the same drink, lengthened with soda.

Equal parts, and one of the very few classics that puts orange juice to good use.

A Manhattan made with Scotch. Same rules, smokier answer.

Apple brandy and grenadine. Worth making your own grenadine for.

Brandy and mint, stirred. A nightcap that predates the idea of nightcaps.

Gin, vodka and Lillet. Bond ordered it shaken, which is why everyone else does.

Pineapple and cassis, which sounds like a mistake and isn't.

A Mojito that grew up and put on champagne. Audrey Saunders, 2001.

A Daiquiri with grapefruit and maraschino, and no sugar at all.

Gin, chocolate and cream in equal thirds. The brandy version came later and took the name.

Pineapple juice in a rye cocktail. Trust the round table on this one.

Gin, Aperol, and three slices of cucumber. Bitter and cooling at the same time.

A daiquiri with grenadine. A court once ruled it had to be made with Bacardi.

Gin, lemon, honey. Born to make Prohibition gin drinkable, kept for being good.

A Sidecar that added rum. Exactly as forward as the name suggests.

Gin, vermouth, Chartreuse in equal parts. French for jewel, and the colors are the point.

A Martini with orange juice, which used to be scandalous. It works.

A spiced-rum Sidecar out of San Francisco. Cinnamon sugar on the rim, always.

Raspberry, lemon, and egg white in gin. Pink, and far more serious than it looks.

Equal parts gin, Lillet Blanc, lemon and Cointreau over absinthe.

Spirit, citrus, curacao, soda. The template that eventually produced the Margarita.

Bourbon with curacao and lime. Short, sharp, and gone before the race ends.

Cuban, elegant, and mostly vermouth. Grenadine for color more than sweetness.

A daiquiri with maraschino behind it. Hemingway's bar, though not Hemingway's order.

A Manhattan that moved to Brooklyn. Punt e Mes and a teaspoon of Chartreuse.

Two dashes of Fernet in a sweet Martini. Ada Coleman's, and still perfect.

Rye with Cynar and coffee liqueur. Bitter, dark, and North Beach through and through.

Rum and brandy in small measures. Light enough to have two.

The Martini's ancestor: sweeter, older, and worth meeting in its own right.

Four equal parts, all of them assertive. A modern classic that arrived fully formed.

Gin, orange, lime, two bitters. Named for a colonial club in Rangoon.

Vodka and rum together, sweetened with powdered sugar to taste.

Three schnapps and pineapple juice. Green, sweet, and honest about it.

Apple juice, lemon, and a grenadine blush. Small and tart.

A Martini with amaretto and Chartreuse in bar-spoon doses. Odd on paper, tidy in the glass.

Matcha shaken into grapefruit and yuzu. Bitter, green, and wide awake.

Twenty juniper berries muddled into vodka. Gin, made to order.

Real grated chocolate and truffle honey. Nothing like the version you're picturing.

Cold brew, Chartreuse, and coconut milk under vanilla cream. Dessert and espresso at once.

Banana, mint, and cream. A Grasshopper that went on holiday.

Gin chilled to four below and half a teaspoon of vermouth. Temperature is the recipe.

Hojicha-infused rum in place of whiskey. Toasty, and still a Manhattan.

Umeshu and orange marmalade with aged rum. Jammy, tart, and warmed by chile.

Rum, lime, creme de cacao, demerara. A daiquiri with chocolate underneath.

Gin, apricot and apple, and the gin is only half of it.

Almost neat gin. The maraschino and lemon are measured in quarter-teaspoons.

Gin, two dashes of peach bitters, and mint dropped in whole.

Galliano, orange and cream. Dessert that arrives in a cocktail glass.

Equal parts, served up. Sharper than its reputation as a shot suggests.

Gin and orange with a teaspoon of Bénédictine. The name is worse than the drink.

Gin, apricot and orange in descending order. The apricot does more than it looks.

Port, brandy and a whole yolk. A flip is a dessert that predates the word.

Half gin, half dry vermouth, and a quarter-teaspoon each of two things you taste anyway.

A sidecar built on gin. Three ingredients and no room to hide.

Manhattan's cousin from across the river, drier and pointed with maraschino.

A perfect Manhattan built on Scotch. Both vermouths, in equal measure.

The Affinity with half the vermouth, which lets the Scotch through.

Scotch and sweet vermouth with a teaspoon of Bénédictine doing the work.

Gin and yellow Chartreuse. Nothing sour in it at all, which surprises people.

A dry martini with half a spoon of kümmel, which tastes of caraway and changes everything.

Sloe gin and sweet vermouth, and darker than either sounds.

Gin, grenadine and egg white. The colour is the grenadine and the texture is the egg.

Mostly apricot, with just enough orange to stop it being a liqueur.

A sidecar that splits the base between rum and brandy, and is longer on lime than most.

A Manhattan with Bénédictine standing in for the vermouth. Sweeter, and herbal underneath.

The crusta shape on bourbon: spirit, curaçao, maraschino and just enough lemon.

Gin and both vermouths in equal thirds. Nothing to measure by eye.

Made for a single night in 1928 and still around, which says something.

Rum and apricot in equal measure, with more lime than either. Short and sharp.

Mostly gin, with four things measured in teaspoons doing the rest of the work.

Brandy, curaçao and lemon with a dash of absinthe. Named for when it was drunk.

No base spirit at all: dry vermouth and Bénédictine, with just enough absinthe to smell it.

Gin and brandy together, with both vermouths. Named for the New York restaurant.

Named for Prohibition's law-breakers by the Paris bar that served them.

A whiskey sour with absinthe in it. The book's version leaves out the egg white.

Rum with grapefruit and lime in near-equal parts, sweetened enough to hold them together.

Two parts gin to one of dry vermouth, with a quarter teaspoon of curaçao. An ancestor of the Martini.

Sherry and both vermouths, under 20% and built for before dinner rather than after.

Equal sherry and dry vermouth. About as low in strength as a stirred drink gets.

Mostly gin, with a quarter ounce each of apricot and grenadine doing all the colouring.

Brandy and port, stirred, with a dash of triple sec. Three ingredients and no juice.

A Sidecar built on gin instead of brandy, in equal parts spirit and orange liqueur.

Campari and lemon in the glass, and the brandy poured in lit. Shaken cold instead, it is called an Edisonian.

Gin and orange juice with a tablespoon each of sweet vermouth and triple sec.

Three ingredients: bourbon, lemon and a teaspoon of maple syrup instead of sugar.

Bourbon with apricot and grapefruit, which is a stranger pairing than it drinks.

A Sidecar built on applejack, in equal thirds. Sharper than the brandy original.

Gin and sweet vermouth with a dash of bitters. Three things, shaken, done.

Gin and dry vermouth with the sweet vermouth measured in half-teaspoons.

Gin, Scotch and rum in one glass, with cacao and cream to hold them together.

A Daiquiri with maraschino in it. Half an ounce is enough to change the whole drink.

Equal whiskey and sloe gin. Two ingredients and nowhere for either to hide.

Three to one gin and dry vermouth, with a dash each of bitters and maraschino.

Brandy, blackcurrant and lemon. The cassis does the sweetening on its own.

Three ounces of sherry with dry vermouth. Low enough in strength to drink before dinner.

Brandy and applejack together in a Sidecar, in four equal quarters.

Applejack and Bénédictine in equal parts, with as much lemon as either.

A gin sour with Campari in it, which turns it pink and makes it bitter.

A dry Martini with half a teaspoon of sweet vermouth. That half teaspoon is the drink.

Equal brandy and dry vermouth, with both kinds of bitters. A Metropolitan turned dry.

A Manhattan with brandy where the whiskey goes. Sweeter and rounder.

Two ounces of a bitter orange aperitif, lengthened with lime and a teaspoon of grenadine.

Equal brandy and anisette with an egg white, which turns the whole thing pale and soft.

Brandy and Madeira stirred together, with just enough triple sec to lift them.

Gin, dry vermouth and Dubonnet in equal thirds. Not the sherry Coronation.

A Manhattan with a quarter ounce of Amer Picon in place of some of the sweetness.

Gin with Dubonnet and a quarter ounce of maraschino. Stirred, not shaken.

Gin with dry vermouth and a full ounce of apricot, sharpened with lemon.

A gin sour with half a teaspoon of white crème de menthe, which is all it needs.

Brandy and orgeat with two dashes of bitters. One of the oldest recipes still made.

Three ounces of bourbon and half an ounce of Bénédictine. Nothing else at all.

Two parts rum to one of sweet vermouth. A Manhattan with the whiskey swapped out.

A whiskey sour with half a teaspoon of grenadine standing in for some of the sugar.

Vodka, chocolate and lemon in a two-to-one-to-one that keeps it from being a dessert.

A dry Martini with as much absinthe as vermouth. A New Orleans drink and it tastes it.

Equal gin and dry vermouth with half an ounce of cassis. Drier than it sounds.

Canadian whisky with dry vermouth, and Amer Picon and maraschino by the teaspoon.

Sherry, Cynar and aquavit in equal ounces. A Negroni's shape with none of its parts.

Gin and sweet vermouth with maraschino and lemon in equal half ounces.

Irish whiskey with green crème de menthe and green Chartreuse. As green as it sounds.

Applejack and both vermouths with a dash of brandy over the top. An autumn drink.

Brandy with a quarter ounce of triple sec and a quarter teaspoon of sugar. Barely altered.

Rum and sweet vermouth in equal ounces. The Little Princess with the vermouth doubled.

Three to one gin and sweet vermouth, with half an ounce of triple sec.

A Manhattan with Bénédictine instead of vermouth and a teaspoon of brandy on top.

Gin with apple and apricot in equal ounces, and just a teaspoon of lemon.

Two parts sweet vermouth to one of Bénédictine. No base spirit at all.

A Perfect Martini with a teaspoon of Bénédictine, which is the whole difference.

Irish whiskey and dry vermouth turned green twice over, then garnished with an olive.

Rum, brandy and applejack in equal thirds, with a quarter teaspoon of anise.

Mostly Dubonnet with a splash of gin, and often called the Dubonnet Cocktail. Low, sweet and bitter all at once.

Two parts dry vermouth to one of brandy, with half a teaspoon of curaçao.

Sloe gin and curaçao with a teaspoon of anisette. Sweet, and darker than it looks.

Gin with sweet vermouth and triple sec in equal half ounces.

Equal brandy and dry vermouth with four different things measured in dashes.

Gin, dry vermouth and Bénédictine in equal thirds. Herbal and dry at once.

Two parts sweet vermouth to one of rum. Barely a cocktail and all the better for it.

Gin and grapefruit in equal ounces, kept dry by half an ounce of vermouth.

Gin, sweet vermouth and green Chartreuse in thirds, with one dash of Campari.

A Stinger built on Scotch, in equal parts. Sweeter and smokier than the brandy one.

Bourbon with both citruses and a teaspoon of grenadine, shaken short.

Gin with anisette and a spoon of cream. Small, white and stronger than it looks.

Five things in equal half ounces, and no one of them in charge.

Scotch, sweet vermouth and Bénédictine. The shape of a Bobby Burns.

A Stinger with vodka in place of the brandy, in equal parts.

Two parts dry vermouth to one of brandy, sweetened by a single teaspoon.

Gin and Dubonnet with kirsch and orange juice in equal half ounces.

The same idea on sweet cherry rather than dry kirsch, stirred and served smaller.

Applejack and grapefruit, three parts to two. Two ingredients and no sweetener at all.

A rum sour with triple sec and egg white, finished with mint.

Dark rum and lemon with a teaspoon of grenadine. A daiquiri that went darker.

Rum and apricot shaken with egg white until it is thick enough to hold an orange slice.

Gin lengthened with green ginger wine and a teaspoon of Bénédictine.

Gin with half an ounce of Grand Marnier and just two teaspoons of lemon.

Gin with half an ounce of triple sec. Two ingredients, stirred, and that is the whole drink.

Two and a half ounces of port with half a teaspoon of brandy. About as low as a cocktail goes.

Equal gin and dry vermouth with a quarter teaspoon of anise. A Tuxedo without the maraschino.

Rum with a third of an ounce of cream sherry and a good squeeze of lime.

Rum with a teaspoon of anisette and half a teaspoon of grenadine. Small and aromatic.

Equal bourbon and dry vermouth, with blackberry and lemon measured in teaspoons.

A rum Casino: triple sec, lime and maraschino, each measured in teaspoons and a half.

A Rob Roy with dry vermouth instead of sweet, and only a teaspoon and a half of it.

Equal rum and pineapple with a teaspoon of lemon. Three ingredients and nothing sweetened.

Gin with triple sec and a tablespoon of pineapple juice. Drier than the name suggests.

Scotch with Drambuie and dry vermouth in equal half ounces. A Rusty Nail turned dry.

Two parts gin to one of sweet vermouth. A sweet Martini by another name.

Gin and white crème de cacao, two to one. The whole drink is two ingredients.

Equal rum and brandy with lemon and two teaspoons of raspberry syrup.

Two ounces of sloe gin with a quarter teaspoon of dry vermouth and a dash of bitters.

Equal brandy and anisette. Sun and shade, and nothing else in the glass.

Three ounces of rum with maple syrup and lemon. Sweeter and bigger than a daiquiri.

Gin with sweet vermouth and brandy in equal half ounces.

Gin and triple sec with an ounce of pineapple juice and half a teaspoon of grenadine. Tiki proportions on a gin base.

A Rob Roy that takes orange bitters instead of Angostura. The swap is small and the drink is not the same.

Gin and maraschino with orange bitters. A Casino without the lemon, and drier for it.

Half an ounce of lemon curd shaken into bourbon, which thickens the drink the way an egg white would and sweetens it at the same time.

A tequila sour with strawberry purée and egg white, finished with red wine floated on top. The wine sits on the foam and bleeds down into it.

Maraschino over crème de cacao with cream on top and a cherry on that.

Gin, Lillet and lemon with white crème de cacao in it, which sounds like a mistake and is the reason the drink survived.

A brandy sour with green Chartreuse in place of some of the sugar. The herbs sit under the lemon rather than on top of it.

Equal parts calvados and Dubonnet, stirred. Apple and quinine, and nothing else to get in the way.

Bourbon and Dubonnet in equal parts with a little Cointreau. Sweeter than a Manhattan and lighter on its feet.

Galliano, white crème de cacao and cream in equal parts. Vanilla and chocolate, served cold and after dinner.

Gin with Scotch stirred into it and nothing else.

White rum and bianco vermouth in equal parts, with apricot, grenadine and lemon in small enough doses to stay out of the way.

Equal parts sloe gin, apricot brandy and lime. Three sweet-sounding things that come out tart.

Melon liqueur, Cointreau and lemon in equal parts. Bright green and much sharper than it looks.

Vodka stirred with apple liqueur and Cointreau. The 1990s in a glass, and not as bad as its reputation.

Vodka, Frangelico and crème de cacao, stirred and served cold. Dessert with the sugar dialled back.

Frangelico, Irish cream and cream in equal parts. Hazelnut all the way down.

Advocaat, cream and vodka. Thicker than a White Russian and considerably more yellow.

Advocaat and white wine shaken with lemon. Odd on paper, and the lemon is what makes it work.

The Barbarella with lemon juice in it, which is all it takes to turn a sweet drink into a sour one.

Melon and pineapple shaken, then amaretto sunk under it and Jägermeister floated on top. It separates into three bands and stays that way.

Coffee liqueur and sambuca layered, lit, and two more shots poured in while you drink it. As much performance as cocktail.

White rum shaken with lime and orange and a dash of bitters. A daiquiri that went looking for a second citrus.

Vanilla vodka, passion fruit and lime, with a shot of cold champagne alongside. You alternate between the two.

Vanilla vodka and elderflower with honey and chile muddled through it. Floral first and hot afterwards.

Mezcal and overproof rum with falernum, maraschino and lime. Smoke, funk and spice arguing in a small glass.

Rye and dry vermouth instead of sweet. Sharper, paler, and it takes a lemon twist rather than a cherry.

Rye, apple liqueur and cranberry in near-equal parts. Sweet-tart, and the rye keeps it from being a sweet.

A gin sour with green Chartreuse and an absinthe rinse, shaken with egg white. Green, herbal and a long way from a fizz.

Kirsch and dry vermouth with a little strawberry syrup. Pink, and nowhere near as sweet as that makes it sound.

Amaro and Aperol lengthened with orange juice. Bitter at the edges and easy in the middle.

Three spirits in equal measure with just enough lemon to keep them honest.

One syrup doing the work that grenadine and sugar do in the original. Less sweet, and the raspberry reads as fruit rather than as colour.

Two and a half parts to one where the original pours three, so the mint comes a step forward. Stirred, which keeps it clear.

Equal parts citrus vodka, orange liqueur and cream. It tastes like the ice lolly it is named after and is a good deal stronger than it lets on.

Two bottles, equal parts. None of the grated Valrhona or the truffle honey of the house build, and it takes about a minute.

Hpnotiq stretched with pineapple and banana liqueur. Softer than the colour suggests, and the pineapple stops the banana taking over.

The same four bottles as the Boston Sidecar poured in equal measure, and a good deal shorter on lime. Drier and tighter, and it disappears faster.

A Daiquiri riff on homemade kiwi syrup with half an ounce of Green Chartreuse — green enough for St. Patrick's Day, and good well past it.