Some of these famous cocktails have been popular for generations and continue to be favorites around the world, gaining popularity from movies and pop culture.
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List of Cocktails Every Bartender Should Know
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Aperol Spritz
Aperol Spritz is an Italian wine-based cocktail, commonly served as an apéritif across Italy. It consists of Prosecco, digestive bitters and soda water. The original spritz veneziano uses Select as bitters and was created in Venice in 1920.
Ingredients:
- 90 ml Prosecco
- 60 ml Aperol
- Splash of Soda water
Method: Build all ingredients into a wine glass filled with ice. Stir gently.
Garnish: Orange slice
Appletini
Appletini
An Appletini is an Apple Martini cocktail containing Vodka and one or more of Apple Juice, Apple Cider, Apple Liqueur, or Apple Brandy. This drink, originally called an Adam’s Apple Martini because the bartender who created it was named Adam, was created in 1996 at Lola’s West Hollywood restaurant.
Ingredients:
- 2 oz. vodka
- 1 oz. sour apple schnapps
- Splash of lemon juice
- Apple slice or cherry for garnish
- Ice
Method: Fill a shaker with ice and add vodka, sour apple schnapps, and lemon juice. Shake the mixture well and strain it into a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish: Apple slice or cherry
Bellini
A Bellini is a classic Italian cocktail made with Prosecco and peach purée or nectar. This drink was invented by Giuseppe Cipriani, the founder of Harry’s Bar in Venice, Italy, in 1948. The cocktail is named after the Italian Renaissance painter Giovanni Bellini due to its pink color, which reminded Cipriani of one of Bellini’s paintings.
Ingredients:
- 2 oz Fresh peach purée
- 4 oz Prosecco
- White peaches
Method: Pour peach puree into chilled flute, add Prosecco. Stir gently.
Garnish: Peach slice (optional)
Bloody Mary (IBA official cocktail)
Bloody Mary
A Bloody Mary is a cocktail containing Vodka, Tomato Juice, and other spices and flavorings including Worcestershire Sauce, Tabasco Sauce, Garlic, Horseradish, Celery, Olives, Salt, Black Pepper, Lemon Juice, Lime Juice and/or celery salt.
Ingredients:
- 45 ml Vodka
- 90 ml Tomato Juice
- 15 ml Fresh Lemon Juice
- 2 dashes Worcestershire Sauce
- Tabasco, Celery Salt, Pepper (up to taste)
Method: Stir gently all the ingredients in a mixing glass with ice, pour into rocks glass. If requested served with ice, pour into highball glass.
Garnish: Celery, Lemon Wedge (optional)
Boulevardier (IBA official cocktail)
A Boulevardier is a sophisticated cocktail similar to a Negroni but with whiskey instead of gin.
Ingredients:
- 45 ml Bourbon or Rye Whiskey
- 30 ml Bitter Campari
- 30 ml Sweet Red Vermouth
Method: Pour all ingredients into mixing glass with ice cubes. Stir well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish: Garnish with orange zest, optionally a lemon zest.
Caipirinha (IBA official cocktail)
A Caipirinha is Brazil’s national cocktail, made with cachaça, sugar, and lime, offering a sweet and tangy flavor.
Ingredients:
- 60 ml Cachaça
- 1 Lime cut into small wedges
- 4 Teaspoons White Cane Sugar
Method: Place lime and sugar into a double old fashioned glass and muddle gently. Fill the glass with cracked ice and add Cachaça. Stir gently to involve ingredients.
Garnish: None
Cosmopolitan (IBA official cocktail)
Cosmopolitan
A Cosmopolitan, also known as a Cosmo, is a cocktail made with Vodka, Triple Sec, Cranberry Juice, and freshly squeezed or sweetened Lime Juice.
Ingredients:
- 40 ml Vodka Citron
- 15 ml Cointreau
- 15 ml Fresh Lime Juice
- 30 ml Cranberry Juice
Method: Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into a large cocktail glass.
Garnish: Lemon twist
Daiquiri (IBA official cocktail)
A Daiquiri is a simple yet elegant cocktail made with rum, lime juice, and simple syrup. It’s a refreshing and zesty drink.
Ingredients:
- 60 ml White Cuban Ron
- 20 ml Fresh Lime Juice
- 2 Bar Spoons Superfine Sugar
Method: In a cocktail shaker add all ingredients. Stir well to dissolve the sugar. Add ice and shake. Strain into chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish: None
Espresso Martini (IBA official cocktail)
An Espresso Martini is a sophisticated cocktail that combines vodka, espresso, coffee liqueur, and simple syrup for a rich, caffeinated drink.
Ingredients:
- 50 ml Vodka
- 30 ml Kahlúa
- 10 ml Sugar Syrup
- 1 strong Espresso
Method: Pour all ingredients into cocktail shaker, shake well with ice, strain into chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish: None
French 75 (IBA official cocktail)
Ingredients:
- 30 ml Gin
- 15 ml Fresh Lemon Juice
- 15 ml Sugar Syrup
- 60 ml Champagne
Method: Pour all the ingredients, except Champagne, into a shaker. Shake well and strain into a Champagne flute. Top up with Champagne. Stir gently.
Garnish: None
French Connection (IBA official cocktail)
Ingredients:
- 35 ml Cognac
- 35 ml Amaretto
Method: Pour all ingredients directly into an old fashioned glass filled with ice cubes. Stir gently.
Garnish: None
French Martini (IBA official cocktail)
Ingredients:
- 45 ml Vodka
- 15 ml Raspberry Liqueur
- 15 ml Fresh Pineapple Juice
Method: Pour all ingredients into cocktail shaker, shake well with ice, strain into chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish: Squeeze oil from lemon peel onto the drink.
Fernandito (IBA official cocktail)
Ingredients:
- 50 ml Fernet Branca
- Fill up with Cola
Method: Pour the Fernet Branca into a double old fashioned glass with ice, fill the glass up with Cola. Gently stir.
Garnish: None
Gimlet
Gimlet
The Gimlet is a cocktail typically made of 2 parts Gin and 1 part Lime Juice. A 1928 description of the drink was “gin, and a spot of lime”. The description in the 1953 Raymond Chandler novel The Long Goodbye stated that “a real gimlet is half gin and half Rose’s lime juice and nothing else.
Ingredients:
- 2 oz. gin
- 3/4 oz. lime juice
- 1/2 oz. simple syrup
- Lime wedge for garnish
- Ice
Method: Fill a shaker with ice and add the gin, lime juice, and simple syrup. Shake the mixture well and strain it into a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish: Lime wedge
Gin & Tonic
Gin & Tonic
A Gin & Tonic is a highball cocktail made with Gin and Tonic Water poured over a large amount of ice. The ratio of Gin to Tonic varies according to taste, strength of the Gin and other drink mixers being added, with most recipes calling for a ratio between 1:1 to 1:3.
Ingredients:
- 2 oz. gin
- 4-6 oz. tonic water
- Lime wedge for garnish
- Ice
Method: Fill a highball glass with ice. Add the gin to the glass. Top with tonic water. Stir well.
Garnish: Lime wedge
Hurricane
A Hurricane is a fruity and potent cocktail made famous in New Orleans, combining various rums with passion fruit and citrus juices.
Ingredients:
- 2 oz. light rum
- 2 oz. dark rum
- 1 oz. lime juice
- 1 oz. orange juice
- 0.5 oz. passion fruit syrup
- 0.5 oz. simple syrup
- Grenadine for color (optional)
- Orange slice and cherry for garnish
- Ice
Method: Fill a shaker with ice. Add light rum, dark rum, lime juice, orange juice, passion fruit syrup, simple syrup, and grenadine (if using). Shake well and strain into a hurricane glass filled with ice.
Garnish: Orange slice and cherry
Irish Coffee (IBA official cocktail)
Irish Coffee
Irish Coffee is a cocktail consisting of Hot Coffee, Irish Whisky, and Sugar, stirred and topped with Cream.
Ingredients:
- 50 ml Irish Whiskey
- 120 ml Hot coffee
- 50 ml Fresh cream (chilled)
- 1 teaspoon Sugar
Method: Warm black coffee is poured into a pre-heated Irish coffee glass. Whiskey and at least one teaspoon of sugar is added and stirred until dissolved. Fresh thick chilled cream is carefully poured over the back of a spoon held just above the surface of the coffee. The layer of cream will float on the coffee without mixing.
Garnish: None
John Collins (IBA official cocktail)
Ingredients:
- 45 ml Gin
- 30 ml Fresh Lemon Juice
- 15 ml Simple Syrup
- 60 ml Soda Water
Method: Pour all ingredients directly into a highball filled with ice. Stir gently.
Garnish: A lemon slice and maraschino cherry.
KIR (IBA official cocktail)
Ingredients:
- 90 ml Dry White Wine
- 10 ml Crème de Cassis
Method: Pour Crème de Cassis into glass, top up with white wine.
Garnish: None
Long Island Iced Tea (IBA official cocktail)
Long Island Iced Tea
A Long Island Iced Tea is a type of alcoholic mixed drink typically made with Vodka, Tequila, Light Rum, Triple Sec, Gin, and a splash of Cola, which gives the drink the same amber hue as its namesake. A popular version mixes equal parts Vodka, Gin, Rum, Triple Sec, with 1 1/2 parts Sour Mix and a splash of Cola.
Ingredients:
- 15 ml Vodka
- 15 ml Tequila
- 15 ml White rum
- 15 ml Gin
- 15 ml Cointreau
- 30 ml Lemon juice
- 20 ml Simple syrup
- Top with Cola
Method: Add all ingredients into a highball glass filled with ice. Stir gently.
Garnish: Lemon slide (optional)
Mai Tai (IBA official cocktail)
A Mai Tai is a tropical cocktail with a mix of rums, lime juice, orange liqueur, and almond syrup, offering a refreshing and exotic flavor.
Ingredients:
- 30 ml Amber Jamaican Rum
- 30 ml Martinique Molasses Rhum
- 15 ml Orange Curacao
- 15 ml Orgeat Syrup (Almond)
- 30 ml Fresh Lime Juice
- 7.5 ml Simple Syrup
Method: Add all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a double rocks glass or a highball glass.
Garnish: Pineapple spear, mint leaves, and lime peel.
Manhattan (IBA official cocktail)
Manhattan
A Manhattan is a cocktail made with Whisky, Sweet Vermouth, and Bitters. While rye is the traditional Whisky of choice, other commonly used whiskies include Canadian Whisky, Bourbon, blended Whisky, and Tennessee Whisky.
Ingredients:
- 50 ml Rye Whiskey
- 20 ml Sweet Red Vermouth
- 1 dash Angostura Bitters
Method: Pour all ingredients into mixing glass with ice cubes. Stir well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish: Cocktail cherry
Margarita (IBA official cocktail)
Margarita
A Margarita is a cocktail consisting of Tequila, Orange Liqueur, and Lime Juice often served with Salt on the rim of the glass. The drink is served shaken with ice, blended with ice, or without ice.
Ingredients:
- 50 ml Tequila 100% Agave
- 20 ml Triple Sec
- 15 ml Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice
Method: Add all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish: Half salt rim (optional)
Martini
Martini
The Martini is a cocktail made with Gin and Vermouth and garnished with an Olive or a Lemon Twist. Over the years, the Martini has become one of the best-known mixed alcoholic beverages. H. L. Mencken called the Martini “the only American invention as perfect as the sonnet”.
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 oz. gin or vodka
- 1/2 oz. dry vermouth
- Ice
- Olives or lemon twist for garnish
Method: Fill a mixing glass with ice and add the gin or vodka and dry vermouth. Stir the mixture well until it’s chilled and diluted. Strain the mixture into a chilled martini glass.
Garnish: Olives or a lemon twist
Mimosa (IBA official cocktail)
A Mimosa is a simple and elegant cocktail, perfect for brunch, made with champagne and orange juice.
Ingredients:
- 75 ml Fresh orange juice
- 75 ml Prosecco
Method: Pour orange juice into a flute glass and gently pour the sparkling wine. Stir gently.
Garnish: Orange twist (optional)
Mojito (IBA official cocktail)
Mojito
Mojito is a traditional Cuban Highball. Traditionally, a Mojito is a cocktail that consists of five ingredients: White Rum, Sugar, Lime Juice, Soda Water, and Mint. Its combination of sweetness, citrus, and herbaceous mint flavors is intended to complement the Rum, and has made the Mojito a popular summer drink.
Ingredients:
- 45 ml White Cuban Ron
- 20 ml Fresh Lime Juice
- 6 pcs Mint Sprigs
- 2 tsp White Cane Sugar
- Soda Water
Method: Mix mint springs with sugar and lime juice. Add splash of soda water and fill the glass with ice. Pour the rum and top with soda water. Light stir to involve all ingredients.
Garnish: Sprigs of mint and slice of lime
Moscow Mule (IBA official cocktail)
Moscow Mule
A Moscow Mule is a cocktail made with Vodka, Ginger Beer, and Lime Juice, garnished with a Lime Slice or Lime Wedge. The Moscow Mule is popularly served in a Copper Mug, which takes on the cold temperature of the liquid.
Ingredients:
- 45 ml Smirnoff Vodka
- 120 ml Ginger Beer
- 10 ml Fresh lime juice
Method: In a Mule Cup or rocks glass, combine the vodka and ginger beer. Add lime juice and gently stir to involve all ingredients.
Garnish: Lime wedge
Negroni (IBA official cocktail)
A Negroni is a classic Italian cocktail made with equal parts gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth. It’s known for its balanced bitterness and herbal depth.
Ingredients:
- 30 ml Gin
- 30 ml Bitter Campari
- 30 ml Sweet Red Vermouth
Method: Pour all ingredients directly into a chilled old fashioned glass filled with ice, Stir gently.
Garnish: Half orange slice
New York Sour (IBA official cocktail)
A New York Sour is a twist on the classic Whiskey Sour, topped with a red wine float for added complexity.
Ingredients:
- 60 ml Rye Whiskey or Bourbon
- 22.5 ml Simple syrup
- 30 ml Fresh lemon juice
- Few Drops of Egg White
- 15 ml Red wine (Shiraz or Malbech)
Method: Pour all ingredients into the shaker. Shake vigorously with ice. Strain into a chilled rocks glass filled with ice. Float the wine on top.
Garnish: Lemon or orange zest with cherry.
Old Fashioned (IBA official cocktail)
Old Fashioned
The Old Fashioned is a cocktail made by muddling Sugar with Angostura Bitters, adding Whisky or, less commonly, Brandy, and garnishing with a Citrus Rind Twist. It is traditionally served in an Old Fashioned Glass, which predated the cocktail.
Ingredients:
- 45 ml Bourbon or Rye Whiskey
- 1 Sugar Cube
- Few Dashes Angostura Bitters
- Few Dashes Plain Water
Method: Place sugar cube in old fashioned glass and saturate with bitter, add few dashes of plain water. Muddle until dissolved. Fill the glass with ice cubes and add whiskey. Stir gently.
Garnish: Orange slice or zest and a cocktail cherry.
Paloma
A Paloma is a refreshing Mexican cocktail made with tequila and grapefruit-flavored soda. It’s one of the most popular tequila-based drinks in Mexico and is known for its light and fruity taste. The name “Paloma” means “dove” in Spanish.
Ingredients:
- 50 ml 100% Agave Tequila
- 5 ml Fresh lime
- A pinch of Salt
- 100 ml Pink Grapefruit Soda
Method: Poor the tequila into a highball glass, squeeze the lime juice. Add ice and salt, fill up pink grapefruit soda. Stir gently.
Garnish: Lime wedge
Piña Colada (IBA official cocktail)
Piña Colada
The Piña Colada is a sweet cocktail made with Rum, Cream of Coconut or Coconut Milk, and Pineapple Juice, usually served blended or shaken with ice. It may be garnished with either a Pineapple Wedge, Maraschino Cherry, or both.
Ingredients:
- 50 ml White Rum
- 30 ml Coconut Cream
- 50 ml Fresh Pineapple Juice
Method: Blend all the ingredients with ice in an electric blender, pour into a large glass, and serve with straws.
Garnish: Slice of pineapple with a cocktail cherry.
Ramos Fizz (IBA official cocktail)
Ingredients:
- 45 ml Gin
- 15 ml Fresh Lime Juice
- 15 ml Fresh Lemon Juice
- 30 ml Sugar Syrup
- 60 ml Cream
- 30ml Egg white
- 3 Dashes Orange Flower Water
- 2 Drops Vanilla Extract
- Soda Water
Method: Pour all ingredients except soda water in a cocktail shaker with ice, Shake for two minutes, double strain in a glass, pour the drink back in the shaker, and hard shake without ice for one minute. Strain into a highball glass, top up with soda.
Garnish: None
Rusty Nail (IBA official cocktail)
Ingredients:
- 45 ml Scotch Whisky
- 25 ml Drambuie
Method: Pour all ingredients directly into an old fashioned glass filled with ice. Stir gently.
Garnish: Lemon zest
Sazerac (IBA official cocktail)
A Sazerac is a New Orleans classic, combining rye whiskey, absinthe, sugar, and Peychaud’s bitters for a robust and aromatic cocktail.
Ingredients:
- 50 ml Cognac
- 10 ml Absinthe
- 1 Sugar Cube
- 2 Dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
Method: Rinse a chilled old-fashioned glass with the absinthe, add crushed ice and set it aside. Stir the remaining ingredients over ice in a mixing glass. Discard the ice and any excess absinthe from the prepared glass, strain the mixed drink into the glass.
Garnish: Garnish with lemon zest.
Sidecar (IBA official cocktail)
Sidecar
The Sidecar is a cocktail traditionally made with Cognac, Orange Liqueur and Lemon Juice. In its ingredients, the drink is perhaps most closely related to the older Brandy Crusta, which differs both in presentation and in proportions of its components.
Ingredients:
- 50 ml Cognac
- 20 ml Triple Sec
- 20 ml Fresh Lemon Juice
Method: Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker, shake well with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish: None
Tom Collins
Tom Collins
The Tom Collins is a cocktail made from Gin, Lemon Juice, Sugar, and Carbonated Water. First memorialized in writing in 1876 by Jerry Thomas, “the father of American mixology”, this “Gin and Sparkling Lemonade” drink is typically served in a Collins Glass over ice.
Ingredients:
- 2 oz. gin
- 1 oz. lemon juice
- 1/2 oz. simple syrup
- Club soda
- Lemon wedge and/or cherry for garnish
- Ice
Method: Fill a Collins glass with ice. In a shaker, add gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup. Shake the mixture well and strain it into the glass. Top with club soda.
Garnish: Lemon wedge and/or cherry
Vesper (IBA official cocktail)
Ingredients:
- 45 ml Gin
- 15 ml Vodka
- 7.5 ml Lillet Blanc
Method: Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice cubes. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish: Lemon zest
Virgin Daiquiri
A Virgin Daiquiri is a non-alcoholic version of the classic daiquiri, offering a refreshing blend of lime juice and simple syrup for a tangy, sweet drink.
Ingredients:
- 2 oz. fresh lime juice
- 1 oz. simple syrup
- Lime wheel for garnish
- Ice
Method: Fill a shaker with ice. Add lime juice and simple syrup. Shake well until chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe glass.
Garnish: Lime wheel
Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri
A Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri is a non-alcoholic, refreshing blend of strawberries, lime juice, and simple syrup, perfect for a fruity and sweet treat.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup Fresh or Frozen Strawberries
- 2 oz. Fresh Lime Juice
- 1 oz. Simple Syrup
- Ice
Method: In a blender, combine strawberries, lime juice, simple syrup, and ice. Blend until smooth. Pour the mixture into a chilled hurricane glass.
Garnish: Fresh Strawberry
Whiskey Sour (IBA official cocktail)
Whiskey Sour
The Whiskey Sour is a mixed drink containing Whiskey, Lemon Juice, Sugar, and optionally, a dash of Egg Whites. With the Egg Whites, it is sometimes called a Boston Sour. With a few bar spoons of full-bodied Red Wine floated on top, it is often referred to as a New York Sour.
Ingredients:
- 45 ml Bourbon Whiskey
- 25 ml Fresh Lemon Juice
- 20 ml Sugar Syrup
- 20 ml Egg White (optional)
Method: Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well. Strain into cobbler glass. If served “On the rocks”, strain ingredients into an old fashioned glass filled with ice.
Garnish: Garnish with a half orange slice and maraschino cherry, optionally use orange zest.
White Russian
White Russian
A White Russian is a cocktail made with Vodka, Coffee Liqueur and Cream served with ice in an Old Fashioned Glass. Often Milk or Half & Half will be used as an alternative to Cream.
Ingredients:
- 2 oz. vodka
- 1 oz. Kahlúa or other coffee liqueur
- 1 oz. heavy cream or half-and-half
- Ice
Method: Fill a rocks glass with ice. Add the vodka and Kahlúa to the glass. Top with heavy cream or half-and-half.
Garnish: None
Yellow Bird (IBA official cocktail)
Ingredients:
- 30 ml White rum
- 15 ml Galliano
- 15 ml Triple Sec
- 15 ml Fresh Lime Juice
Method: Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker, shake well with ice, strain into chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish: None
Zombie (IBA official cocktail)
Ingredients:
- 45 ml Jamaican dark rum
- 45 ml Gold Puerto Rican rum
- 30 ml Demerara Rum
- 20 ml Fresh lime juice
- 15 ml Falernum
- 15 ml Donn’s Mix
- 1 tsp Grenadine syrup
- 1 dash Angostura bitters
- 6 drops Pernod
Method: Add all ingredients into an electric blender with 170 grams of cracked ice. With pulse bottom blend for a few seconds. Serve in a tall tumbler glass.
Garnish: Garnish with mint leaves.
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