We all know bartenders are well versed in many cocktails and mixed drinks. But what are the most important cocktails every established bartender should know?
Which cocktails are the most popular in 2020? Which classic cocktails are timeless?
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.
To make it easier for you to learn the top cocktails every bartender should know (whether you’re from San Diego or Phoenix or even Wisconsin), National Bartenders has compiled the below list just for you to bookmark and share with your friends.
Here’s 18 Cocktails Every Bartender Should Know
#1 Margarita
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:
- 2 oz Tequila
- 1 oz Lime Juice
- 1 oz Cointreau
Drinkware: Margarita Glass
Preparation: Rub the rim of the glass with the Lime Slice to make the salt stick to it. Shake the other ingredients with ice, then carefully pour into the glass (taking care not to dislodge any salt). Garnish and serve over ice.
Served: Poured over ice
Garnish: Lime Slice, Salt on the rim
#2 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:
- 1/2 oz (1 part) Dry Vermouth
- 3 oz (6 parts) Gin
Drinkware: Cocktail Glass
Preparation: Pour all ingredients into mixing glass with ice cubes. Stir well, then strain in chilled Cocktail Glass. Squeeze oil from Lemon Teist onto the drink, or garnish with an Olive.
Served: Straight or poured over ice
Garnish: Olive or Lemon Twist
#3 Moscow Mule
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:
- 4 oz Ginger Beer
- 1 1/2 oz Vodka
- 1/6 oz Lime Juice
Drinkware: Copper Mug or Highball Glass
Preparation: Combine Vodka and Ginger Beer in a Copper Mug or Highball Glass filled with ice. Add Lime Juice and stir gently.
Served: Poured over ice
Garnish: Lime Slice or Lime Wedge
#4 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:
- 1 part to 3 parts Gin (to taste)
- 3 parts Tonic Water
Drinkware: Rocks Glass, Highball Glass
Preparation: In a glass filled with ice cubes, add Gin and Tonic Water.
Served: Poured over ice
Garnish: Lime Slice or Lime Wedge
#5 Manhattan
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:
- Dash of Bitters
- 2 oz Rye Whisky or Canadian Whisky
- 3/4 oz Sweet Red Vermouth
Drinkware: Cocktail Glass
Preparation: Stirred over ice, strained into a chilled glass, garnished, and served straight up.
Served: Straight up
Garnish: Maraschino Cherry
#6 Long Island Iced Tea
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:
- 1/2 oz Vodka
- 1/2 oz White Rum
- 1 oz Lemon Juice
- 1/2 oz Gin
- 1/2 oz Tequila
- Splash of Cola
- 1/2 oz Triple Sec
- 1 oz Gomme Syrup
Drinkware: Highball Glass
Preparation: Add all ingredients into Highball Glass filled with ice. Stir gently. Garnish with Lemon Spiral and serve with a straw.
Served: Poured over ice
Garnish: Lemon Spiral
#7 Old Fashioned
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:
- 1 1/2 oz Bourbon or Rye Whisky
- 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
- 1 Sugar Cube
- Dash of Water
Drinkware: Old Fashioned Glass
Preparation: Place Sugar Cube in Old Fashioned Glass and saturate with Angostura Bitters, add a dash of water. Muddle until dissolved. Fill the glass with ice cubes and add Whiskey. Garnish with Orange Slice, and a Maraschino Cherry.
Served: Poured over ice
Garnish: Orange Slice, Maraschino Cherry
#8 Whisky Sour
Whisky Sour
The Whisky Sour is a mixed drink containing Whisky, 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:
- 1 oz (2 parts) Lemon Juice
- 1/2 oz (1 part) Gomme Syrup
- 1 dash Egg Whites
- 1 1/2 oz (3 parts) Bourbon Whisky
Drinkware: Old Fashioned Glass, Cobbler
Preparation: Shake with ice. Strain into ice-filled Old Fashioned Glass to serve on the rocks.
Served: Pour over ice
Garnish: Maraschino Cherry, Lemon Rind, Orange Slice
#9 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:
- 2/3 oz (2 parts) Coffee Liqueur
- 1 2/3 oz (5 parts) Vodka
- 1 oz (3 parts) Cream
Drinkware: Old Fashioned Glass
Preparation: Pour Coffee Liqueur and Vodka into an Old Fashioned Glass filled with ice. Float Fresh Cream on top and stir slowly.
Served: Poured over ice
#10 Mojito
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:
- 1 1/2 oz White Rum
- 6 Mint Leaves
- Soda Water
- 1 oz Fresh Lime Juice
- 2 tsp. of Sugar
Drinkware: Collins Glass
Preparation: Sprigs of Mint muddled with Sugar and Lime Juice. Rum added and topped with Soda Water. Garnished with Mint Leaves and served with a straw.
Served: Poured over ice
Garnish: Mint Leaves
#11 Cosmopolitan
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:
- 1/2 oz Fresh Lime Juice
- 1 oz Cranberry Juice
- 1/2 oz Cointreau
- 1 1/2 oz Vodka Citron
Drinkware: Cocktail Glass
Preparation: Add all ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and double strain into large Cocktail Glass. Garnish with Lime Wedge.
Served: Straight up
Garnish: Lime Wedge, Lemon Slice
#12 Sidecar
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:
- 2 oz Cognac
- 3/4 oz Lemon Juice
- 3/4 oz Triple Sec
Drinkware: Cocktail Glass
Preparation: Pour all ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into Cocktail Glass.
Served: Straight up
#13 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:
- 1 part Lime Juice
- 4 parts Gin
Drinkware: Cocktail Glass
Preparation: Mix and serve. Garnish with a Lime Slice.
Served: Straight or poured over ice
Garnish: Lime Slice
#14 Piña Colada
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:
- 3 oz (3 parts) Pineapple Juice
- 1 oz (1 part) White Rum
- 1 oz (1 part) Coconut Cream
Drinkware: Poco Grande Glass or Hurricane Glass
Preparation: Mix with crushed ice until smooth. Pour into chilled glass, garnish and serve.
Served: Blended with ice (frozen style)
#15 Bloody Mary
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:
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1/2 oz (1 part) Lemon Juice
- 1 1/2 oz (3 parts) Vodka
- 3 oz (6 parts) Tomato Juice
- Tabasco Sauce
Drinkware: Highball Glass
Preparation: Add dashes of Worcestershire Sauce, Tabasco Sauce, Salt and Pepper into Highball Glass, then pour all liquid ingredients over ice cubes. Stir gently. Garnish with Celery Stalk and Lemon Wedge.
Served: Poured over ice.
Garnish: Celery Stalk
#16 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:
- 1 oz (2 parts) Lemon Juice
- 1 1/2 oz (3 parts) Old Tom Gin
- 2 oz (4 parts) Carbonated Water
- 1/2 oz (1 part) Sugar Syrup
Drinkware: Collins glass
Preparation: Mix the Gin, Lemon Juice and Sugar Syrup in a Collins Glass with ice, top off with Soda Water, garnish and serve.
Served: Poured over ice
Garnish: Lemon Slice, Maraschino Cherry
#17 Irish Coffee
Irish Coffee
Irish Coffee is a cocktail consisting of Hot Coffee, Irish Whisky, and Sugar, stirred and topped with Cream.
Ingredients:
- 2 2/3 oz (4 parts) Hot Coffee
- 1 1/3 oz (2 parts) Irish Whisky
- 1 tsp. Brown Sugar
- 1 oz (1 1/2 parts) Cream
Drinkware: Irish Coffee Mug
Preparation: Heat the Coffee, Whisky and Sugar. Pour into Irish Coffee Mug and top with Cream. Serve hot.
Served: Hot
#18 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:
- 1 1/2 oz (3 parts) Vodka
- 1/2 oz (1 part) Apple Schnapps
- 1/2 oz (1 part) Cointreau
Drinkware: Cocktail Glass
Preparation: Mix in a shaker, then pour into a chilled Cocktail Glass. Garnish and serve.
Served: Straight up
Garnish: Apple Slice, Maraschino Cherry
