20 recipes

Classic cocktail recipes

These are the drinks everything else is a variation on. Learn the ratios in this list and most of a cocktail menu becomes readable: the sours are all spirit-citrus-sugar, the spirit-forward ones are all base-modifier-bitters, and the difference between a Negroni, a Boulevardier and an Americano is one swap each.

Every recipe is given in millilitres and in grams, with the density we used, so you can build them on a scale rather than a jigger.

Old Fashioned

The original cocktail. Whiskey, sugar, bitters.

3 ingredients · 71.5 ml · 34.5%

Negroni

Equal parts gin, vermouth, Campari. Stir over ice.

3 ingredients · 90 ml · 27%

Manhattan

Rye whiskey and sweet vermouth, stirred until very cold.

3 ingredients · 91.5 ml · 32.2%

Dry Martini

Gin-forward, cold, and elegant. The ratio is everything.

2 ingredients · 90 ml · 36.3%

Boulevardier

Bourbon instead of gin. The Negroni's brooding American cousin.

3 ingredients · 105 ml · 28.9%

Bijou

Gin, sweet vermouth, and Green Chartreuse. Jewel-bright.

3 ingredients · 90 ml · 37%

Daiquiri

White rum, lime, sugar. The benchmark for balance.

3 ingredients · 97 ml · 24.7%

Margarita

Tequila, lime, triple sec. Shake hard, salt the rim.

3 ingredients · 89 ml · 27.6%

Whisky Sour

Bourbon, lemon, sugar, egg white for foam. Dry shake first.

4 ingredients · 127 ml · 18.9%

Pisco Sour

South America's most famous cocktail. Frothy, citrusy, addictive.

4 ingredients · 142 ml · 16.9%

Gimlet

Gin and lime, properly balanced. Shaken or stirred.

3 ingredients · 97 ml · 24.7%

Bee's Knees

Prohibition-era classic. Honey and lemon make gin shine.

3 ingredients · 104 ml · 23.1%

Clover Club

Pre-Prohibition gin sour with raspberry and egg white. Pink and frothy.

4 ingredients · 112 ml · 18.3%

Tom Collins

Gin, lemon, sugar — topped with soda. The definitive highball.

4 ingredients · 172 ml · 10.5%

Paloma

Mexico's favourite highball. Tequila and grapefruit, over ice.

5 ingredients · 205 ml · 11.7%

Moscow Mule

Vodka and lime, with ginger beer. Cold copper mug required.

3 ingredients · 202 ml · 11.9%

Dark & Stormy

Gosling's dark rum poured over ginger beer. Don't stir.

3 ingredients · 195 ml · 12.3%

French 75

Gin, lemon, sugar, topped with Champagne. Artillery-strength.

4 ingredients · 172 ml · 10.5%

White Russian

The Dude abides. Vodka, coffee liqueur, and cream over ice.

3 ingredients · 97 ml · 23.1%

Black Russian

Simple, strong, direct. Vodka and coffee liqueur over ice.

2 ingredients · 90 ml · 33.3%

The PourPilot coaster

Every one of these, weighed for you

The PourPilot coaster sits under your glass and weighs each ingredient as it goes in, lighting up when you reach the target. All 124 recipes are in the free app, in grams, and it works with no internet connection at all.

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