Five Classic Cocktails Everyone Should Try
Negroni
While flashy and elaborate cocktails certainly have their place, sometimes the best drinks are the simplest. The Negroni falls into that category. It’s one of those cocktails that everyone has heard of but few know how to make. Unassuming in appearance, its welcoming blood orange colour hides a boozy punch that might catch you off-guard. The fact that it’s considered an apértif and therefore meant to be enjoyed before dinner (in other words, on an empty stomach), doesn’t really help either. Try a few. You’ll soon come to realize that this cocktail has the best of intentions.
Ingredients
1 oz. gin
1 oz. sweet vermouth
1 oz. Campari
1 fresh orange peel
Directions
In a mixing glass, pour the gin, Campari and vermouth and add ice. Stir until chilled and then strain into a cocktail glass. Express the peel over the rim and drop into drink afterwards.
The Old Fashioned is one of those timeless classics that has enjoyed a recent renaissance, thanks to Don Draper and his Madison Avenue friends. Perhaps one of the oldest cocktails to date, this particular libation has gone through a few reinventions over the years—some would call them violations—that have left many a drinker befuddled and confused. Get the facts straight here. A true Old Fashioned is comprised of a few slugs of bourbon, sweetened with sugar and muddled fruit, and balanced with a few quick dashes of Angostura bitters. Keep an eye on your bartender!
Ingredients
1 sugar cube
3 dashes Angostura bitters
2 oz. bourbon
Directions
Soak your sugar cube with three dashes of Angostura bitters and add your cherry and orange slice to a tumbler glass. Muddle them together and fill with ice. Add bourbon and stir.
Simple and understated, the dirty martini is about as classy as it gets when it comes to great cocktails. While the classic variation includes a mixture of vermouth and gin, the ‘dirty’ part comes from adding a little bit of olive brine to shake things up. James Bond may have preferred his with vodka, but trust us when we say that you won’t be disappointed with the original.
Ingredients
2.5 oz. gin
0.5 oz. dry vermouth
0.5 oz. olive brine olives for garnish
Directions
In a mixing glass, pour the gin, dry vermouth, olive brine and ice. Stir until chilled and then strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with one or two olives.
Manhattan
According to folklore, this drink was conceived in the 1870s in New York City’s Manhattan Club as an honour to presidential candidate Samuel J. Tilden. Since then, the Manhattan has become a favourite among business executives. J. P. Morgan was known to knock one back at the close of each trading day. The key, and essential foundation, is to always use rye whiskey in order to create perfect harmony with the vermouth and bitters. If you respect tradition, you’ll stay true to this time-honoured cocktail recipe.
Ingredients
2 oz. rye whiskey
0.5 oz. sweet vermouth
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 Maraschino cherry
Directions
Pour the rye, sweet vermouth into a mixing glass. Add two dashes of bitters and stir well. Strain into chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a cherry.
Similar to other classic cocktails, the origins of the mojito are hard to trace. But many argue that it all started in Cuba when Sir Francis Drake’s sailing crew fell ill to the plague and a few other fun things while en route to Havana back in 1586. When the sailors headed for land, they were ordered to find local herbs—fresh limes, sugar cane, mint and an early form of rum—to remedy their sicknesses. And voilà, they had themselves a mojito! So the next time you find yourself looking for a health remedy, maybe consider throwing one of these classic summer cocktails together.
Ingredients
0.5 oz. lime juice
2 oz. white rum
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
3 leaves mint
club soda
Directions
In a small Collins glass, muddle the lime juice with superfine sugar and add mint leaves. Fill glass with two-thirds of cracked ice and pour rum. Add club soda to finish.
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