The 24cocktails blog

Round-ups, technique and the mistakes worth avoiding — written by a bartender, with recipes from the catalogue.

Two hundred years of cocktails over five eras: from medicine to Penicillin

If you open any bar menu, you'll find that half of the items on it are older than your parents, and the other half was invented…

Cocktail map of the world: ten countries with their own drink

Every country has a dish that makes it recognizable. The same goes for cocktails, but it’s harder to notice: the bar menu in…

Bought Aperol or Campari: what to mix besides a syringe

Italian bitter liqueur — the most common 'first bottle' in a home bar after vodka. Bought it for spritz at the dacha, made it a…

Brunch like on vacation: 6 drinks for a late breakfast — from Mimosa to Bloody Mary

Brunch is the best invention of the weekend: a late breakfast that smoothly transitions into lunch, without an alarm clock and…

Shake, stir, build: five bartender techniques that replace half of bartending school

The bar menu looks like a hundred different recipes, but a bartender's hands make just five moves. Shake, stir, build, muddle…

7 mistakes of a home bartender: why cocktails 'like in a bar' don't work at home

Over the years behind the bar, I've heard hundreds of versions of the phrase 'I make the same thing at home, but it doesn't turn…

An evening for two: 6 cocktails for a date at home — from French Martini to Aviation

A date at home beats a restaurant in every way except one: no one will bring a pretty glass. You’ll have to become the bartender…

Small but mighty: 5 shots for a party that can be prepared in advance

Shots are a genre that’s often considered unserious: as if a real bartender makes Manhattans, not pours 'a little one'. Wrong. A…

New classics: 7 cocktails of the 21st century that have already made history

It seems like all cocktail classics were invented a hundred years ago by people in vests, and we’re left to just repeat them…

What heroes drink: 8 cocktails from great cinema — from Vesper Bond to the White Russian Dude

Cinema has done more for cocktails than all the advertising in the world. One frame with the right glass — and the drink enters…

New Year's bar: 8 cocktails for the festive table — from Champagne Cocktail to mulled wine

Every year the same thing: the table is overflowing, the Olivier is ready, and the drinks are — champagne 'as is' and something…

Old school: 8 cocktails that are over a century old — and they’re still the best

Cocktails have their own 'classic literature' — recipes born before Prohibition, when bartenders wore vests, ice was delivered by…

Vacation in a glass: 8 tropical cocktails — from Mai Tai to pineapple with rum

There are cocktails for conversation, there are those for appetite, and then there's a separate genre whose sole purpose is to…

Home bar from scratch: 5 bottles that give 10 cocktails

The most common question I get, not behind the bar but at parties, is: 'Where do I start with a home bar?' And almost always, the…

Highball — a genre for lazy geniuses: 10 cocktails with two moves

Bartenders have a secret we usually don’t share: the most ordered cocktails in the world aren’t complex constructions of ten…

Aperitif like in Italy: 8 light cocktails before dinner — from Americano to Kir Royale

In Italy, there’s an hour worth adopting from the Italians: aperitivo. The time between work and dinner, when you order something…

Liquid dessert: 9 cocktails that replace sweets — from Espresso Martini to Eggnog

There’s a moment in any dinner when guests no longer want to eat, but they’re not ready to leave yet. A restaurant keeps tiramisu…

One formula — ten cocktails: sours from Whiskey Sour to Penicillin

If you break down bar classics into families, the most numerous will be neither the martini family nor the Negroni family, but…

Tequila isn’t just for Margaritas: 10 cocktails worth mixing at home

I’ll be honest: I feel more sorry for tequila than any other bottle behind the bar. It has the worst reputation of all — 'salt…

One formula — 8 cocktails: Negroni and all its family, from Americano to Boulevardier

I have a favorite trick behind the bar. A guest asks for a Negroni, I make it, and then I ask: 'Would you like the same thing…

Halloween in a glass: 8 black and bloody red cocktails for a frightfully good party

Halloween is the only night of the year when guests approach the bar not for taste, but for the experience. On October 31st, no…

10 classic cocktails that everyone should know

After ten years behind the bar, I’ve learned one simple thing: you can spot a guest who knows cocktails not by the rarity of…

10 warming cocktails for autumn: from Hot Toddy to mulled wine

Behind the bar, you quickly realize when summer is over: guests stop asking for 'something with ice and mint' and start asking…

Three ingredients — and that’s it: 10 cocktails that are impossible to mess up

Over the years behind the bar, I’ve come up with a simple rule: the fewer ingredients in a cocktail, the more honest it is with…

10 non-alcoholic cocktails that you won't be ashamed to serve to guests

Over the years behind the bar, I've learned one thing: the most difficult guest isn't the one who asks for 'something stronger,'…

10 vodka cocktails that are ordered in bars all over the world

There's a joke that every bartender has probably heard: 'Vodka is what people drink when they don't like the taste of alcohol.'…

10 cocktails with rum that don’t require a ticket to the islands

Behind the bar, you quickly realize one thing: rum is the most underrated spirit among our guests. Whiskey is ordered 'for…

10 whiskey cocktails: from Old Fashioned to Penicillin

Behind the bar, you quickly realize one thing: people who say they "don't like whiskey" have just been drinking it wrong. Warm…

Vermouth isn’t just for martinis: 10 cocktails where it takes center stage

Behind the bar, you quickly realize one thing: vermouth is the most underrated bottle on the shelf. Guests order it only for a…

10 cocktails with champagne: what to mix with sparkling wine, besides a mimosa

Behind the bar, you quickly learn one rule: guests order champagne when there's a reason, and cocktails with champagne — when…

10 gin cocktails you should know how to make at home

Over the years behind the bar, I've learned one thing: guests who say they 'don't like gin' actually just don't like a bad gin…