10 classic cocktails that everyone should know
Material 18+. Excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to your health.
Updated
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 their order. On the contrary — they ask for a Daiquiri or a Dry Martini and, with the first sip, can tell whether the bar knows what it’s doing or just shines pretty bottles. Classics are like scales for musicians: boring until you try to play them yourself.
Good news: almost everything on this list can be replicated at home. You don’t need a siphon or a centrifuge — a shaker, a spoon, a strainer, and decent ice will cover nine out of ten recipes. Bad news: in classics, there’s nowhere to hide. Three ingredients mean each of the three is on display, and melted ice or lemon juice from a carton will ruin everything honestly and immediately.
Below are ten recipes that I consider essential. Proportions and steps are from the catalog 24cocktails.com, where each cocktail has a card with a photo, ingredients, and step-by-step instructions. Let’s start with the oldest.
1. Old Fashioned
One of the oldest cocktails around — essentially, it’s the formula ‘spirit + sugar + bitters’, from which the word ‘cocktail’ itself originated. Nothing gets shaken, nothing gets masked: bourbon is the star here, and the syrup and bitters just shine a light on it. It’s a slow drink, meant for the evening — you sip it for a while, as the big ice cube slowly gives off its chill.
Ingredients
- Bourbon — 60 ml
- Simple syrup — 10 ml
- Angostura bitters — 2-3 dashes
How to make it
- In an old fashioned glass, place a large ice cube.
- Add the simple syrup and bitters.
- Pour in the bourbon.
- Gently stir with a bar spoon for 20-30 seconds.
- Express the oil from the orange peel over the glass, garnish with the peel and a cocktail cherry.
Tip: you need exactly one large ice cube — a handful of small cubes will melt in a couple of minutes and turn your drink into bourbon-flavored water. Stir, don’t shake: a cloudy Old Fashioned is a sure sign that something has gone wrong.
2. Dry Martini
The most discussed cocktail in history: the right ratio of gin to vermouth has been debated longer than most bars have existed. This is an aperitif — icy, dry, composed, with not a single unnecessary movement. Drinking it warm is like listening to an orchestra through a phone speaker, so cold here is not a wish, but a requirement.
Ingredients
- Gin — 50 ml
- Dry vermouth — 10 ml
- Olive — 1 pc.
How to make
- Pour gin and dry vermouth into a mixing glass with ice cubes.
- Stir the ingredients well.
- Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
- Express the oil from the lemon peel over the drink or garnish with an olive.
Tip: a 5:1 ratio is the dry classic; if you want it softer, add some vermouth. Put the glass in the freezer about ten minutes before you start: there’s no juice or soda in a Martini, and warm glass will ruin it faster than any mistake in proportions.
3. Negroni
Italian bitterness in its purest form: gin, Campari, and vermouth in equal parts. According to popular legend, the Florentine Count Negroni once asked to make his usual Americano stronger — to replace the soda with gin, and since then the recipe hasn’t budged a milliliter. It’s an aperitif with character: bitter, spicy, honest. The first sip scares many, the third recruits you for life.
Ingredients
- Gin — 30 ml
- Campari — 30 ml
- Sweet vermouth — 30 ml
How to make it
- Fill an old-fashioned glass with ice cubes.
- Pour in gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth.
- Stir with a bar spoon.
- Garnish with a slice of orange.
Tip: the ratio of 1:1:1 is the recipe, don’t try to ‘soften’ it with extra vermouth. If the bitterness is still unfamiliar, just let the glass sit for a couple of minutes: the ice will slightly dilute the drink, and it will open up more gently.
4. Daiquiri
A classic rum-based drink with a refreshing lime flavor and a hint of sweetness — that’s how it’s described in the catalog and by any bartender you ask. Named after a place in Cuba, it gained fame thanks to Hemingway, who had a great enthusiasm for this cocktail in Havana bars. No blender and strawberries: a true Daiquiri is just rum, lime, and sugar, shaken with ice to a frosty clarity.
Ingredients
- White rum — 45 ml
- Juice of half a lime
- Powdered sugar — 1 tsp
How to make
- Pour all the ingredients into a shaker with ice cubes.
- Shake the shaker well.
- Strain the cocktail into a chilled cocktail glass.
Tip: juice should be squeezed right before mixing: after just an hour, lime juice loses its brightness and starts to taste bitter. Powder dissolves slower than syrup, so shake the shaker longer than usual — no one wants sugar granules at the bottom of the glass.
5. Margarita (Margarita)
A Mexican classic with tequila and lime, which has so many legends about its origin that no one will ever know the truth — and that suits it just fine. The formula is the same as a Daiquiri: strong, citrus, sweet — but the tequila and salt rim make it a completely different drink, sunny and a bit cheeky. The perfect pair for tacos and really any food that has lime and pepper.
Ingredients
- Tequila — 50 ml
- Triple Sec — 25 ml
- Lime juice — 25 ml
How to make
- Run a lime wedge around the rim of the glass and dip it in salt.
- In a shaker with ice, add the tequila, triple sec, and lime juice.
- Shake vigorously for 10-15 seconds.
- Strain into the glass.
- Garnish with a lime wedge.
Tip: the salt is only needed on the outside of the rim — if it gets inside, every sip will be too salty. And hold the glass by the stem to avoid smudging the rim with your hand.
6. Mojito
A refreshing Cuban cocktail with mint and lime — the one that everyone ordered everywhere back in the 2000s, which still makes bartenders shudder. And that's a shame: a well-made Mojito is a wonderful thing for a hot day, light and fragrant. The whole difference between 'well-made' and 'however it turns out' lies in how you handle the mint.
Ingredients
- White rum — 50 ml
- Lime juice — 30 ml
- Simple syrup — 20 ml
- Mint — 8-10 leaves
- Soda — 60 ml
How to make
- Place the mint leaves in the glass and gently muddle them with a muddler.
- Add lime juice and simple syrup.
- Fill the glass with crushed ice.
- Pour in the white rum.
- Top it off with soda and gently stir.
- Garnish with a sprig of mint and a lime wedge.
Tip: the mint is just lightly pressed, not mashed into a paste — torn leaves release the bitterness of chlorophyll, and instead of freshness, you get the taste of grass. A couple of presses with the muddler is enough for the leaves to release their oils.
7. Whiskey Sour
A classic sour cocktail based on whiskey and a key representative of a whole family of sours. Bourbon, lemon, and syrup on their own make a great drink, but the egg white turns it into velvet: a dense silky foam, a smooth texture, a beautiful cap that holds the garnish. Sounds suspicious, tastes impeccable.
Ingredients
- Bourbon — 50 ml
- Lemon juice — 25 ml
- Simple syrup — 15 ml
- Egg white — 1 pc. (optional)
How to make
- First, do a dry shake (without ice) with the egg white — 10 seconds.
- Add ice and shake for another 15 seconds.
- Strain into an old fashioned glass with fresh ice.
- Garnish with a slice of orange and a cherry.
Tip: A dry shake isn't just a formality: without it, the egg white won't whip into a foam because the cold prevents it from coming together. First, we shake warm, then with ice — that's the order.
8. Manhattan
A bourbon-based cocktail with sweet vermouth and bitters, perfectly balanced for strong drink lovers — and perhaps the most elegant way to serve whiskey. Named after a New York neighborhood, it embodies its spirit: a dark suit, early evening, no fuss. If the Old Fashioned is whiskey in a bathrobe, then the Manhattan is whiskey in a tuxedo.
Ingredients
- Bourbon — 75 ml
- Sweet vermouth — 22.5 ml
- Angostura bitters — 1 dash
- Ice — 2-3 cubes
- Maraschino cherry — 1 piece
- Orange peel — 1 twist
How to make
- Fill a mixing glass with ice.
- Add bourbon and sweet vermouth.
- Add a dash of Angostura bitters.
- Stir with a bar spoon until chilled.
- Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
- Garnish with a maraschino cherry and an orange twist, serve immediately.
Tip: store opened vermouth in the fridge — it's wine, not a spirit, and it oxidizes in a month on the shelf at room temperature. Tired vermouth is the most common reason for a 'flat' Manhattan.
9. Cosmopolitan
An elegant cocktail with vodka and cranberry, which 'Sex and the City' gave such advertising to that other drinks can only dream of. Behind the pink color, it's easy to overlook the main point: this is a well-balanced, not at all cloying sweet-and-sour cocktail, a close relative of the Margarita — only made with vodka and cranberry juice. A great option when you want something bright, but without the syrupy heaviness.
Ingredients
- Vodka — 40 ml
- Triple Sec — 20 ml
- Cranberry juice — 30 ml
- Lime juice — 15 ml
How to make
- In a shaker with ice, add all the ingredients.
- Shake vigorously for 10-15 seconds.
- Strain into a chilled martini glass.
- Garnish with a lime wedge.
Tip: Use unsweetened cranberry juice or at least not a nectar — the sweetness in the recipe is already provided by the triple sec, and sugary juice will throw the balance into a punch. The glass, like for any cocktail 'without ice', should only be chilled.
10. Espresso Martini
A coffee cocktail with vodka and liqueur — the youngest in this selection and, judging by bar menus, the most in demand today. It was invented by London bartender Dick Bradsell in the eighties, and since then it’s been the go-to answer for the eternal request for 'something refreshing but adult'. A proper Espresso Martini is instantly recognizable: a thick creamy foam and three coffee beans on top.
Ingredients
- Vodka — 50 ml
- Kahlúa — 25 ml
- Simple syrup — 10 ml
- Espresso — 1 serving (30 ml)
How to prepare
- Brew a serving of espresso and let it cool slightly.
- In a shaker with ice, add vodka, Kahlúa, syrup, and espresso.
- Shake vigorously for 15 seconds.
- Strain into a chilled martini glass.
- Garnish with three coffee beans.
Tip: the espresso needs to be freshly brewed — the foam comes from the coffee oils, and instant coffee won't give you that. Shake longer and harder than usual: hot coffee melts the ice, so be generous with the ice in the shaker.
Ten recipes — it's not the finish line, it's multiplication tables: once you master them, you'll start to see the structure of almost any cocktail on the menu. It gets more interesting — every classic has dozens of variations and relatives, and comparing them is way more fun than it seems.
All cocktails in this category →
Mark the bottles on your shelf — the site will show you what you can mix right now →