New classics: 7 cocktails of the 21st century that have already made history
Material 18+. Excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to your health.
Updated
It seems like all cocktail classics were invented a hundred years ago by people in vests, and we’re left to just repeat them. That’s not true: right now, in our lifetime, recipes are being born that bars around the world are adding to their menus alongside Negronis and Manhattans. They already have their legends, their authors with names, and their armies of fans — it’s just that their stories are still being told by bartenders, not textbooks.
The new classics have a common handwriting. First, agave: tequila and mezcal have come a long way in twenty years from shots with salt to the main spirits on the bar scene. Second, honesty: less sugar, more fresh and bitter notes, no secret mixes — all recipes are open, and the authors take pride when they’re repeated. Third, simplicity: almost everything on this list has three or four ingredients, easily found at home.
Seven modern recipes from the catalog 24cocktails.com — from Tommy's Margarita to the smoky Oaxaca Old Fashioned. I’m giving the proportions and steps exactly as they are written in the recipes on the site. In twenty years, you’ll be telling people you drank them 'back then.'
1. Tommy's Margarita
The most influential tweak to the classic in recent decades: at the family restaurant Tommy's in San Francisco, they removed the orange liqueur from the margarita and replaced it with agave syrup. The logic is brilliant: agave highlights agave, and tequila finally sang in the cocktail in full voice. Today, 'Tommy' is the standard: in many bars, when you say 'margarita,' they’ll make you this one. Softer, peachier, and more honest than the original.
Ingredients
- Patrón Reposado Tequila — 60 ml
- Freshly squeezed lime juice — 30 ml
- Agave syrup — 15 ml
- Margarita bitters — a couple of dashes (optional)
How to make
- Shake all the ingredients in a shaker with ice.
- Strain into a chilled glass.
Tip: agave syrup is sold in health food sections; go for the dark one — it has a caramel depth. A salt rim is optional here, but a pinch of salt right in the shaker is a trick worth trying: salt ties together lime and tequila without the crunch on your lips.
2. Oaxaca Old-Fashioned
The calling card of the New York bar scene of the 2000s: the classic Old Fashioned formula, where whiskey has made way for agave. Reposado tequila gives body, a spoonful of mezcal adds smoke, agave syrup brings sweetness, and chocolate bitters add depth. The final trick — orange peel, whose oil is expressed through the flame of a lighter: a flash for a split second, and the aroma of a campfire and orange peel hangs over the glass. A show worth being proud of.
Ingredients
- Patrón Reposado Tequila — 45 ml
- Del Maguey VIDA Mezcal — 15 ml
- Agave syrup — 7.5 ml
- Bob's chocolate bitters — 4 dashes
How to prepare
- Pour the tequila into an old-fashioned glass with three ice cubes and stir.
- Add the remaining ingredients, throw in more ice, and stir again.
- Add even more ice and stir for a third time.
- Squeeze the oil from the orange peel over the glass (you can do this with a lighter) and place the peel in the glass.
Tip: three rounds with ice is a controlled dilution, a signature technique of the recipe: ten seconds for each step. Fire is just for aroma, not a show: the sparks from the oil ignite on their own, you don’t need to bring the peel too close to the flame. If you don’t have chocolate bitters — Angostura will give you a slightly different, but still correct drink.
3. Penicillin
Probably the most famous cocktail invented this century: Sam Ross put it together at New York's Milk & Honey in the mid-2000s, and in twenty years, this 'medicine' has spread across bar menus worldwide. Soft Scotch, lemon, honey, and ginger — topped with a splash of smoky Islay whisky, so each sip starts with the scent of peat and ends with honey. The name is honest: it doesn’t cure a cold, but it reliably lifts a bad mood.
Ingredients
- Blended Scotch — 60 ml (2 oz)
- Lemon juice — 22.5 ml (3/4 oz)
- Honey syrup — 10 ml (2 tsp)
- Ginger syrup — 10 ml (2 tsp)
- Smoky single malt Scotch (Islay) — 7 ml (1/4 oz)
How to make
- In a shaker, combine blended Scotch, lemon juice, honey syrup, and ginger syrup with ice.
- Shake well.
- Strain into a chilled old-fashioned glass with large ice.
- Top with smoky Scotch.
- Garnish with candied ginger.
Tip: You can easily make ginger syrup at home: equal parts grated ginger, sugar, and water, simmer for ten minutes, then strain. Don't stir the smoky whiskey — it should remain a film on top: that's the whole idea behind the two-layered aroma.
4. White Negroni
It was born in 2001 in France when London bartender Wayne Collins found himself short on Campari and vermouth — so he reassembled the Negroni with local ingredients: he took the bitterness from the gentian liqueur Suze, and the softness from Lillet Blanc. The result was a ghost of the classic: straw-gold, with bitterness that’s not orange, but rooty, herbal, and a dry floral finish. Today, the White Negroni is a must-try for anyone who has already memorized the classic.
Ingredients
- Dry gin Rutte — 30 ml
- Suze liqueur with gentian — 30 ml
- Lillet Blanc (or another aromatized wine) — 30 ml
How to prepare
- Pour all the ingredients into a glass with ice.
- Stir.
- Serve garnished with pink grapefruit zest.
Tip: Suze is a bitterness of a different kind than Campari: earthy, rooty; the first sips are unusual, but by the third, you're hooked. The grapefruit zest is no accident — its oil connects the gentian with gin. Keep both Suze and Lillet in the fridge after opening.
5. Mezcal Negroni
The second modern branch of the Negroni tree: gin leaves, mezcal enters — and the Milanese aperitif moves to Oaxaca. The smoke of mezcal with the bitterness of red bitter turned out to be a pairing that seemed preordained: a smoky, spicy, deep cocktail that you sip slowly and silently. Of all the 'new Negronis', this one is the most distinctive: you'll either love it from the first sip or understand it after a year. Both options are correct.
Ingredients
- Del Maguey Vida Mezcal — 30 ml
- Italian red bitter — 30 ml
- Sweet vermouth Martini Rosso — 30 ml
How to prepare
- Pour all the ingredients into a glass with ice.
- Stir.
- Garnish with orange peel and/or an olive.
Tip: For mezcal, go for joven (young) espadín — it's the friendliest in price and flavor for mixing. Orange peel is a must, the olive is a bold choice for round two: the salty note is surprisingly fitting. One large ice cube is better than a handful of small ones.
6. Hugo
Proof that the new classic isn't just strong and smoky: Hugo was invented in 2005 by bartender Roland Gruber from South Tyrol, and the light spritz with elderflower liqueur has taken over terraces all over Europe in twenty years. Prosecco, floral St-Germain, soda, mint, and lime — an alpine morning in a glass. It's one of those cases where the drink is younger than its fans: many are convinced that Hugo 'has always been here.'
Ingredients
- Prosecco (sparkling wine) — 60 ml
- St-Germain elderflower liqueur — 20 ml
- Thomas Henry soda — 12.5 ml
How to make it
- Pour the ingredients into a glass with ice.
- Give it a brief stir.
- Garnish with a mint leaf and a lime wedge.
Tip: everything should be icy, use large ice cubes, and slap the mint between your palms instead of rubbing it. In summer, Hugo goes down by the bucket, so for a party, count on one bottle of prosecco for three people — tested on the terraces of Tyrol.
7. Ranch Water
A folk classic of modern times: Ranch Water wasn’t ‘invented’ in a bar with glass chandeliers — it’s been drunk for decades on ranches in West Texas, and then in the 2010s it suddenly became a phenomenon, making its way into cans at supermarkets and cocktail menus in big cities. Tequila, lots of lime, icy mineral water with a fierce fizz — that’s it. Our version is a bit richer, with Cointreau and agave, but the spirit is the same: honest thirst, honest answer.
Ingredients
- Tequila Blanco (100% agave) — 45 ml
- Freshly squeezed lime juice — 30 ml
- Cointreau triple sec liqueur — 15 ml
- Agave syrup — 15 ml
- Topo Chico sparkling mineral water — 90 ml
How to make
- Fill a highball glass with ice.
- Add the tequila, lime juice, Cointreau, and agave syrup.
- Stir and top with mineral water.
Tip: Mineral water is key: you need strong sparkling and neutral, without any medicinal salts. The Texas way to serve it — 'take a sip from the bottle of mineral water and pour tequila with lime right into it' — works at home like a trick for guests, just make sure to squeeze the lime in advance.
Seven recipes that are less than thirty years old — and not one looks like an experiment: it’s all classic, just young. Start with the Tommy Margarita — it’ll explain why you’d even want to change what already worked; continue with the Penicillin and the White Negroni, and save the Oaxaca with fiery zest for an evening when you want some theater. The history of cocktails is being written right now — it’s nice to be a contemporary of it with a glass in hand.
All cocktails are in the catalog →
Mark the bottles on your shelf — the site will show you what you can mix right now →