MIXOLOGY · 50 RECIPES

Fifty recipes, one guide at a time.

Base spirit, IBA status, era — from canonical bartender literature.

Tournament · CocktailsTake the Cocktails World Cup

Recipes

Classic, modern, spirit-led — every drink with citations.

A bottle of Lysholm Linie aquavit, a barrel-aged Norwegian aquavit

Aquavit

Scandinavian spirit flavoured with caraway or dill — produced in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.

Base
aquavit
Status
—
An Aviation cocktail — gin, maraschino, crème de violette, and lemon juice in a coupe glass

Aviation

Gin, maraschino, crème de violette, and lemon — a violet-hued pre-Prohibition gin sour from 1916.

Base
london dry gin
Status
IBA Official
A Bloody Mary cocktail with celery stalk garnish

Bloody Mary

Vodka, tomato juice, lemon, Worcestershire, and spices — a savoury brunch cocktail from 1920s Paris.

Base
vodka
Status
IBA Official
A bottle of American bourbon-style whiskey

Bourbon Whiskey

American corn-forward whiskey aged in new charred oak — defined by US federal law since 1964.

Base
bourbon
Status
—
A Bramble cocktail with blackberry liqueur float and garnish

Bramble

Gin, lemon, sugar, and crème de mûre over crushed ice — Dick Bradsell's 1984 London modern classic.

Base
london dry gin
Status
—
A tulip-shaped glass of cognac, a grape brandy used as a cocktail base spirit

Brandy and Cognac

Cognac: double pot-still distilled wine from Charentes, France — classified VS, VSOP, and XO by age.

Base
cognac
Status
—
Caipirinha cocktail in a low glass with lime and cane sugar

Caipirinha

Cachaça, lime, and sugar muddled in the glass — Brazil's national cocktail built over crushed ice.

Base
cachaca
Status
IBA Official
A Cosmopolitan cocktail — vodka, triple sec, cranberry juice, and lime in a martini glass

Cosmopolitan

Citrus vodka, Cointreau, cranberry, and lime — a pink New York cocktail popularised in the 1990s.

Base
citrus vodka
Status
IBA Official
A gin and lime cocktail — the base of the Gimlet and Cucumber Gimlet

Cucumber Gimlet

Gin, fresh lime juice, simple syrup, and muddled cucumber — a modern fresh-botanical variation on the classic Gimlet.

Base
gin
Status
—
A classic Daiquiri in a chilled cocktail glass

Daiquiri

White rum, lime juice, and sugar — a Cuban formula from 1898 and template for the sour family.

Base
white rum
Status
IBA Official
An Espresso Martini cocktail with coffee bean garnish

Espresso Martini

Vodka, fresh espresso, coffee liqueur, and sugar — Dick Bradsell's 1983 London cocktail.

Base
vodka
Status
—
A gin and tonic with a wedge of lime, the classic showcase for gin as a base spirit

Gin

A neutral grain spirit redistilled with juniper botanicals — defined by juniper dominance under EU law.

Base
gin
Status
—
A Gin and Tonic cocktail with lime and tonic water

Gin and Tonic

Gin and tonic water over ice — a highball from British India as a quinine delivery method.

Base
gin
Status
—
An Italian-style aperitivo spritz cocktail

Italian Aperitivo

The Italian pre-meal drinking ritual with bitter aperitivos and small food — from 19th-century Turin.

Base
—
Status
—
A Jungle Bird cocktail of dark rum, Campari, pineapple and lime served over crushed ice

Jungle Bird

Dark rum, Campari, pineapple, lime, and sugar — a 1978 Kuala Lumpur hotel cocktail rediscovered in 2007.

Base
dark rum
Status
—
A Last Word cocktail — equal parts gin, green Chartreuse, maraschino, and lime

Last Word

Equal parts gin, green Chartreuse, maraschino, and lime — Prohibition-era formula from Detroit c. 1916.

Base
gin
Status
IBA Official
A Mai Tai tiki cocktail with tropical fruit garnish

Mai Tai

Aged rum, orange curaçao, lime, and orgeat — the defining Tiki cocktail created by Trader Vic in 1944.

Base
aged jamaican rum
Status
IBA Official
A Manhattan cocktail in a coupe glass

Manhattan

Rye or bourbon, sweet vermouth, and Angostura bitters — a stirred New York cocktail documented from the 1880s.

Base
rye whiskey
Status
IBA Official
A Margarita cocktail in a salt-rimmed glass

Margarita

Tequila, triple sec, and lime in a salt-rimmed glass — a Mexican-American cocktail from the 1930s–40s.

Base
tequila
Status
IBA Official
A dry martini in a V-shaped martini glass with olive garnish

Martini

Gin and dry vermouth — a stirred cocktail evolving from the 1880s Martinez toward increasing dryness.

Base
gin
Status
IBA Official
Mezcal poured in a traditional clay copita in Oaxaca, Mexico

Mezcal

A Mexican spirit from pit-roasted agave, covering dozens of wild and cultivated species — DO since 1994.

Base
mezcal
Status
—
A Mojito cocktail with mint, lime, and crushed ice

Mojito

White rum, lime juice, sugar, mint, and soda water — a Cuban highball with documented roots in 19th-century Havana.

Base
white rum
Status
IBA Official
A Naked and Famous, an equal-parts modern cocktail of mezcal, yellow Chartreuse, Aperol and lime

Naked and Famous

Equal parts mezcal, yellow Chartreuse, Aperol, and lime juice — a 2011 modern equal-parts cocktail by Joaquín Simó.

Base
mezcal
Status
—
A Negroni cocktail with orange peel garnish

Negroni

Gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth in equal parts — an Italian aperitivo cocktail documented from 1919 Florence.

Base
gin
Status
IBA Official
An Old Fashioned style cocktail in a rocks glass

Old Fashioned

Whiskey, sugar, Angostura bitters, and citrus peel — the earliest documented American cocktail formula.

Base
bourbon
Status
IBA Official

Paper Plane

Equal parts bourbon, Aperol, Amaro Nonino, and lemon — a 2007 equal-parts modern classic by Sam Ross.

Base
bourbon
Status
—
A Penicillin, a modern Scotch whisky cocktail with honey-ginger syrup and a smoky Islay float

Penicillin

Blended Scotch, lemon, honey-ginger syrup, and a peated Scotch float — created by Sam Ross in 2005.

Base
blended scotch
Status
—
A Pisco Sour being prepared with egg white foam

Pisco Sour

Pisco brandy, lime juice, sugar, and egg white — Peru's national cocktail created by Victor Morris in 1920s Lima.

Base
pisco
Status
IBA Official
A glass of rum from Réunion, rum being a sugarcane-based cocktail base spirit

Rum

A distilled spirit from sugarcane juice or molasses — Caribbean origin, classified by colour and ageing.

Base
rum
Status
—
A Sazerac of rye whiskey with an absinthe rinse and Peychaud's bitters in a chilled glass

Sazerac

Rye whiskey, Peychaud's bitters, absinthe rinse, and sugar — New Orleans' official cocktail, documented from the 1850s.

Base
rye whiskey
Status
—
Singapore Sling cocktail ingredients including gin, cherry brandy, and Bénédictine

Singapore Sling

Gin, Cherry Heering, Cointreau, Bénédictine, pineapple, lime, and bitters — Raffles Hotel, c. 1915.

Base
gin
Status
IBA Official
Prohibition-era agents pouring confiscated liquor into a sewer in New York during the speakeasy era

Speakeasy Era

American Prohibition (1920–1933) and the underground bar culture that reshaped the cocktail world.

Base
—
Status
—
Harvested blue agave hearts (piñas) used to produce tequila, Jalisco, Mexico

Tequila

A Mexican spirit distilled from blue agave (Agave tequilana Weber) — Denominación de Origen since 1974.

Base
tequila
Status
—
A decorative ceramic tiki mug, emblematic of the mid-century tiki cocktail movement

Tiki Movement

American Polynesian-themed bar culture from 1934 — rum cocktails, tiki décor, and post-Prohibition escapism.

Base
—
Status
—
A Tom Collins cocktail in a tall Collins glass

Tom Collins

Old Tom gin, lemon juice, sugar, and soda water — an American highball documented in Jerry Thomas's 1876 revised guide.

Base
old tom gin
Status
IBA Official
A Tommy's Margarita of tequila, fresh lime and agave syrup served on the rocks

Tommy's Margarita

100% agave tequila, lime, and agave nectar — Julio Bermejo's 1990s agave-purist Margarita, now IBA-listed.

Base
100 percent agave tequila
Status
IBA Official
A bottle of Angostura aromatic bitters — the primary ingredient of the Trinidad Sour

Trinidad Sour

Angostura bitters as the primary spirit, rye, orgeat, and lemon — a 2009 cocktail that inverts convention.

Base
angostura bitters
Status
—
A small glass of vodka, a neutral grain or potato spirit used as a cocktail base

Vodka

A neutral spirit from grain or potatoes distilled to high proof — documented from 14th-century Eastern Europe.

Base
vodka
Status
—
A Whiskey Sour in a coupe glass with cherry and orange garnish

Whiskey Sour

Bourbon, lemon juice, and sugar — the American sour formula documented in Jerry Thomas's 1862 guide.

Base
bourbon
Status
IBA Official

Tools

Bar gear that earns its drawer.

A wooden bar muddler used to press fruit and herbs when building a cocktail

Bar Muddler

A pestle-like tool for pressing herbs, citrus, and sugar — essential for Mojito and Caipirinha.

Base
—
Status
—
A Boston cocktail shaker and bar tools

Boston Shaker

Two-piece metal tin and pint glass — the professional shaker standard for fast, large-batch service.

Base
—
Status
—
A Hawthorne strainer — the spring-coil bar tool for straining shaken cocktails

Hawthorne Strainer

A coiled-spring metal strainer seating on shaker or mixing glass — patented in Boston, 1892.

Base
—
Status
—
A bartender measuring a spirit with a double-sided jigger bar tool

Jigger

A double-ended measuring vessel — the foundational bar measurement tool documented since the 19th century.

Base
—
Status
—
A bartender stirring a cocktail in a mixing glass with a bar spoon

Mixing Glass

A heavy glass vessel for stirring cocktails — designed for thermal stability and straining.

Base
—
Status
—

Techniques

How a drink gets built.

Piña coladas being blended in a home kitchen blender, illustrating the blending mixing technique

Blending

Electric blender mixing with ice — the technique for frozen Daiquiris and tropical cocktails since the 1930s.

Base
—
Status
—
A Cuba Libre highball built directly in the glass over ice, an example of the building technique

Building

Constructing a cocktail directly in the serving glass — used for highballs and carbonated long drinks.

Base
—
Status
—
Mint and fruit being muddled in a glass to release flavour for a cocktail

Muddling

Pressing herbs, citrus, or sugar to release juices and aromatic oils — technique for Mojito and Caipirinha.

Base
—
Status
—
A cocktail strainer — bar equipment used after shaking

Shaking

Rapid agitation with ice — the technique for sours and any recipe containing citrus, cream, or egg.

Base
—
Status
—
A cocktail finished with aromatic smoke under a glass cloche, illustrating the smoking technique

Smoking

Adding wood smoke aromatics to cocktails using chips or herbs — a craft bar technique from the 2000s.

Base
—
Status
—
A cocktail being stirred with a bar spoon in a mixing glass

Stirring

Rotating ice and liquid in a mixing glass to chill and dilute without aeration or cloudiness.

Base
—
Status
—