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Classic Cocktails Everyone Should Know How to Make

These cocktails have stayed popular for decades because they are simple, balanced, and easy to make well at home with a short ingredient list.

Old Fashioned

Whiskey (typically bourbon or rye), a sugar cube or simple syrup, a few dashes of bitters, and a twist of orange peel, stirred with ice rather than shaken. One of the oldest cocktail formats still in common use.

Martini

Gin or vodka combined with a small amount of dry vermouth, stirred with ice and strained into a chilled glass, garnished with an olive or a lemon twist. The gin-to-vermouth ratio is a matter of strong personal preference and long-running debate.

Margarita

Tequila, orange liqueur, and fresh lime juice, shaken with ice and often served in a salt-rimmed glass. One of the most ordered cocktails in the US, commonly served either straight up, on the rocks, or blended with ice.

Mojito

White rum, fresh lime juice, sugar, mint leaves, and soda water, built in the glass and lightly muddled to release the mint's oils without shredding the leaves. Known for its refreshing, low-sweetness profile.

Negroni

Equal parts gin, sweet vermouth, and a bitter red aperitif liqueur, stirred with ice and garnished with an orange peel. Distinctly bitter compared to most classic cocktails, which makes it divisive but beloved among those who like it.

Moscow Mule

Vodka, fresh lime juice, and ginger beer (not ginger ale, which is milder and sweeter), traditionally served in a copper mug that keeps the drink cold longer. The ginger beer supplies most of the flavor and all of the fizz.

Stirred vs. shaken is not just style

Cocktails made entirely of spirits, like a Martini or an Old Fashioned, are typically stirred to chill and dilute them gently without adding excess air or ice fragments. Cocktails containing citrus juice or other non-alcoholic mixers, like a Margarita, are shaken to combine and chill them thoroughly, since shaking integrates those ingredients better than stirring can.

Quality ingredients matter more than exotic equipment

None of these drinks require specialty bar tools beyond a shaker, a jigger for measuring, and ice. Using fresh citrus juice instead of bottled, and a spirit you would actually want to drink on its own, generally improves the result far more than any gadget would.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can these be made without alcohol?

Non-alcoholic spirit alternatives now exist for gin, whiskey, and rum styles, and several of these drinks (particularly the Mojito and Moscow Mule) can also be reasonably approximated using their non-alcoholic mixers alone, minus the spirit.

What is the one tool worth buying if I only get one?

A jigger (a small double-sided measuring cup) is generally considered the highest-impact purchase, since accurate measuring is what keeps a cocktail balanced rather than too strong, too sweet, or too diluted.