The 5 Cocktails You Need to Know How to Make

It’s National Cocktail Day, but if you ask us—that’s every day. However in the spirit of true holiday cheer, here are the 5 essential cocktails you need to have in your arsenal.

Image: The Whisky Exchange

1. The Old-Fashioned

It was actually the first printed recipe for a cocktail. If you’ve already mastered the simple recipe then try these 10 new ways to make an Old-Fashioned.

2 oz bourbon
1 cube of raw sugar
Angostura bitters
1 orange peel
1 bourbon cherry
Big cube of ice

Place the sugar cube into the tumbler and add 6 to 8 dashes of Angostura bitters to it; let soak for a moment. Add a dash of bourbon then muddle sugar and bitters until they’re dissolved. Add ice, then pour the bourbon over top. Using a spoon, stir the cocktail until the sugar is well mixed. Flame an orange into the drink. Garnish with bourbon cherry and serve.

Image: Factory Two Four

2. The Manhattan

The Manhattan is rumored to have been invented at the Manhattan Club, a social club on Fifth Avenue that dissolved around 1979, by Dr. Iain Marshall during a banquet held for Winston Churchill’s mother. The drink came about shortly after sweet vermouth arrived in the United States.

3 oz Bourbon
1.5 oz Vermouth
6 dashes Angostura Bitters

Add all the ingredients to a large old fashioned glass filled with ice and stir.

Image: 1806

3. Tom Collins

Created in the late 1800s, the Tom Collins is said to be named after a wide-spread practical joke that swept the country.

1 1/2 cups ice
2 fluid ounces gin
3/4 fluid ounce lemon juice
1/2 fluid ounce simple
1 cup ice
2 fluid ounces club soda
1 lemon wedge

Fill a Collins glass with 1 1/2 cups ice, set aside in the freezer. Combine gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker. Add 1 cup ice, cover and shake until chilled. Strain into the chilled Collins glass. Top with club soda and garnish with a lemon wedge.

4. Martini

Since Hemingway announced, “I’ve never tasted anything so cool and clean…They make me feel civilized,” this gin-based cocktail became an iconic staple. To make this into a dirty martini, add a splash of olive brine from the jar and garnish with a green olive.

2 ounces gin
1 ounce dry vermouth
Ice
Lemon twist, for garnish
Green olive (optional)

Place a martini glass in the freezer to chill, 10 minutes or longer. Measure the gin and vermouth into a mixing glass. Add ice and stir until chilled, about 30 seconds. Strain into the chilled martini glass. Rub the rim of the glass with the lemon twist, drop it into the martini, and serve.

Image: The Bar

5. Cosmopolitan

The Cosmopolitan has been around since 1960, but changed names and consistency throughout the years. It wasn’t until Sex and the City mentioned it as a signature cocktail for the show-runners that it became a true household name. Thanks SJP.

1 oz vodka
1/2 oz triple sec
1/2 oz Rose’s® lime juice
1/2 oz cranberry juice

Shake vodka, triple sec, lime and cranberry juice vigorously in a shaker with ice. Strain into a martini glass, garnish with a lime wedge on the rim, and serve.