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• 1 oz gin
• 1 oz dry vermouth
• 0.5 oz. Bénédictine
• 2 dashes orange bitters
• Garnish: lemon twist
2 oz rye whisky
0.75 oz Bénédictine
0.75 oz sweet vermouth
3 dashes absinthe
3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Garnish: 3 brandied cherries
Now that we’re all spending so much more time at home, this is a good opportunity to brush up on our home-bartending skills. That means learning at least a few recipes to serve to the people in your bubble and, eventually, all the many friends you’re making on Zoom.
The most important drink you should know how to make is the one you like best. That’s also the best advice for stocking your liquor cabinet, though for your sake I hope it’s something simple, like a highball, rather than, say, a Ramos Gin Fizz, which requires egg whites, orange blossom water and a seltzer bottle, among other things.
After that, it’s best to start with classics. They are, after all, classics for a reason—they taste good, and they work—but they are also a good place to start experimenting if you want to get creative. Here are five drinks every home bartender should have in their repertoire.
• 1 sugar cube, preferably cane and brown
• 1 to 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• Splash of Cognac
• 3 oz Champagne or sparkling wine
• Garnish: lemon zest (optional)
• 2 oz Campari
• 1.5 to 2 oz dry white wine, preferably Italian
• Soda water
• Garnish: citrus slice (optional)
• 2.5 oz gin or vodka
• 0.5 oz dry vermouth
• Garnish: 2 cocktail onions, skewered
• 2 oz blanco tequila
• 1 oz orange liqueur such as Cointreau
• 1 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
• Garnish: Salted rim, optional lime wedge
• 1 sugar cube
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 1.5 oz bourbon or rye whisky
• Garnish: cocktail cherry, orange slice (optional)
Plenty a tall tale has crossed the polished oak; after all, bartenders like to dish out lively anecdotes along with the gin and spiced nuts. But when it comes to boozy myths, legends, outright lies and wholesale whoppers, “more cling to the Martini than any other cocktail.”
So writes Robert Simonson in his IACP-nominated book The Martini Cocktail (Ten Speed Press). He is fascinated by the outsize role the Martini has played in popular culture ever since its invention in 1849, or maybe it was the 1880s, or possibly 1906, who knows?
• 1.5 oz Plymouth gin
• 1.5 oz dry vermouth, preferably Noilly Prat
• 2 dashes orange bitters
• 2 dashes maraschino liqueur
• 2 dashes absinthe
• Garnish: olive