8 Classic Cocktails You Can Make At Home

August 16, 2018

Splurging on a glass of cocktail can hurt your wallet (or purse) in the long run, especially if you frequent bars or pubs. But there’s always a better alternative: mix your own drinks at home! Here are 8 classic cocktails in alphabetical order that you can learn to concoct with a cocktail shaker.

1) Bloody Mary

What makes the Bloody Mary “bloody”? Two words: tomato juice. Here’s how you make them:

i) Add 4-5 dashes of hot sauce (Tabasco works the best!)

ii) Add a pinch of black pepper and salt.

iii) Add 2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrins)

iv) Pour 44 ml of vodka.

v) Add 59 ml of tomato juice.

vi) Add some ice and garnish with a stalk of celery.

2) Cosmopolitan

Cosmopolitan is a traditional cocktail that stretches way back to the 1930s. But it gained a newfound popularity in the late 1990s, thanks to Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw in HBO’s Sex and the City. Here’s how you make them:

i) Pour 59 ml of vodka.

ii) Add 14 ml of triple sec or Cointreau.

iii) Add 22 ml of cranberry juice.

iv) Add 7 ml of freshly-squeezed lime juice.

v) Add ice and shake the mixture with a cocktail shaker.

vi) Strain into a martini glass and garnish with lemon or lime twist/wedge.

3) Manhattan

Manhattan is a versatile, old-fashioned cocktail that can be concocted with various types of whisky. Here’s how you make them:

i) Pour 59 ml of whisky (rye is traditionally the best, even though you can opt for bourbon or Canadian whisky) in a glass pitcher.

ii) Add 29 ml of sweet vermouth and 2 dashes of Angostura bitters.

iii) Add ice and stir the mixture together.

iv) Strain into a coupe glass and garnish with a brandied dark cherry.

4) Margarita

This tequila-based cocktail needs no introduction. It’s a zesty alcoholic drink primarily concocted with citrus ingredients including lime and orange. Here’s how you make them:

i) Pour 59 ml of Blanco or silver tequila.

ii) Add 29 ml of Cointreau a.k.a. orange liqueur or triple sec.

iii) Add 44 ml of agave syrup.

iv) Add 29 ml of freshly-squeezed lime juice.

v) Add ice and shake them altogether in a cocktail shaker.

vi) Strain the mixture into a glass with coarse salt around the rim.

vii) Garnish the top with a lime wedge.

5) Martini

Martini is a classic cocktail synonymous with James Bond. After all, it’s the 007 agent’s favourite “shaken, not stirred” drink that has been widely recognised in popular culture for decades. Here’s how you make them:

i) Pour 73 ml of gin or vodka (Bond’s preferred choice)

ii) Pour 14 ml of dry vermouth.

iii) Add ice and shake the mixture in a cocktail shaker.

iv) Strain into a cocktail glass and drop a pitted green olive.

6) Mojito

One word, refreshing. Here’s how you concoct this classic Cuban cocktail at home*:

* No shaking is needed since a mojito is meant to be made directly in a glass.

i) Place a sprig of fresh mint leaves into a glass.

ii) Add 29 ml of lime juice and use a muddler (a pestle-like tool specially designed for cocktails) to mash them along with the mint leaves together. This is to help release the flavour.

iii) Add 29 ml of sugar syrup and pour white rum.

iv) Fill the glass with enough ice and stir them.

v) Finally, garnish the top of the glass with fresh mint and add one or two lime wedges.