Shots and cheap beer may be the alcohol preference for most partygoing college students, but a well-made cocktail offers an elevated, delicious drinking experience that shouldn’t be overlooked. If it’s a more costly price tag that’s keeping you away, don’t fret — many cocktails are easy and fun to make at home. Just acquire some basic ingredients, master a few staples and you can easily become your own bartender! There are so many families of cocktails to explore and varieties of recipes to try — and where better to start than with these tried and true classics?
Tom Collins
The Tom Collins is a popular, gin-based cocktail. Bubbly, refreshing and boasting a sweet and sour flavor, there’s a reason this drink is a beloved classic. The first Tom Collins recipe was published in 1876, and it allegedly derives its name from a London waiter. The cocktail is often elegantly served in a tall highball glass, fittingly referred to as a Collins glass.
Ingredients:
2 ounces dry gin
¾ to 1 ounce simple syrup
1 ounce lemon juice
4 ounces (½ cup) soda water
Ice
For the garnish: maraschino cherry, lemon wheel
Instructions:
Add the gin, syrup and lemon juice to a cocktail shaker with 4 ice cubes. Shake well until chilled.
Strain the liquid into an ice-filled glass, and top off the glass with soda water. Garnish with a lemon wheel and cocktail cherry.
Moscow Mule
When it comes to vodka cocktails, you can’t go wrong with a Moscow mule! This easy-to-make, delicious drink was conceived in the 1940s and is still a favorite today. The drink consists of only three ingredients — vodka, ginger beer and lime juice. If you’ve ever ordered a Moscow mule, you may have noticed that it’s typically served in a copper mug or cup. This unique choice of vessel keeps everything icy cold, as the copper takes on the drink’s temperature. But if you’re not interested in tradition, any cup will do.
Ingredients:
2 ounces (¼ cup) vodka
½ ounce (1 tablespoon) of fresh lime juice
4 ounces (½ cup) ginger beer
For the garnish: lime wheel or wedge, fresh mint (if desired)
Instructions:
Pour the vodka, lime juice and ginger beer into a copper mug.
Add ice and garnish with a lime slice. Serve immediately.
Old Fashioned
It doesn’t get more classic than an Old Fashioned. It was the first cocktail ever made, back in the early 1800s. While mixed drinks have gotten a lot more popular and complex since then, the Old Fashioned remains a timeless favorite.
Ingredients:
1 sugar cube (1 teaspoon sugar)
4 dashes of Angostura bitters
½ teaspoon water
2 ounces (4 tablespoons) bourbon or rye whiskey
Orange peel
Cocktail cherry, for garnish (optional)
Large clear ice cube, for serving
Instructions:
Place the sugar cube in a lowball glass and add the bitters. Add the water and mash and swirl the sugar cube with a muddler or wooden spoon until the sugar is mostly dissolved.
Add the whiskey and swirl to combine. Add a large ice cube.
Use a knife to remove a 1 inch wide strip of the orange peel. Squeeze the orange peel into the drink to release the oils. Gently run the peel around the edge of the glass, then place it in the glass. If desired, garnish with a cocktail cherry for additional sweetness.
Mojito
Minty and refreshing, the mojito is one of the most delicious cocktails out there. Just ask Ernest Hemmingway, who allegedly was a big fan of the drink, although it existed long before he popularized it. Mojitos were invented in Havana, Cuba, and while its specific origins remain unclear, it may have begun as a medicinal drink. Along with classics like the margarita or whiskey sour, the mojito falls into the sour cocktail family — or mixed drinks made of liquor, citrus and sweetener.
Ingredients:
6 mint leaves, plus an additional for garnish
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) lime juice
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) simple syrup
2 ounces (4 tablespoons) white rum
2 to 4 ounces (½ cup) of soda water
Instructions:
In a cocktail shaker, muddle the mint leaves.
Add the lime juice, simple syrup and rum. Fill the cocktail shaker with ice and shake until cold.
Place ice into a glass, and strain in the liquid. Top off the glass with soda water. Garnish with additional mint leaves.
All recipes courtesy of A Couple Cooks.