Mixology.
At-home bartending.
Potions 101.
Whatever you call it, you don’t need expensive classes or years of experience behind a bar to perfect the art and science of making a good cocktail. All you need is quality ingredients, practice and a few pro tips to make your DIY cocktails sing.
In this handy guide, we’re going to show you how to upgrade your cocktail game by stocking your bar cart with the essentials and mixing techniques used by the masters of mixology.
Grab a cocktail shaker and a bar spoon. Class is officially in session.
If there’s one cocktail every host worth their salt should know how to make at home, it’s a good dry martini. For such a simple drink, it probably comes with the most questions of any other cocktail: Shaken or stirred? Gin or vodka? Dirty or dry? Olive or lemon twist?
To start, you should shake your martini if you want it slightly diluted and stir it if you want it smooth and spirit-forward. When you shake a cocktail with ice, the ice melts slightly and blends with the rest of the ingredients, taking the edge off the cocktail and making the liquid frosty cold. On the other hand, stirring a cocktail focuses more on cooling the liquid instead of diluting the spirit with a touch of water. Whether you like it shaken like Mr. Bond or stirred, go with what you like best!
The same goes for choosing gin or vodka for your martini. Gin will give the cocktail a more botanical taste, while vodka will keep it unflavored and straightforward. If you’re a visual learner, check out how to make a perfect dry gin martini below.
The Recipe
2 ½ ounces Balfour Street Gin or 1941 Craft Vodka
½ ounce Martini Dry Vermouth
Olives or lemon peel
Combine gin or vodka and dry vermouth into a mixing glass filled with ice. Gently stir, then strain mixture into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a lemon peel or a skewer of olives.
A delicious margarita isn’t just a cocktail; it’s a way of life. And it couldn’t be simpler to make a good one at home. As long as you’re using fresh ingredients and 100% Blue Agave tequila, it’s almost impossible to mess this one up.
Pro tip: Add a splash of triple sec to your margarita for extra depth, balancing the tartness of the lime with a little sweetness.
Want to learn how to make the perfect margarita catered to your palate? Click here to meet your ideal margarita recipe, whether you like ‘em sweet, sour, creamy or spicy.
The Recipe
2 ounces tequila
1 ounce Charles Regnier Triple Sec
1 ounce lime juice
Rim glass with lime wedge and roll in coarse salt. In a shaker with ice, add tequila, triple sec and lime juice. Shake and strain into the prepared glass. Garnish with lime wedge.
This is another cocktail that’s almost impossible to botch, but always impresses. Swap the typical mimosas for a fresh peach bellini at your next brunch get-together to wow your guests.
You can even make the peach puree from scratch to really knock their socks off! Here’s how: Place 2-3 peaches in a pan of boiled water and allow them to sit for 40-60 seconds. Remove the peaches and immediately place them in an ice bath. After a minute or so, remove them from the ice water and peel the skin off. Slice them up and place the slices and ½ cup of Charles Regnier Peach Schnapps in a food processor, then blitz until smooth.
Voila! Fresh, delicious peach puree. If you like, you can experiment with adding some baking spices or other additions for flavor.
Add a couple spoonfuls of the puree to the bottom of a Champagne flute and top with your favorite sparkling wine for a juicy, tasty breakfast cocktail.
Pro tip: Whenever you’re making a cocktail with bubbles, whether it’s sparkling wine or a carbonated beverage, ALWAYS add the bubbles last. Any stirring or shaking will lead to a flat drink or a cocktail tin explosion. No bueno.
The Recipe
2 ounces fresh peach puree
4 ounces Octopoda Prosecco Brut DOC
Pour peach puree into a chilled flute. Add Prosecco and stir gently.
Pro tip: Gently slap the mint leaves before adding them to the shaker; don't muddle them. This releases the mint’s delicious oils without making the drink bitter or leafy. Always double strain when pouring to keep it smooth and refined, just like the rum.
The Recipe
1 ½ ounces El Dorado Rum 15 Year
¾ ounce fresh lime juice
¾ ounce simple syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
5–6 fresh mint leaves
2 ounces Haton Brut Classic Champagne
Add rum, lime juice, simple syrup, bitters and mint leaves to a shaker with ice. Shake and double strain into a chilled coupe glass. Top with Champagne and garnish with a mint leaf.
If the first thing that comes to your mind when we say “daiquiri” is one of those sugary, frozen drinks that fuels wild nights on Bourbon Street, we’re here to rebrand the daiquiri for you. When made simply with a delicious rum and freshly squeezed lime juice, this is one of the easiest and classiest cocktails you can make at home.
If you like flavored rums, this is the perfect cocktail recipe for letting that flavor shine. We recommend coconut rum! It’s bright, refreshing and not too sweet.
Pro tip: Use fresh lime juice; bottled just doesn’t cut it. Then, shake it hard with ice until the shaker frosts over. That extra chill helps balance the sweetness of the coconut and makes the drink crisp, not cloying.
The Recipe
2 ounces Palms Coconut Rum
1 ounce fresh lime juice
½ ounce simple syrup (adjust to taste)
Add rum, lime juice and simple syrup to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.
A classic G&T is one of the easiest cocktails to make at home, but still retains an air of elegance. If you're making one for a guest, consider swapping the traditional lime wedge garnish for something with a little more flair. Check out a few citrus peel garnish ideas below. These hacks will work for lemon, orange or lime peel garnishes!
Pro tip: A gin and tonic is one of those cocktails where temperature matters. Chill ALL your ingredients for the tastiest cocktail: the gin, the tonic, the glass and even the limes.
The Recipe:
1 ½ ounces Tanqueray London Dry Gin
Pour gin and tonic water or soda into a copa glass filled with ice. Stir gently to combine. Garnish with a lime wedge.
Another classic summertime cocktail is a whisky lemonade, especially if you’re using a delicious, flavored whisky like Crown Royal Blackberry. It’s tasty, simple and ideal for serving a crowd. Even if you’re only having a few friends over, trust us: mixing more than one or two cocktails at a time can get overwhelming.
Pro tip: Sometimes simple is best. If you're hosting a crowd, keep cocktail assembly easy peasy! To batch prepare this cocktail, just multiply the ingredients by the number of cocktails you want to make. Add it to a punch bowl, garnish each glass with a handful of blackberries and call it a day.
The Recipe
1 ½ ounces Crown Royal Blackberry Canadian Whisky
6 ounces lemonade
Blackberries
Add whisky and lemonade to a tall glass with ice. Stir to combine. Garnish with a lemon wheel and blackberries.
We’re rounding out this guide with yet another margarita recipe...because, as we said, margaritas are a way of life.
Once you master the classic versions of popular cocktail recipes, start experimenting with flavors and textures! Muddling fresh fruits, herbs and vegetables together at the bottom of your cocktail shaker is a great way to start. Try strawberry and basil, pineapple and cilantro, or, like this cocktail, watermelon and cucumber. Who knows? You may just discover a new favorite flavor combo!
Pro tip: Add a pinch of sea salt directly into the drink, not just on the rim. It subtly enhances the lime and tequila flavors, rounds out any bitterness and gives the whole cocktail a smoother, more balanced finish.
The Recipe
4 watermelon chunks
2 cucumber slices
2 ounces Milagro Silver Tequila
1 ounce fresh lime juice
¾ ounce agave
Muddle watermelon and cucumber at the bottom of a shaker. Add ice, tequila, lime juice and agave and shake. Strain into a rocks glass over ice. Garnish a sprinkle of Tajin on watermelon and cucumber spears.
