How to Mix a Few Classic Drinks

Terms

• A few terms might be unfamiliar or used in a particular sense in the mixing context:

  Blend: In a drink recipe, this means with a blender.

  Cocktail shaker: A device that allows you to shake drink ingredients without them getting all over the place. It is composed of a stainless-steel vessel with either a glass that fits into it or a lid. You simply place the ingredients and ice (usually) into the shaker, connect the glass or lid to the shaker and shake.

  Dash: A small amount of an ingredient. This is somewhat vague, to allow room for individual tastes, but generally a dash should be about 1/4 tsp.

  Glassful: Measure a glassful in the glass in which the drink will be served.

  Shake: Place the ingredients in a cocktail shaker, usually with ice, and shake five to 10 times so the ingredients are thoroughly mixed and chilled by the ice. The contents usually are strained into a glass.

  Stir: Take a long, thin utensil, place it into a container that holds drink ingredients and move it around in a vigorous, circular motion. Many drinks require ingredients to be stirred with ice and then strained into another glass for drinking. You can stir the drink in anything large enough to contain the ingredients and ice.

  Strain: A strainer is a device usually made of thin metal formed into a circle, with stainless-steel coils around one half of the circle and a handle projecting from the other side of the circle. The strainer is used to keep ice in a container in which ingredients have been shaken or stirred while the drink is being poured into a glass. The coiled side of the circle is placed against the edge of the container from which the liquid is being poured, and this keeps the ice cubes inside the container.

Stock the Bar

• The following list of ingredients are needed for many different drinks.

  Basic ingredients: gin; vodka; tequila (white, dark or both); rum (light and dark); vermouth (extra dry for martinis, sweet or dry for other drinks); whiskey; Scotch; brandy or cognac; triple sec; grenadine; Angostura bitters; cream; sugar; lemon juice; orange juice; club soda; lots of ice.

  In a pinch, you could probably make most drinks with a glass and a chopstick, but a few pieces of equipment will make your mixing easier and classier.

  Basic equipment: tumblers (short, fat glasses, also known as "rocks" glasses); tall glasses (tall, thin glasses, also known as "highball" or "Collins" glasses); shot glasses (for measuring and/or serving); measuring glass; cocktail or martini glasses; margarita glasses (optional--they look like rounded martini glasses); stirrers (fancy glass wands, long-handled bar spoons, plastic forks and the like); corkscrew; cocktail shaker; strainer (It's a round thing with coils all around one side); blender; ice bucket and ice tongs.

Classic Drinks

• B-52

  1 part Grand Marnier

  1 part Kahlua

  1 part Bailey's Irish cream

  Shake ingredients in equal parts with ice. Strain into tumblers or serve as shooters.

  Bellini

  1 oz. peach schnapps

  3 oz. Champagne

  Pour the peach schnapps into a champagne glass (if you have one) or a cocktail glass and add champagne.

  Black Russian

  1.5 oz. vodka

  .75 oz. coffee liqueur

  Pour vodka into a tumbler filled with ice. Add coffee liqueur and stir. This drink looks jaunty with a swizzle stick in it, but don't worry if you don't have any.

  Bloody Mary

  1.25 oz. vodka

  2.5 oz. tomato juice

  Dash of Worcestershire sauce

  Dash of Tabasco

  Dash of salt and pepper

  Pour vodka into a tall glass with ice and pour tomato juice on top. Add the spicy stuff, then garnish with a celery stick. For a "Bloody Caesar," replace tomato juice with clam-tomato cocktail.

  Brandy Alexander

  1.5 oz. brandy or cognac

  .5 oz. dark creme de cacao

  1 oz. cream or ice cream

  Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

  Champagne Cocktail

  3 oz. chilled Champagne

  1 cube sugar

  Dash Angostura bitters

  Place a cube of sugar in a chilled champagne flute (if you have one) or cocktail glass, fill with champagne and stir once. Garnish with a lemon twist.

  Daiquiri

  1.5 oz. light rum

  .5 oz. lemon juice

  1 tsp. powdered sugar

  Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. If you're wondering where the ice slush is, you're thinking of a frozen daiquiri, which isn't a classic drink.

  Fuzzy Navel

  1.5 oz. peach schnapps

  3 oz. orange juice

  Pour the peach schnapps into a tumbler with ice, add the orange juice and stir.

  Grasshopper

  .5 oz. green creme de menthe

  .5 oz. white creme de menthe

  .5 oz. cream

  Put the ingredients into a blender with a glass of ice and blend until smooth. Serve in a margarita glass (if you have one), a cocktail glass or a tumbler.

  Harvey Wallbanger

  .25 oz. Galliano

  1 oz. vodka

  4 oz. orange juice

  Pour vodka and orange juice into a tall glass with ice. Float the Galliano on top of the other ingredients (don't stir) and serve.

  Irish Coffee

  1.5 oz. Irish whiskey

  Hot coffee

  Sugar

  Cream

  Pour Irish whiskey into a mug, fill with coffee and add cream and sugar to taste. It's Irish because it has booze in it--Irish booze, no less.

  Long Island Iced Tea

  .5 oz. vodka

  .5 oz. light rum

  .5 oz. gin

  .5 oz. light tequila

  .5 oz. triple sec

  Cola

  Shake the booze with ice and strain into a tall glass. Fill the glass with cola. Can also be served over ice.

  Manhattan

  2 oz. whiskey (Irish or bourbon)

  1 tbsp. sweet or dry vermouth

  Dash Angostura bitters

  Pour ingredients into a tumbler, stir and garnish with a cherry.

  Margarita

  1 oz. tequila

  1 oz. cointreau or triple sec

  1 oz. sweet and sour mix or lime juice

  Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a salt-rimmed margarita glass or cocktail glass with ice. Alternately, you can blend the ingredients with a glassful of ice. Garnish with a slice of lime. To rim the glass with salt, place a small amount of it (coarse salt looks the coolest) on a dry surface, rub a lemon or lime slice around the rim of an empty glass then rub the rim of the glass in the salt.

  Martini

  2 oz. gin

  Dash extra dry vermouth

  Shaken, or stirred? You can make your martini either way. Shake or stir the ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an olive (or several olives) or a slice of lemon rind (aka a lemon twist). This recipe will yield a very dry martini; the less vermouth you add, the drier the martini will be. Some recipes call for a 2-to-1 or 3-to-1 gin-to-vermouth ratio, and there's nothing wrong with mixing your martinis that way if you like them that sweet. Experiment with different ratios and see if you like your martini sweeter or drier. Try not to shake or stir long enough to allow the ice to melt and dilute the drink. Eight good shakes or about five seconds of stirring should be enough; strain it into a glass immediately. Real martinis are made with gin, and they precede vodka martinis by decades.

  Old Fashioned

  1.5 oz. whiskey

  .25 oz. powdered sugar

  2 dashes Angostura bitters

  1 tbsp. club soda

  Cherry

  Slice of orange

  Place the cherry (without stem), orange slice, sugar and club soda in a tumbler and mash them around with a spoon until they have blended well. Add the whiskey and bitters and stir.

  Pina Colada

  1.5 oz. rum

  2 oz. pineapple juice

  2 oz. cream of coconut

  Shake with ice and serve in a margarita glass or cocktail glass over ice. You also can blend it with a glassful of ice.

  Pink Lady

  1.5 oz. gin

  2 tsp. grenadine

  3 oz. cream

  Shake all ingredients with ice until well blended and strain into a cocktail glass.

  Planter's Punch

  2 oz. light rum

  1 tsp. sugar

  2 oz. orange juice

  Dash grenadine

  1 tbsp. dark rum

  Shake light rum, orange juice, sugar and grenadine with ice and strain into a tall glass. Top with dark rum.

  Rob Roy

  2 oz. Scotch

  .5 oz. sweet vermouth

  Stir ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

  Rusty Nail

  1 oz. Scotch

  1 oz. drambuie

  Pour the alcohol into a tumbler with ice and stir.

  Singapore Sling

  1.5 oz. gin

  .5 oz. benedictine

  .5 oz. grenadine

  Dash lemon juice

  .5 oz. cherry brandy

  Club soda

  Pour the first four ingredients into a tall glass with ice and stir well. Fill almost to the top with club soda and top with cherry brandy. Garnish with a cherry.

  Stinger

  1.75 oz. brandy or cognac

  .25 oz. white creme de menthe

  Pour ingredients into a tumbler with ice and stir.

  Tequila Sunrise

  1.5 oz. tequila

  .5 oz. grenadine

  Orange juice

  The idea of this drink is to pour it so that there are recognizable layers. You must pour it very gently, or the ingredients will mix together and ruin the effect. Pour grenadine into a tall glass, then place ice cubes into the glass with ice tongs until full. Then gently pour in tequila, then orange juice. It should go from bright red to deep orange to light orange. If it doesn't, it's probably because you poured it too fast, so don't blame us. Garnish with a slice of orange.

  Tom Collins

  1.5 oz. gin

  1 oz. lemon juice

  Club soda

  Shake gin and lemon juice and pour into a tall glass over ice. Fill with club soda and serve.

  Velvet Hammer

  1 tbsp. white creme de cacao

  1.5 oz. vodka

  1 tbsp. cream

  Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

  Vodka Martini

  2 oz. vodka

  Dash extra dry vermouth

  Shake or stir ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with olive(s) or a lemon twist. This recipe makes a very dry vodka martini (see the discussion of the martini, above), so if you like it sweeter, use more vermouth--up to about .75 oz., depending on your taste.

  Whiskey Sour

  1.5 oz. whiskey (Irish or bourbon)

  1 oz. lemon juice

  1 tsp. powdered sugar

  Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a whiskey sour glass (if you have one) or cocktail glass. This can also be served over ice.

  White Russian

  1.5 oz. vodka

  .5 oz. coffee liqueur

  .5 oz. cream

  Shake all ingredients and serve in a tumbler over ice.

  Zombie

  .75 oz. light rum

  .75 oz. dark rum

  1 oz. pineapple juice

  1 oz. orange juice

  1 oz. lemon juice

  1 tsp. powdered sugar

  Dash "151" rum

  Shake all ingredients except "151" rum with ice and strain into a tall glass (with or without ice). Then float the "151" rum on top and garnish with a slice of pineapple and/or a cherry.

Drink and Enjoy

• Once you've selected a drink, mixed it and gotten it into your hands or someone else's, set yourself down somewhere far from car keys and enjoy.