5 Easy Cocktails Everyone Should Know How to Make at Home

Following are some cocktails that you should surely try

Dark ‘n’ Stormy

Ingredients: Dark rum (preferably Gosling’s Black Seal), ginger beer, lime 

Backstory: A drink backed by a brand and even trademarked, the Dark ‘n’ Stormy still manages to feel hardly corporate while evoking relaxation and island life. The story goes there was an Englishman living in Bermuda who created a dark rum he named after himself—Gosling’s. Also on the tiny island were Royal Navy officers who liked mixing Mr. Gosling’s rum with the ginger beer they had been brewing to help combat their own seasickness. The drink was delicious, and the intriguing color and look of the cocktail led to its fanciful name.

Why it’s a classic: “This is a year-round, tasty, highball cocktail. Combining delicious dark rum, with spicy, sweet ginger beer and the acidity of a well squeezed lime wedge, it’s perfect for most all occasions.”—Laboy

Starter recipe:

1 part Gosling’s Black Seal rum
2 parts ginger beer

Fill glass with ice, add, rum, then top with ginger beer. Squeeze in, then garnish with a lime wedge.

Sidecar

Ingredients: Cognac or brandy, orange liqueur (such as Cointreau), lemon juice 

Backstory: The sidecar is named after the oddball motorcycle attachment first appeared around the end of the first World War. It’s locational start is a bigger debate, whether that was in a fancy hotel in Paris or a fancy gentleman’s club in London. Either way it was a massive hit, with its use of uniquely French ingredients such as Cognac and Cointreau.

Why it’s a classic: “It’s boozy and acidic with a dry finish. I like to take a page from the brandy crusta and finish it with a half-sugar rim, making it into a sort of deconstructed cocktail. Great aperitif or, if truly in the mood, a perfect nightcap.”—Laboy

Starter recipe:

2 oz Cognac
3/4 oz Cointreau
3/4 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice

Twist the rim of a coupe into a plate of sugar so it attaches to the glass’s rim. Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into sugar-rimmed coupe and garnish with an orange peel.

Gimlet

Ingredients: Gin or vodka, Rose’s lime juice (or fresh-squeezed lime juice) 

Backstory: While not quite as popular today as the others on this list, the Gimlet still remains an enduring classic, mainly, because it’s a piece of cake to make at home. It is said the name comes from a Sir Thomas Gimelette, Surgeon General of the Royal Navy, who was adding lime juice to gin to help his sailors combat scurvy (it seems most British-created drinks were simply made to battle ailments). Unlike other classics that would be ruined with anything but fresh-squeezed juice, the Gimlet specifically calls for bottled lime juice, namely Rose’s, which was available to sailors on long voyages when a sack of fresh-picked limes weren’t.

Why it’s a classic: “The gimlet is a combination of gin and lime cordial—though, these days with fresher ingredients being used behind bars, fresh lime juice with a touch of sugar appears too. It is a perfect, easy drinking cocktail to enjoy on a summer’s day by the pool.”—Laboy

Starter recipe:

2 oz gin (or vodka)
⅔ oz Rose’s lime juice

Shake well with cracked ice, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Margarita

Ingredients: Blanco tequila, fresh squeezed lime juice, orange liqueur or triple sec 

Backstory: Like most cocktails, the Margarita’s origins are also murky, though the tales that have followed it to the present are about as good as it gets. Most place the drink’s creation in Tijuana, its name being a salute to an eponymous woman of one man’s unrequited affections. The best story I’ve heard? That a Tijuana nightclub owner crafted the tantalizing drink to impress a performer named Margarita Cansino—who would eventually become famous under her stage name Rita Hayworth. Nowadays, the Marg is often seem as a chain restaurant booze-bomb in a giant blue glass, but like the Daiquiri, when made simply at home it is a balanced, elegant drink.

Why it’s a classic: “It’s a gift from the agave gods. It has stood the test of time by bringing sweetness and acidity into perfect harmony. Whether you prefer it on the rocks or straight up with a salted rim, or even a frozen version on the beach, this is the O.G. party starter.”—Laboy

Starter recipe:

2 oz silver tequila
1 oz Cointreau
1 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice

Rub a lime wedge over the rim of a rocks glass (or Margarita glass) then twist on a plate of coarse salt so it attaches. Shake the ingredients with cracked ice, then strain into a glass over ice.

Champagne Cocktail

Ingredients: Champagne or sparkling wine, sugar cube, bitters 

Backstory: The Champagne Cocktail dates all the way back to legendary barman Jerry Thomas. In his 1862 book How to Mix Drinks:  Bon Vivant’s Companion, the “Professor” sets forth the standard recipe for a sparkling wine cocktail which still lives on to this day. Back in Thomas’s day it was known as “Chorus Girl’s Milk,” and it remains one of the few “famous” Champagne cocktails.

Why it’s a classic: “It’s first truly sophisticated classic cocktail, giving you the strength of brandy with the effervescent, classiness of champagne. Still the go-to cocktail at any dinner party.”—Laboy

Starter recipe:

3 oz Champagne
⅓ oz Cognac
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 sugar cube

Add 2 dashes of Angostura bitter and sugar cube into a Champagne flute. Add cognac followed by gently pouring chilled champagne. Express a lemon twist over top. Making the perfect type of cocktail is sometimes hard but now you can easily find the world’s best quality alcohol from Avon, CO Liquor Store, which you may combine to get a perfect glass of cocktail as per your needs.