Find inspiration for your signature drink with these classic formulas. Go traditional, or use them to create something uniquely your own. Plus, check out our essential party checklist to make your shindig easy and fabulous!

Illustrations By Janice Hildybrant
Sours
Cocktails made with citrus juice fall into a family known as the sours, which should actually be a perfect balance of sweet, tart and just-boozy-enough flavours. They are typically shaken with ice and sometimes with egg white, and served “up” in stemmed glasses. These are some of the best known; tinker with them to make them your own.
Daiquiri
Cocktail | Spirit | Citrus | Sweetener | Extras |
Margarita | Tequila (1 to 2 oz) | Lime (1 oz) | Cointreau (½ to 1 oz) | Salt rim |
Whisky Sour | Bourbon/rye (2 oz) | Lemon (¾ oz) | Simple syrup (½ oz) | Egg white, Angostura bitters |
Clover Club | Gin (2 oz) | Lemon (½ oz) | Raspberry syrup (½ oz) | Egg white, raspberry garnish |
Sidecar | Brandy (1 ½ oz) | Lemon (¾ oz) | Cointreau (¾ oz) | Sugar rim |
Daiquiri | Rum (2 oz) | Lime (1 oz) | Simple syrup (¾ oz) | — |
Note: The measurements included here follow traditional recipes, but feel free to adjust proportions to your liking.

Highballs
The simplest of cocktails, the highball usually comprises just two ingredients — a spirit and soda — and is served in a tall, you guessed it, highball glass filled with lots of ice. With so few ingredients, it’s crucial to use quality products — luckily, there are plenty of terrific cocktail mixers to choose from.
Cocktail | Spirit | Flavours/Lengthener |
Paloma | Tequila (1 to 2 oz) | Grapefruit soda (3 to 4 oz) |
Whisky Highball | Whisky (1 to 2 oz) | Soda water (3 to 4 oz) |
Cuba Libre | Rum (1 to 2 oz) | Cola (3 to 4 oz) |
Tom Collins | Gin (1 to 2 oz) | Lemon (1 oz), simple syrup (½ oz), soda water (3 to 4 oz) |
French 75 | Gin or brandy (1 oz) | Lemon (½ oz), simple syrup (½ oz), sparkling wine (3 oz) |
Bitters & Friends
The very first cocktail was known as a “bittered sling” — spirit, bitters, sugar and water — and there is a whole school of spirit-forward cocktails that get their oomph from vermouth, amaro and other botanical agents. These drinks are typically stirred, not shaken, and either served up without additional ice, or in rocks glasses with or without additional ice.
Cocktail | Spirit | Bitters | Extras |
Martini | Gin (2 oz) | Dry vermouth (to taste) | Olive or lemon garnish |
Manhattan | Rye (2 oz) | Sweet vermouth (1 oz) | Angostura Cherry garnish |
Old Fashioned | Bourbon/rye (2 oz) | Angostura (2 dashes) | Sugar, cherry garnish |
Sazerac | Rye (2 ½ oz) | Peychaud’s (4 dashes) | Sugar cube, absinthe rinse |
Negroni | Gin (1 oz) | Sweet vermouth (1 oz), Campari (1 oz) | — |

Planning to host a shindig this holiday season (or any time)?
Well, you’d better get busy because you’ve got a lot to do. Follow this step-by-step plan to make it as easy — and fabulous! — as possible.