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24 Classic Cocktails You Need to Know How to Make

Because when you want a margarita, you should know how to make a good one.
Old fashioned cocktail in a rocks glass garnished with an orange wedge and two cocktail cherries.
Heidi's Bridge

Knowing how to make classic cocktails is important. There's only one problem: There are a lot of them. Unless you're a bartender, there's no way you'll remember what goes into a Sazerac or the proportions of a Moscow mule. Lucky for you, we've rounded up the 24 most important stalwart drinks to know how to make, from a Manhattan to a daiquiri to a simple whiskey on the rocks. Check them out and get shaking (and stirring).

  • Side view of a martini glass filled with a lemon twist peeking over its edge.
    Photograph by Emma Fishman, Food styling by Pearl Jones, prop styling by Martha Bernabe
    1/25

    Extra-Dry Martini

    Gin or vodka? Stanley Tucci’s martini recipe allows for either, depending on your mood. Just make sure it’s stirred, never shaken.

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  • Negroni cocktail with a light blue and dark blue background.
    Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Pearl Jones
    2/25

    Negroni

    Adjust the classic proportions of the gin, vermouth, and Campari in a negroni cocktail recipe for this updated version from London’s Chiltern Firehouse.

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  • Old fashioned cocktail in a rocks glass garnished with an orange wedge and two cocktail cherries.
    Heidi's Bridge
    3/25

    BA's Best Old-Fashioned

    The original whiskey cocktail, a great old-fashioned recipe is all about simplicity, ingredients, and technique.

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  • Tall light green vodka cocktail with a lime wedge on a dark pink background.
    Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Pearl Jones, Prop Styling by Dayna Seman
    4/25

    Moscow Mule

    With spicy ginger beer, vodka, and lime juice, a Moscow Mule is a cocktail for all seasons—and one that’s remarkably easy to prepare at home.

    View Recipe
  • Image may contain Drink Milk Beverage Cocktail Alcohol Food Dessert Ice Cream Creme Cream Vase and Potted Plant
    7/25

    Classic Whiskey Smash

    This drink is just as refreshing when made with gin, vodka, or rum. To watch a video of Andrew Knowlton making this classic cocktail, click here.

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  • Image may contain Drink Cocktail Alcohol Beverage Food Bread Glass and Mojito
    8/25

    Sloe Gin

    Sloe gin, used in this drink from Josephine House, Austin, is a liqueur made by steeping sloe berries (sour wild plums) in gin with some sugar.

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  • Image may contain Drink Beverage Vase Pottery Jar Alcohol Cocktail Potted Plant Plant Juice Glass and Planter
    Alex Lau
    9/25

    New-New Bloody Mary

    Our favorite Bloody Mary is an instant classic. Great-quality tomato juice, bright lemon juice, savory Worcestershire, and a tangy hot sauce deliver on all fronts.

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  • Image may contain Glass Drink Cocktail Alcohol Beverage Goblet Wine and Wine Glass
    10/25

    Boulevardier

    Named for The Boulevardier magazine, this Prohibition-era cocktail was a favorite among American expatriates living in Paris.

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  • Image may contain Plant Fruit Citrus Fruit Food Lime Drink Milk Beverage Mojito Cocktail and Alcohol
    11/25

    Gin and Tonic

    The Gin and Tonic is swinging again, thanks to new distillers who have made gin cool. And it doesn't get more classic than this recipe.

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  • Image may contain Drink Cocktail Alcohol Beverage Glass and Juice
    12/25

    Spiced Dark and Stormy

    The longer the spices infuse in the rum, the more flavorful this dark and stormy will be.

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  • Image may contain Glass Drink Beverage Alcohol and Liquor
    13/25

    Sazerac

    Mix this New Orleans classic hours ahead of time, says Andrew Volk, of Maine's Portland Hunt & Alpine Club, and serving it is as simple as pouring a pitcher of lemonade.

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  • Image may contain Lamp Glass Drink Alcohol Beverage Wine Glass Wine Goblet and Cocktail
    14/25

    Joly’s Pisco Sour

    "More great expressions of pisco are making their way into the States, with a huge array of flavor profiles, from rustic and edgy, to delicate and floral. La Diablada is cool stuff." —Charles Joly, bartender, The Aviary, Chicago

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  • Image may contain Drink Cocktail Alcohol Beverage Mojito Vase Pottery and Jar
    15/25

    The Pimm's Cup

    Make this quintessentially-British garden drink to kick off the summer.

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  • Image may contain Human Person Necklace Jewelry Accessories Accessory and Worker
    16/25

    The Vespa

    Martini drinker? Try this Italian take on the Vesper, which uses the slightly sweet aperitif Cocchi Americano.

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  • Uprocks daiquiri cocktail served in a coupe glass with a large ball of ice set in the center of the glass and a lime...
    Peden & Munk
    17/25

    Daiquiri, Up-Rocks

    This daiquiri recipe is served up-rocks in an elegant coupe and has nothing to do with the slushy, syrupy cocktails you’ll find at swim-up bars.

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  • Image may contain Vase Potted Plant Plant Pottery Jar Herbs Mint Planter Human and Person
    18/25

    Mint Julep

    This bourbon cocktail is the official drink of the Kentucky Derby.

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  • A single mojito with a tuft of fresh mint poking out the top of its collins glass alongside spent limes a gold shaker...
    Photograph by Isa Zapata.  Food Styling by Susan Ottaviano.  Prop Styling by Maeve Sheridan and Molly Longwell
    19/25

    Mojito

    On a sweltering summer evening, nothing hits quite like this minty mojito cocktail recipe. Don’t over-muddle your mint, which can cause bitterness.

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  • A cosmopolitan drink on a red background and teal background garnished with an orange slice
    Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Emilie Fosnocht
    20/25

    Cosmopolitan

    We will avoid all Sex and the City references here, but the fact remains: This cocktail is classic for a reason.

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  • Image may contain Plant Confectionery Food Sweets Human Person and Fruit
    Peden & Munk
    23/25

    Batched Manhattan

    It just may be the perfect cocktail—especially when you can make it (and serve it) in bulk. 

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  • Two champagne glasses filled with French 75 cocktails clinking.
    Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Pearl Jones, Prop Styling by Dayna Seman
    24/25

    French 75

    The French 75 is that rare creature of a cocktail: elegant enough to make it feel as if you’re in Paris on New Year’s Eve but supremely simple to assemble.

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  • This image may contain Drink Cocktail Alcohol Beverage Food Ketchup and Mojito
    Photo by Stephen Kent Johnson, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski
    25/25

    Aperol Spritz

    This classic combo should be credited with starting the whole spritz phenomenon in the United States.

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