These four drinks represent four essential co*cktails categories, clockwise from left: Old Pal (three-parter), Gin Buck (fizz), daquiri (sour) and Hanky Panky (Old-Fashioned/low ball). (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune; Mark Graham/food styling )
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In an attempt to demystify the always delightful but often murky path to co*cktail enlightenment, we present four basic co*cktail categories: sours, fizzes, Old-Fashioneds and three-parters. These drinks are intended to simplify thinking about building drinks, to help home mixology become an approachable, everyday activity.
Our approach — to break down our favorites to their bones — aims to help budding bartenders understand the structure behind the drinks, so that re-creating fancy stuff seems less daunting. That Brooklyn you tried at the hipster bar; it’s just a three-parter! And if you can make a Cosmo (hint: It’s a sour), you can make a Bee’s Knees too.
Know the basics, and you can begin to build your own recipes using myriad global ingredients and flavors. Here are the four essential formulas, complete with the whys and hows, plus an old-school, simply delicious recipe for each type.
Three-parters
These drinks are the most spirit-forward of the collection, a three-part combo of booze plus what’s known as a “modifier” (a lower-alcohol ingredient like vermouth) plus a bitter or a syrup. Here we find the beloved martini (did you know early martini recipes call for orange bitters?), Manhattan, Brooklyn, Negroni, boulevardier, Rob Roy and all of their bold and boozy cousins.
Mix the 3 ingredients in a mixing glass and add ice. Stir to chill, then strain into a co*cktail glass garnished with a lemon twist.
Sours
Sours contain citrus juice, should be tart (or at least tangy) and are usually shaken in a co*cktail shaker and served straight up. (Juice drinks like screwdrivers and greyhounds go in the tall/fizz category.) Fresh-squeezed juices are critical here, often paired with simple syrup (sugar dissolved in an equal volume of water) to sweeten. Sidecars, margaritas, Cosmopolitans and the newly revived favorite Last Word can all be considered sours.
Shake all ingredients with ice until well-chilled, about 15 seconds. Strain into chilled coupe glass. Garnish with lime wheel. (For a more intense drink, dissolve the lime juice with 1 tablespoon sugar in the mixing glass before adding ice, and skip the simple syrup.)
Fizz or Collins
Fizzes include anything with bubbles — highballs, Champagne co*cktails, Collinses, mules, bucks. These drinks can be incredibly simple and are clearly the most refreshing. Plus, it is not difficult to keep a few six-packs of sodas and 750s of basic booze in your liquor cabinet. Throw in a few lemons and limes, and you can whip up a Moscow mule, a rye and ginger, a Campari gin and tonic, a mojito, a Tom Collins or a paloma anytime.
All refrigerators should hold a bottle of prosecco or cava to celebrate life’s special moments in the moment. And those bubbles make a great addition to dozens of co*cktails built from bar basics. Add peach nectar for a Bellini, pomegranate or cranberry juice for fun pink drinks, or go classic with a French 75.
Add gin and lemon juice to an ice-filled glass. Top with ginger beer and garnish with lemon wedge. Serve at once.
Old-Fashioned/lowball
These old-school short co*cktails are simply sweetened liquor zipped up with something bitter. The sweet can come from sugar, muddled with fruit or simmered into syrup, or a sweeter liqueur like triple sec or maraschino. The bitter can be a few dashes of any of a vast variety of bottled bitters or a bitter spirit like an amaro. Often whiskey-based, like a Sazerac, a Toronto or a rusty nail, these guys are potent and, when properly balanced, perfect.
Add gin, vermouth, and Fernet to a mixing glass with ice. Stir thoroughly until chilled. Strain into a chilled glass and garnish with an orange twist.
Pro tips
