Whether you are celebrating with friends or winding down from a busy day, the flavours of a classic cocktail can be just what you are looking for.
While most people don’t hesitate to uncork a bottle of wine or crack a beer at home, many reserve indulging in a cocktail for restaurants and bars because making mixed drinks can be intimidating at first. But creating a flavourful concoction doesn’t have to be hard work.
You can use things you already have around the house or go as “fancy” as you would like with a trip to the store to select the perfect ingredients for your delicious drink. That’s the beauty of it—it’s up to you!
The History of Cocktails
Cocktails have been around for a long time and have an important place in history.
The first definition of a cocktail as an alcoholic beverage appeared in The Balance and Columbian Repository (Hudson, New York) on May 13, 1806. At this time, the cocktail was a simple mixture of spirits, sugar, water and bitters, served as a morning pick-me-up for patrons of bars and taverns.
We have all seen movies about their popularity in the 1920s and can picture the image of flappers and sheiks in a speakeasy with their cocktail-filled crystal glasses in hand.
There was a noticeable surge in the sales of classic cocktails in the early 2000s. The Cocktail Renaissance is a term for the period at the beginning of the twenty-first century, from roughly 2004 through 2019, when the classic art of mixing drinks was reconnected with its traditions and reprioritized in bars around the world.
Getting Started
Whether it’s the complex history or logistics of mixology that is intimidating you, the easiest cocktails to make are highballs. Highballs are a spirit lengthened with a bubbly, non-alcoholic mixer typically in double the amount of the spirit. What could be easier?
But you don’t have to stop there. Why not kick it up a notch? By adding citrus juice, simple syrup or an egg white, you’ll find yourself sipping a rickey, a Tom Collins or a fizz and marveling at how simple it was to make.
One of the most interesting aspects of the cocktail is the garnishes that can go along with it. Anything from the simple (a slice of lemon zest on a French 75) to the extravagant (an entire sandwich on a Caeser), can be that special something that makes your cocktails stand out.
Making It Your Own
As you can imagine, a beverage that is more than 200 years old has grown and evolved quite a bit since conception, which means it can be whatever you want it to be.
Unlike wine, beer or cooler-type drinks, the cocktail is a creation. Something that is mixed with love and care and not just poured out of the bottle or can it came in. This gives you free rein to add whatever you like to the drink.
Not all creations will be great (or even good) but there is no harm in experimenting, and this will help you learn one of the most important lessons a mixologist can glean—which flavours you like best!
Don’t be scared to think outside the box and come out of your comfort zone to explore new creations. You may even come up with a signature cocktail of your own!
Glassware
You don’t need fancy glassware to make great drinks—but it is fun!
Part of the Cocktail Renaissance is the resurrection of the intricate crystal glassware that our grandparents’ basement was full of. The glasses no longer need to be crystal (glass will do just fine) and are inexpensive and easily found at many houseware stores and online.
No matter what vessel you put your cocktail in, it will be delicious, but it is always fun to sip from a sparkling, interestingly shaped glass.
7 Classic Cocktails
Here are our top seven cocktails we suggest you try to make at home:
• Martini
• Manhattan
• Negroni
• Old-Fashioned
• Gin and Tonic
• Daiquiri
• Margarita
Prefer a Mocktail? No Problem
If you don’t drink alcohol, mocktails are a great alternative to their boozier brothers. Mocktails have come a long way from Shirley Temples or a “virgin” version of other popular cocktails.
There are so many incredible recipes online. In fact, there are over 22,000 Google searches for mocktail recipes per month. Mocktails can be as interesting, and well balanced as drinks with alcohol and companies are starting to come out with non-alcoholic spirits that come close to mimicking the same flavours as the originals.
Here is our favourite mocktail recipe that doesn’t sacrifice on flavour or pizzaz.
Cucumber Mint Mojito Mocktail
1 English cucumber, sliced
10 mint leaves
1⁄3 cup lime juice
2 tsp monk fruit sweetener
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
1⁄2 cup sparkling water or as needed
1 cup ice, or as needed
