The 5 cocktails every gentleman should know how to make

We have always stipulated that the modern gentleman should have a firm handle over some basic facilities – grilling a steak to perfect pinkness, for example, or being able to scramble eggs to little over-runny, and knowing the right occasion to wear a peak lapel rather than its notch counterpart.

With party season in full swing, we’re adding the capacity to whip up a cocktail or two – and we’re not talking about faddish mixology trends or fashions. Rather, we think that the classics – a Negroni, an Old Fashioned, et al. – are a fine foundation to begin with, because, after all, they are exactly that: timeless libations that are known and loved, which you'll be able to turn to at a moment's notice to amp up any soirée.

We've compiled a shortlist of the five failsafe cocktails that you should be able to whip up, whether you’re fixing an aperitivo for unexpected guests or simply enjoying a post-work reward. As the great F. Scott Fitzgerald once said: “Here’s to alcohol, the rose-coloured glasses of life.”

According to legend, this iconic cocktail was invented over a century ago, in Florence, when Count Camillo Negroni, who was sat at his usual spot in Caffé Casoni, wanted something with a bit more bite than his usual Americano – since then, it’s been favoured by Ernest Hemingway and Stanley Tucci. This all-time great is universally popular thanks to its complex balance of bitter and sweet flavours. An elegant aperitivo to kick off any evening.

Ingredients

• 25ml Campari
• 25ml dry gin
• 25ml sweet vermouth
• Ice
• Orange peel (for garnish)

Method

1. Add equal parts Campari, gin and vermouth into a shaker, with a bit of ice
2. Stir for 20 seconds with a long bar spoon
3. Strain into a rocks glass over a block of ice.
4. Add a twist of orange peel to garnish

A failsafe. A banker. The one that can never fail. The navy suit of the cocktail cabinet. Don Draper’s go-to. The Old Fashioned, despite still being a frequently made and requested cocktail today, had its moniker coined for the first time in the 1880s. Like the Negroni, it hits several palate points – it’s a wonderful medley of sweet, spicy and bitter, and, better still, if you don’t have a shaker, don’t fret – it’s all concocted in the glass that it’s drank from.

Ingredients

• 1 sugar cube
• 2–3 dashes Angostura bitters
• Soda water
• 60ml rye whiskey
• Ice
• Orange peel (for garnish)

Method

1. Place the sugar cube in a glass and wet with 2–3 dashes of Angostura bitters and a short splash of soda water
2. Crush the sugar with a wooden muddler and rotate the glass so that the sugar grains and bitters give it a lining
3. Add a large ice cube, pour in the rye, stir for a couple of minutes, and serve with an orange twist

Rye-based cocktails have witnessed a revival in recent years, as evidenced by the Old Fashioned, but this American-Italian never went out of fashion to begin with. First poured in the latter part of the 1800s, the Manhattan is bracing and punchy – it’s said that J.P. Morgan used to have one at the end of each trading day, so it makes for a good wind-down companion. Whether taken in the Big Apple, the Big Smoke, or the Big Sur, the Manhattan is a creation that’s popular across the globe.

Ingredients

• 75ml bourbon
• 15ml sweet vermouth
• 1–2 dashes Angostura bitters
• Ice
• Orange peel and maraschino cherry (for garnish)

Method

1. Grab a chilled cocktail glass
2. Combine whiskey, vermouth, and bitters in a cocktail shaker
3. Add ice and stir until chilled (20 seconds)
4. Strain into the chilled cocktail glass
5. Serve with orange peel and a maraschino cherry

Mr Bond’s choice of poison is, of course, an essential for lists such as this. Yet, because of its popularity and renown – even the vessel in which it’s held in has become a staple in cabinets and kitchens worldwide – the Martini is often tweaked according to tastes and preferences, with the decision between vodka and gin being the main debate at hand. To keep things simple, we’ve got the recipe that 007 tended to favour.

Ingredients

• Martini glass
• 45ml No.3 London Dry Gin
• 15ml Mikolasch Vodka
• Angostura bitters
• 15ml Lillet Blanc
• Lemon peel (for garnish)

Method

1. Freeze the glass, gin and vodka
2. Once frozen, add three dashes of the Angostura bitters into the glass and swirl around the bottom
3. Combine all spirits in the glass
4. Don’t shake or stir: let the layers sit
5. Fold the lemon peel lengthways in your hands and squeeze the oils over the top of the glass, twist it, then drop into the martini

When associates, friends or family turn up without warning, it’s good to have the bare-bone basics in your back pocket so you can create something foolproof, using minimal effort. The no-frills, stripped-back nature of a G&T means that you can afford to spend a little extra on the two key ingredients.

Ingredients

• 50ml Plymouth Gin
• 100ml Fever-Tree Indian Tonic
• Ice
• Grapefruit zest (to garnish)
• Grated tonka bean (to garnish)
• Parsley (to garnish)
• Cinnamon stick (to garnish)

Method

1. Add a healthy amount of ice into your glass
2. Combine one-part gin with two-parts tonic in the glass
3. Garnish with grapefruit zest, grated tonka bean, parsley, and a cinnamon stick

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