20 Best by Ingredient
20 best Absinthe cocktails image

20 best Absinthe cocktails

Absinthe is a most unusual cocktail ingredient as it's the main base spirit in some cocktails while is used as mere dashes in others. Absinthe's aroma

20 best Advocaat cocktails image

20 best Advocaat cocktails

Creamy and indulgent – advocaat is brilliantly suited to Christmas and indeed Christmas cocktails.

20 best Amaretto cocktails image

20 best Amaretto cocktails

The bittersweet almond and vanilla flavour of amaretto mixes brilliantly with dark spirits – particularly whiskey but this versatile liqueur also mixes

20 best Americano Rosso cocktails image

20 best Americano Rosso cocktails

Americano Rosso is perhaps best described as tasting like a classic red Italian bitter liqueur (e.g. Campari) mellowed by sweet vermouth (e.g. Martini

20 best Angostura Bitters cocktails image

20 best Angostura Bitters cocktails

I've heard it said, You can tell a newly opened cocktail bar is successful when they need a second bottle of Angostura. Over 500 cocktails on this website

20 best Aperol/red aperitivo cocktails image

20 best Aperol/red aperitivo cocktails

What better on a sunny summer's evening than a light bittersweet aperitivo cocktail. Aperol Spritz is by far the best-known example of such a libation

20 best Apricot (brandy) cocktails image

20 best Apricot (brandy) cocktails

In cocktails, apricot brandy is one of the most used of the traditional range liqueurs and this fruit liqueur continues to thieve in contemporary recipes.

20 best Blood red orange cocktails image

20 best Blood red orange cocktails

You may have thought that winter months in the northern hemisphere were confined to the likes of cauliflowers, leeks and brussels sprouts but it's also

20 best Blue Curaçao cocktails image

20 best Blue Curaçao cocktails

Blue curaçao equals BLUE DRINKS, or at least various shades of aquamarine. There are numerous other orange-flavoured liqueurs but blue curaçao stands

20 best Bourbon cocktails image

20 best Bourbon cocktails

Our 20 best bourbon cocktails have been selected for their richness of flavour and the way the bourbon mixes harmoniously with the other ingredients.

20 best Bénédictine cocktails image

20 best Bénédictine cocktails

One of the truly classic liqueurs, Bénédictine contributes honeyed herbal notes to cocktails. All those below call for the original Bénédictine D.O.M.,

20 best Cachaça cocktails image

20 best Cachaça cocktails

A compilation of the 20 best cachaça cocktails would not be complete without a Caipirinha, not only the classic, but one or two more fruity options. However,

20 best Calvados cocktails image

20 best Calvados cocktails

Calvados is a wonderfully flavoursome base spirit in cocktail recipes, particularly with young calvados that retain the fresh, crisp notes of apple with

20 best Campari cocktails image

20 best Campari cocktails

Campari is the best-known but there is a myriad of other similar bright crimson-coloured bittersweet liqueurs. The vibrant red colour, powerful flavour

20 best Candy cocktails image

20 best Candy cocktails

Cocktails are indulgent treats so it's fitting to garnish one treat with another. And whether they be candy, sweeties, confectionery, chews or chocolate

20 best Champagne Cocktails image

20 best Champagne Cocktails

Cocktails are intrinsically decadent, but those with champagne are also lavish, invigorating and celebratory. Champagne cocktails are condemned by some

20 best Chartreuse Jaune (Yellow) cocktails image

20 best Chartreuse Jaune (Yellow) cocktails

The richer, lighter, and younger sibling of Chartreuse Verte, Chartreuse Jaune (Yellow Chartreuse) was developed in the 1840s and is perhaps an even more

20 best Chartreuse Verte (Green) cocktails image

20 best Chartreuse Verte (Green) cocktails

Formulated by Carthusian monks to a recipe dating back to 1764, Chartreuse Verte (Green Chartreuse) adds very distinctive complex herbal notes to a wide

20 best Cherry Brandy cocktails image

20 best Cherry Brandy cocktails

Two cocktails are synonymous for their use of cherry brandy: Blood & Sand and Singapore Sling, and as illustrated by these two classics, cherry brandy

20 best Coffee liqueur cocktails image

20 best Coffee liqueur cocktails

From a B52 to an Espresso Martini, coffee liqueur may not feature in as many cocktails as some other liqueurs but it seems to play an essential role in

20 best Cognac cocktails image

20 best Cognac cocktails

The most luxurious of all spirits, cognac has a velvety warmth capable of lifting the most grim of wintery nights. As my hero, David Embury, says in his

20 best Cranberry juice cocktails image

20 best Cranberry juice cocktails

Cranberry was huge in the world of cocktails in the 1990s and played a key role in the decade's most important cocktail, the Cosmopolitan, while also being

20 best Crème de Banane banana liqueur cocktails image

20 best Crème de Banane banana liqueur cocktails

Bananas neatly unzip to reveal a healthy tasty snack, especially when overripe and for cocktail use, save your bananas until their skins have brown spots

20 best Cynar cocktails image

20 best Cynar cocktails

Created in 1949, Cynar the Italian aperitif is flavoured with artichoke leaves (Cynara scolymus), from which the drink derives its name and 12 other botanicals.

20 best Elderflower liqueur cocktails image

20 best Elderflower liqueur cocktails

Elderflower liqueurs are delicately flavoured, aromatic and floral; they mix brilliantly with pretty much every spirit, both white and brown, even combining

20 best Espresso coffee cocktails image

20 best Espresso coffee cocktails

Every decent restaurant and bar boasts an espresso machine so it's inevitable that freshly made espresso coffee found its way into cocktails. However,

20 best Falernum cocktails image

20 best Falernum cocktails

Falernum is a versatile and flavoursome cocktail sweetener. Spiced (but not hot spiced) falernum is a characterful yet delicate liqueur with a high sugar

20 best Gin cocktails image

20 best Gin cocktails

Gin challenges even vodka for its cocktail versatility, and as the leading spirit in vintage cocktail books there are plenty of great gin-based cocktails

20 best Ginger liqueur cocktails image

20 best Ginger liqueur cocktails

As the weather turns colder so the warming effects of ginger can be both beneficial and pleasing in a drink. Indeed, King Edward VII's physician is said

20 best Grand Marnier cocktails image

20 best Grand Marnier cocktails

Grand Marnier is one of the noble and truly premium liqueurs that has transitioned from the after-dinner sideboard to bartenders' essential. It delivers

20 best Honey cocktails image

20 best Honey cocktails

Honey predates sugar as a sweetener and is a delicious alternative to sugar to balance citrus in sour cocktails, particularly when flavoursome raw honey

20 best Irish whiskey cocktails image

20 best Irish whiskey cocktails

Irish whiskey tends not to be peated so usually lacks the subtle smoky notes associated with Scotch whisky, so making its presence somewhat subtler in

20 best Italicus cocktails image

20 best Italicus cocktails

Strictly speaking, this page should be titled 20 best Rosolio de Bergamotto cocktails or even 20 best Bergamot liqueur cocktails but the truth is, although

20 best Limoncello cocktails image

20 best Limoncello cocktails

Lemon is one of the most used cocktail ingredients, so it stands to reason that a liqueur flavoured with prized Italian Amalfi coast lemons should be part

20 best Maple Syrup cocktails image

20 best Maple Syrup cocktails

There's something comforting about flavoursome maple syrup and maple syrup tends to be paired with whiskey and often rum in Old Fashioned and Sour style

20 best Maraschino Cocktails image

20 best Maraschino Cocktails

Maraschino is as delicious a word as it is a liqueur made from sour Marasca cherries. The cherries' flavour, along with that of its pit (stone) are extracted

20 best marmalade, preserves & conserves cocktails image

20 best marmalade, preserves & conserves cocktails

Created in 1996 by Salvatore Calabrese, the Breakfast Martini is not actually a Martini, but merely a gin-based sour served in a V-shaped Martini glass

20 best Mezcal cocktails image

20 best Mezcal cocktails

Mezcal is often used to add a touch of its distinctive lightly smoky character to cocktails based on other spirits particularly tequila. However, it's

20 best Montenegro cocktails image

20 best Montenegro cocktails

Whiskey, tequila, gin, mezcal and rum all feature in our 20 best Montenegro cocktails, evidence of how versatile this citrusy bittersweet amaro is. It's

20 best Overproof white rum cocktails image

20 best Overproof white rum cocktails

Jamaica is literally the spiritual home of overproof white rum and accounts for over 90% of all rum consumed in the country. Its fruity esters and firepower

20 best Peach Schnapps cocktails image

20 best Peach Schnapps cocktails

Peach schnapps sounds so much more exotic than mere peach liqueur but that's exactly what peach schnapps is, a clear peach liqueur that due to the schnapps

20 best Pineapple cocktails image

20 best Pineapple cocktails

Pineapples are luxuriant and tropical, their rich fruitiness balanced by an enlivening cutting acidity. Pineapple blends harmoniously with all spirits

20 best Pisco cocktails image

20 best Pisco cocktails

Pisco is the national spirit of both Peru and Chile and in both countries the iconic cocktail is the pisco sour, which, understandably in such hot climes,

20 best Prosecco cocktails image

20 best Prosecco cocktails

With its dry biscuity flavours, champagne offers upmarket decadence while prosecco is lighter, fruitier, and arguably altogether more fun and frivolous.

20 best Sake cocktails image

20 best Sake cocktails

Sake is phenomenal in cocktails and pairs well with any spirit. However, beware, a sake's delicate flavour can be easily shrouded. Use a good quality sake

20 best Scotch whisky cocktails image

20 best Scotch whisky cocktails

Before addressing what are the 20 best Scotch whisky cocktails, it's perhaps worth addressing the reputation, both blends and single malts, have for not

20 best Tequila cocktails image

20 best Tequila cocktails

With its earthy herbaceous flavours, tequila makes for both a versatile and characterful base spirit in cocktails. Contemporary pairings with tequila include

20 best Triple Sec cocktails image

20 best Triple Sec cocktails

Triple sec is an enduring mainstay of the cocktail bar, a key ingredient in classics such as the Corpse Reviver, Margarita, Sidecar and the White Lady.

20 best Vodka cocktails image

20 best Vodka cocktails

Vodka's success is partly due to it being marketed from the 1940s as a clear, pure, clean spirit that will mix with anything. Accordingly, it is regarded

20 best White crème de cacao cocktails image

20 best White crème de cacao cocktails

Chocolate is made from cacao beans and crème de cacao is flavoured with these beans but crème de cacao is not a chocolate liqueur. Crème de cacao may

20 best White crème de menthe cocktails image

20 best White crème de menthe cocktails

Mint = fresh and delicious. Think mojitos, juleps, mint candy, chewing gum and even toothpaste. Lurid green crème de menthe has put some folk off the

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