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
Creamy and indulgent – advocaat is brilliantly suited to Christmas and indeed Christmas cocktails.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Mezcal is often used to add a touch of its distinctive character (often lightly smoky) to cocktails based on other spirits, particularly tequila. However,
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
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
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
Pineapples are luxuriant and tropical, their rich fruitiness balanced by an enlivening cutting acidity. Pineapple blends harmoniously with all spirits
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
