Words by Simon Difford
Photography by Dan Malpass
There are just so many "American classic cocktails" that some of the very best are forgotten. While some may say the Long Island Iced Tea and Hurricane should not be on a 20-best list, they are certainly among the 20 best-known. Hence, the following are the best of the best-known American classic cocktails.
1. Algonquin
With: Rye whiskey, vermouth, pineapple juice and creole bitters.
We say: One of several classic cocktails accredited to New York City's Algonquin Hotel in the 1930s.
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2. Bronx
With: Gin, sweet vermouth, dry vermouth, orange juice and orange bitters
We say: A classic cocktail named after one of New York's five boroughs, probably more directly after the then newly opened Bronx Zoo.
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3. Clover Club
With: Dry gin, dry vermouth, raspberry syrup, lime juice, lemon juice, and egg white.
We say: Eponymously named after a club founded in 1882 by a group of prominent Philadelphia journalists who, from 1883 to 1897, met each Thursday at Philadelphia's Hotel Bellevue.
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4. Cosmopolitan Cocktail (Difford's recipe)
With: Vodka, triple sec, cranberry juice, lime juice and orange bitters.
We say: Not the 1934 recipe with gin, but the modern classic we all associate with New York City, where bar legend Dale DeGroff added the distinctive garnish and HBO's Sex and the City made it famous.
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5. Long Island Iced Tea
With: Light white rum, dry gin, vodka, blanco tequila, triple sec, sugar syrup, lemon juice, lime juice, and cola.
We say: This cocktail reached the height of its popularity in the early 1980s, and by 1985, The New York Times reported, "A potent alcoholic drink called Long Island Iced Tea is sweeping the Island's bars as well as watering spots across the country."
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6. Hurricane
With: Light aged rum, navy rum, pineapple juice, orange juice, lime juice, lime cordial, sugar syrup and passionfruit syrup.
We say: Thought to have originated in 1939 at the Hurricane Bar in New York City, but made famous at Pat O'Brien's in New Orleans.
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7. Last Word Cocktail
With: Gin, Green Chartreuse, maraschino liqueur, and lime juice
We say: Thought to date from immediately prior to Prohibition but owes its present-day popularity to being reincarnated in 2004 by Murray Stenson during his tenure at the Zig Zag Café in Seattle, USA.
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8. Mai Tai (Trader Vic's) Cocktail
With: Aged rum, orange liqueur, lime juice, orgeat syrup and pure cane sugar syrup.
We say: One for the West Coast here, invented by Victor Jules Bergeron, or Trader Vic as he became known. The story goes that one evening in 1944, he tested a new cocktail on two friends from Tahiti, Ham and Carrie Guild. After the first sip, Carrie exclaimed, "Mai Tai-Roa Aé," which in Tahitian means "Out of this world- the best!" So, Vic named the drink Mai Tai.
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9. Manhattan (Sweet)
With: Bourbon, sweet vermouth and aromatic bitters.
We say: The first known written mention of the Manhattan is in a September 1882 article of the Olean, New York, Sunday Morning Herald.
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10. Martini
With: Dry, dry vermouth and orange bitters.
We say: to quote David Embury in 1948, "After extensive experimentation I have arrived at the ratio of 5 to 1 as the proportion most pleasing to the average palate."
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11. Martinez
With: Oude genever, rosso vermouth, dry vermouth, orange curaçao, and aromatic bitters.
We say: Drinks historians broadly agree that the Martinez evolved from the Manhattan and preceded the Martini and that it emerged sometime in the 1860s or early 1870s.
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12. Mint Julep
With: Mint leaves, bourbon whiskey, sugar syrup, aromatic bitters.
We say: A cocktail closely identified with America's Deep South and famously served at the Kentucky Derby, the Julep probably came to America by way of Europe but was only made with whiskey once it had crossed the Atlantic.
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13. New York Sour
With: Bourbon whiskey, lemon juice, sugar syrup, aromatic bitters, egg white, and a red wine float.
We say: Thought to have first been made in the 1880s by a bartender in Chicago, the drink was originally named the Continental Sour and then the Southern Whiskey Sour before becoming known as the New York Sour, probably after a bartender in Manhattan started serving the drink and making it popular.
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14. Old Fashioned
With: Bourbon, rye whiskey, brown sugar syrup, abbott's bitters, and saline solution
We say: Considered the original "cocktail", it dates back to the 1700s, later acquiring its "Old Fashioned" name to distinguish it from what were then new-fangled concoctions.
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15. Pisco Punch
With: Pisco, pineapple juice, orange juice, lemon juice, sugar syrup and champagne.
We say: The Pisco Punch was created in San Francisco and made famous at
the city's legendary Bank Exchange bar, where the recipe was a closely guarded secret.View the recipe
16. Ramos Gin Fizz
With: Old Tom gin, lemon juice, lime juice, sugar syrup, orange flower water, vanilla extract, egg white, cream and soda water.
We say: Originally named the New Orleans Fizz, the Ramos Gin Fizz was created in 1888 by Henry Charles Ramos at the Imperial Cabinet Saloon on the corner of Gravier and Carondelet Streets in New Orleans.
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17. Rob Roy
With: Scotch whisky, sweet vermouth and Abbott's bitters.
We say: Created in 1894 at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel (the Empire State Building occupies the site today) and named not after the Scottish folk hero and outlaw Robert Roy MacGregor but after the Broadway show that was showing at the time.
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18. Sazerac Cocktail (Difford's recipe)
With: Absinthe, cognac, rye whiskey, bourbon whiskey, sugar syrup, creole bitters, and aromatic bitters.
We say: A New Orleans cocktail with one essential ingredient: Peychaud's aromatic bitters (Creole bitters), created by Antoine Amedee Peychaud. Arriving in New Orleans as a refugee, he eventually created an American Aromatic Bitter cordial and marketed it as a medicinal tonic, serving it mixed with brandy and other liquors.
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19. Southside
With: Mint leaves, dry gin, lime juice and sugar syrup.
We say: Purported to have originated at New York's Twenty-One Club, a long version served over crushed ice is said to have come from the southside of Chicago during Prohibition, where it was drunk by the Southside mobsters, while on the other side of town, hoodlums enjoyed the Northside (gin and ginger ale).
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20. Vieux Carré
With: Rye whiskey, cognac, sweet vermouth, Bénédictine D.O.M, Creole and aromatic bitters.
We say: Created in 1938 by Walter Bergeron, then head bartender at what is now the Carousel bar at the Monteleone Hotel, New Orleans, USA. It is named after the French term for New Orleans' French Quarter and literally translates as 'old square'.
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