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Gin cocktails

Making cocktails at home Starter ingredients Basic tools & equipment Easy recipes by spirit

Making cocktails at home
Starter ingredients
Basic tools & equipment
Easy recipes by spirit
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Gin cocktails

Negroni Cocktail

Bitter and dry, but very tasty. This no namby-pamby drink is traditionally assembled and mixed directly in the glass. There is something about a Negroni

Southside Rickey

A gin-based Mojito served over cracked ice meets the classic Southside. The result is refreshing and easy drinking.

Atta Boy Cocktail

The orange zest twist makes or breaks this classic, which when properly balanced lets the gin shine with the sweet pomegranate notes of the grenadine obvious

Aviation Cocktail (Savoy spec.)

This is a fantastic, tangy cocktail and dangerously easy to drink - too many of these and you really will be flying.

Bee's Knees

The combination of honey and lemon suggests flu relief but don't wait for an ailment before trying this soothing concoction. The beneficial addition of

Bronx

A fairly dry, complex cocktail. Generous sweet vermouth and orange juice make the Bronx less bitter and fruitier than many of its era, but still challenging

Cardinale

Originally made with Riesling Rhine wine, the Cardinale has become a Negroni made with dry vermouth, producing a lighter cocktail than when made with the

Fitzgerald

A Tangy and fresh Gin Sour without the egg white. A juniper heavy gin and dashes of bitters are key to the success of this sour.

White Lady Cocktail

A simple, silky and delicious gin-laced classic with a sour finish.

Casino (by David Embury)

Basically an Aviation but with a splash of orange juice and a dash of orange bitters in place of creme de violette.

Coffee Negroni

Gin forward, boozy and bittersweet – as it says on the tin, this is a coffee flavoured Negroni – simple as that.

Coffee Collins

Long sweet 'n' sour coffee.

Clover Leaf Cocktail No.1 (Classic Formula)

Smooth, aromatic, fruity and medium sweet.

The Business

A riff on a classic Bee's Knees with lime juice. It's snappier with lime instead of lemon.

Dry Martini (1:1 ratio) Fifty-Fifty

A very 'wet' but wonderfully Dry Martini which demands an olive, not a twist. Before you start - Craddock calls for it to be shaken, but it's better stirred.

Dry Martini (2:1.5 ratio) Sopping Wet

Herbal vermouth flavours pervade this Sopping Wet Martini.

Dry Martini (2:1 ratio) Wet

Reputed to be a favourite of HRH Prince Charles.

Dry Martini (3:1 ratio)

Three to one may be unfair odds in a fight but vermouth shines in this stirred off-dry Martini. Through experimentation we have found that 3:1 Martinis

Dry Martini (4:1 ratio)

A stirred four-to-one Martini is indeed a delicious thing. But is a five-to-one Martini even more delicious? Try both, and perhaps also a three-to-one.

Dry Martini (5:1 ratio) Dickens Preferred

We have chosen a 5:1 ratio as our 'preferred' Dry Martini specification in deference to David Embury who writes of this drink in his The Fine Art of Mixing

Dry Martini (7:1 ratio) Embury's

Readers of Embury will know he had a bone dry palate and Martinis made to his specification are just that, and with the correct dilution, fabulous.

Dry Martini (10:1 ratio) Preferred Shaken

There's something about shaking a Dry Martini (as opposed to stirring a Martini) that amplifies the vermouth notes meaning that shaken Martinis need less

Dry Martini (15:1 ratio) Montgomery's

Bone dry - a superbly cleansing Martini. Through experimentation we have found that 15:1 Martinis are better shaken rather than stirred. Conversely 3:1

Dry Martini (15:5 dumped) Franklin

A Dry Martini named after Franklin Roosevelt and garnished with two olives.

Gin Salad Dry Martini

A Gin Salad is made like a regular Dry Martini but with three olives and two cocktail onions as garnish. They should be pushed onto the stick in the following

Bradford Martini

More approachable than a stirred Dry Martini and downright soft compared to a Naked Martini.

Reverse Martini

Simply a Dry Martini with the proportions reversed to make a dripping Wet Martini.

Cowboy Hoof Martini

Lightly sweetened gin shaken with fresh aromatic mint.

Dickens' Dry Martini

A 5:1 Dry Martini served without any garnish (i.e. no olive or twist). The name is a reference to Charles Dicken's novel Oliver Twist.

Dry Martini - The 'Naked' or 'Direct' Martini

The quantities of gin and vermouth stated in this recipe produce a Dry Martini with a 30:1 ratio of gin to vermouth. A small amount of dilution is achieved

Dry Orange Martini

Bone dry, orangey, aptly named Martini.

Froth Blower Cocktail

Salmon-pink and very frothy but surprisingly complex and tasty.

Gibson Dry Martini

A classic Dry Martini with cocktail onions in place of an olive or a twist.

Gin & It

Remembering both vermouth and gin are flavoured with similar botanicals, they obviously have an affinity for each other. This drink may be simple but made

Gin Fizz

Everyone has heard of this clean, refreshing, long drink but few have actually tried it.

Gin Pahit

The balance of bitters to sugar is key to the success of this cocktail. Use a Japanese dasher bitters bottle and measure your 2:1 sugar syrup judiciously

Medium Martini

A classic Martini served perfect and very wet. I prefer mine shaken which is the method Harry specifies in his guide.

Monkey Gland

I've added the merest touch of sugar to the classic recipe and a dash more absinthe to make this old-school cocktail pop. However, approach with caution,

Moonshine Martini

A wet Martini with balanced hints of maraschino and absinthe.

Nick & Nora

The classic three to one Martini.

Orange Bloom Martini

Strong, fruity, zesty orange laced with gin.

Peto Martini

An aromatic classic Martini served 'perfect' with a hint of orange juice and maraschino.

Pink Gin

This is a drink that likes dilution and I'd aim for around almost equal parts water and gin after stirring with ice. A spoon full of sugar certainly helps

Roosevelt Martini

A regular Martini, but garnished with two olives instead of one.

Roselyn Cocktail

A wet Martini made 'easy' by a dash of pomegranate/grenadine syrup.

Sweet Martini

A gin martini made with sweet vermouth - sweet in name but drier than the cherry garnish might indicate.

Swizzles Cocktail

Somewhat reminiscent of a frozen gimlet – the combination of gin and lime shines in this freshening swizzle.

The Bennett Cocktail

Judicious dashing of bitters makes or breaks this riff on the classic Gimlet.

Tipperary #2

Delicate with subtle hints of mint, orange and gin.

Turf Club Cocktail (Johnson's recipe)

Despite the maraschino liqueur this Martini-style cocktail is dry and punchy.

Tuxedo Cocktail No.2 (Savoy & Duffy's recipe)

A Fifty-Fifty Martini with added flavour and aroma thanks to the addition of a trio of bitters, liquor and liqueur.

Army Martini

This rosé coloured Martini is harder and more spirituous than it looks - perhaps why the name?

Bald Head

This could also be termed a Perfect Martini and it could be argued that bald is a perfect hairstyle – at least for us baldies.

Bitter Lady

We have dramatically cut the Campari and lemon in Mickael's original recipe to make a much lighter drink.

Chelsea Sidecar

Gin replaces cognac in this variation on the classic Sidecar.

Coffee Sour

Just as it says on the tin, a sweet 'n' sour coffee.

Copper Illusion

Basically a Negroni with liqueur replacing sweet vermouth. Like the Italian classic this is both bitter and sweet.

Fiendtini

A gin Martini 'dirtied' with pickled gherkin brine and garnished with a pickled gherkin.

Fine & Dandy

A gin based drink that's soured with lemon and sweetened with orange liqueur.

Gin & Sin

This is one of those drinks that benefits from a little dilution to prevent the citrus and gin becoming too aggressive.

Gin Daisy #3 (Modern long style)

Fruit and botanicals served long and refreshing.

Gin Fix

A Gin Sour served over crushed ice in a goblet.

Gin Rickey

Clean, sharp and refreshing. Please don't serve this in a Collins glass, it should be a short drink served long in a 10oz Highball or Fizz glass.

Gin Sling

Sugar balances the citrus juice, the spirit fortifies and the carbonate lengthens.

Golf Cocktail

A 'wet' Martini with bitters.

Hearst Martini

A fantastically wet, sweet and aromatic Martini.

Hoffman House

A shaken Wet (5:1) Martini with orange bitters.

Imperial Martini

A Fifty Fifty Martini with faintly rust colour inducing bitters and subtly fruity maraschino.

Income Tax Cocktail

A Bronx with equal parts rosso and dry vermouths and with Angostura in place of orange bitters.

John Collins

A refreshing balance of sour lemon and sugar, laced with gin and lengthened with soda.

Livingstone

The classic gin and vermouth Dry Martini made not so dry and a bit more approachable with a splash of sugar.

Lucien Gaudin

A must-try for anyone who loves Negronis. Perhaps better, certainly easier drinking, when served on-the-rocks.

Maiden's Prayer

Fresh, zesty orange with a pleasing twang of alcohol.

Martinez (with London Dry gin)

This Martinez is aromatic, complex and very dry.

Merry-Go-Round Martini

Stir this 'perfect' Martini around and then get merry.

Mint Collins

Exactly what the name promises.

Noon

This classic cocktail is smooth and aromatic.

North Pole Martini

An Aviation smoothed by egg white and cream.

Old Flame

Bittersweet, orchard fresh orange charged with gin.

Orange Martini

A sophisticated, complex balance of orange and gin.

Pink Gin Fizz

As the name suggests, this refreshing and fruity long drink is both gin-laced and pink in colour. And yes, it's also fizzy. Well if not out and out fizzy,