Every family of drink on the site, from fruit and fizzy to spiced and frozen. Pick a mood and start there.
A neutral spirit redistilled with botanicals, juniper first among them. Dry and aromatic, and the base of the martini and most of the classic sours.
Distilled from sugarcane juice or molasses. White, dark and spiced are the same spirit at different ages, so they sit together here.
Distilled to neutrality and filtered, so it carries the other ingredients rather than competing with them. Texture and temperature do most of the work.
Made from blue agave, by law in and around Jalisco. Unaged blanco is grassy and direct; time in oak softens and darkens it.
American whiskey made from at least 51% corn and aged in new charred oak. Rounder and sweeter than rye.
Sweetened spirits flavoured with fruit, nuts, herbs or cream, used in small measures to steer a drink.
Whisky made in Scotland and aged at least three years. Peat is optional; where it is used, you taste the smoke.
Grain spirit aged in wood. This hub holds the whiskies a recipe does not pin down as bourbon, scotch or rye.
Champagne, prosecco and the other sparkling wines, used to lengthen a drink and carry its aromatics.
Brandy from the Cognac region of France, twice distilled and aged in oak. Softer and rounder than brandy generally.
Whiskey made mostly from rye grain. Drier and sharper than bourbon, which is why the older recipes ask for it by name.
Bitter herbal liqueurs, taken before a meal to sharpen the appetite or after it to settle.
Grape brandy from Peru and Chile, bottled unaged so the fruit stays at the front.
The drinks the rest are measured against: a spirit, something to sweeten it and something to sharpen it, in proportions that have settled over a century.
Spirit, citrus and sugar in balance, shaken hard and strained cold. Egg white is optional and changes the texture rather than the taste.
Spirit, sugar and bitters stirred over ice until cold and properly dilute. The oldest shape a cocktail takes.
Spirit and vermouth, stirred cold and served up with no ice in the glass. The ratio is the whole argument.
A measure of spirit lengthened with something fizzy, built straight in the glass over ice.
A sour built long: spirit, lemon and sugar over ice, topped with soda and drunk from a tall glass.
A sour shaken without ice in the glass, then lengthened with soda so it arrives with a head on it.
A bitter liqueur, sparkling wine and soda over ice. Low in strength and made to last an hour.
Rum, citrus and tropical syrups layered over crushed ice, garnished as generously as the glass allows.
Spirit, citrus, sugar, water and spice mixed in quantity, served from a bowl or over crushed ice.
Spirit poured over crushed ice with mint, stirred in the cup until frost forms on the outside.
Whole egg or yolk shaken with a spirit and sugar, for body and a soft texture rather than foam.
One measure, drunk in one. Built or shaken, strained, and served without ice.
Blended with ice into a thick slush, and drunk within a minute of leaving the blender.
Served warm: a spirit lengthened with hot water, tea, coffee or milk, and usually spiced.
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