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Old Fashioned, Manhattan, Negroni, Margarita, Daiquiri — done properly, stocked simply. Ratios, substitutions, and the two bottles of bitters you actually need.
If you can make these five cocktails well, you can make 80% of every drink ever ordered at a bar. They're the parents of nearly every modern variation, and learning them properly will save you from buying a bunch of single-use ingredients you'll never use again.
The bare-minimum home bar
Before the recipes — here's what you actually need on hand to cover all five:
- Bourbon or rye whiskey
- Sweet vermouth (Carpano Antica or Dolin Rouge — keep refrigerated after opening)
- Campari
- Gin (a London Dry like Beefeater or Tanqueray)
- Tequila Blanco (100% agave — Espolòn, Cazadores, Olmeca Altos)
- Light rum
- Angostura bitters
- Orange bitters (Regan's or Fee Brothers)
- Demerara or simple syrup
- Fresh lemons and limes
- Orange (for peels)
That's it. Eleven items + citrus. You'll be set for a year.
1. Old Fashioned
The platonic ideal of cocktail simplicity. Built directly in the glass, no shaker required.
- 2 oz bourbon (or rye if you like it spicier)
- 1/4 oz simple syrup (or one sugar cube)
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
- Large ice cube · orange peel expressed and dropped in
The trick: stir 30 seconds after building. Watered-down old fashioneds are sad — properly stirred ones are silky.
2. Manhattan
Rye's most flattering home. Stirred, never shaken (Bond was wrong).
- 2 oz rye whiskey
- 1 oz sweet vermouth
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
- Stir over ice 30 seconds, strain into a chilled coupe · cherry garnish
The trick: chill the glass first. Run it under cold water for 30 seconds and stick it in the freezer. Cold glass → 4°F colder drink → completely different experience.
3. Negroni
The simplest impressive drink ever invented. Equal parts. Memorize this and you'll never forget it.
- 1 oz gin
- 1 oz Campari
- 1 oz sweet vermouth
- Build over ice in a rocks glass · stir · orange peel
The trick: first one tastes weird, second one tastes good, third one tastes like a religious experience. Trust the process. The bitterness is the point.
4. Margarita
The most-ruined cocktail in America. Fresh lime juice or don't make it.
- 2 oz blanco tequila
- 1 oz fresh lime juice
- 3/4 oz Cointreau or other quality triple sec
- Shake hard with ice 12 seconds · strain into a salt-rimmed rocks glass over fresh ice · lime wheel
The trick: avoid sweet-and-sour mix. Avoid bottled lime juice. The whole drink is balanced on the freshness of the citrus — corner-cut here ruins it.
5. Daiquiri
If you only know the slushy frozen version, you don't know the Daiquiri. The classic is three ingredients, sharp and bright.
- 2 oz light rum
- 3/4 oz fresh lime juice
- 1/2 oz simple syrup
- Shake hard with ice 12 seconds · strain into a chilled coupe · lime wheel
The trick: if it tastes too sour, add 1/4 oz more syrup. If it tastes too sweet, add 1/4 oz more lime. Calibrate to your palate. The classic ratio is a starting point, not a law.
The skill that ties them all together: stirring vs. shaking
- Shake when there's citrus or cream (you want texture, dilution, aeration).
- Stir when it's all spirits (you want clarity, silkiness, no foam).
That's it. That's the whole rule.
Two bonus skills
- Express citrus peels properly. Hold the peel waxy side down over the drink, pinch hard. The citrus oils that spray onto the surface change the smell — and cocktails are 70% smell.
- Buy good ice. Or freeze your own in silicone molds. Big, slow-melting ice doesn't water down your drink. Small ice from the dispenser turns a $4 drink into juice in 90 seconds.
Stop in for the bottles or text us your list and we'll have the full home-bar setup ready at the counter — typically under $200 for everything in this article including bitters.