F&W’s Ultimate Guide to Cocktail Recipes

Many of the best cocktails are inspired by classic drinks, the starting point for any modern mixologist. Here, pre-Prohibition standbys and new favorites.

Rosalind Russell cocktail with cured salmon (photo at right)

Reinvented Classic Cocktails

The Savoy Daisy

In updating the classic Daisy cocktail, bartender Erik Lorincz uses muscovado, an unrefined brown sugar with a very moist texture and a strong molasses flavor.
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Cucumber Cosmopolitan

The bartenders at Great Bay restaurant in Boston make their spin on a Cosmopolitan with Hendrick’s, a Scottish gin that’s infused with both cucumber and rose petals.
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Sazerac Reborn

Cocktail king Greg Best of Atlanta’s Holeman & Finch infuses apple brandy with star anise in this version of a classic.
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Mango Margarita

Bartender David Yan coats the rim of the glass with citrusy Tajin-brand chile powder, but any powdered chile will give the drink a fun kick.
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Lychee Gimlet

Lychee nectar balances the tartness of fresh lime juice in this Asian-Peruvian take on the gimlet.
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Wry Manhattan

The Wry Manhattan was created to honor Fritz Maytag, the San Francisco brewer and distiller behind Anchor Steam beer and Old Potrero single-malt rye whiskey.
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Champagne Mojito

This puckery drink is prepared with rum and fresh mint like a classic mojito, but New Orleans chef John Besh tops it with a splash of Champagne.
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The Un-Usual Suspect

Bartender Kai Braaten offers the Un-Usual Suspect as an alternative to the Negroni. Both drinks use Italian bitters, but Braaten prefers Fernet-Branca’s herbal complexity to the Campari in Negronis for this drink.
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