The 10 Grooviest Cocktails And How To Make Them
The Gimlet
The gimlet was one such early cocktail. According to a 1928 description of the drink, it was gin and a spot of lime.
For the more modern variation of the gimlet, mix the following ingredients together over ice and strain into an ice-filled old-fashioned glass. Garnish with a wedge of lime.
2 ½ oz. gin
¾ oz. Rose’s lime juice
Some recipes from the 1950s included the addition of simple syrup to give the drink a sweeter taste.
The Screwdriver
The classic brunch drink, the screwdriver, started to appear on the cusp of the 1950s. The screwdriver has a number of variations, but here is the basic recipe. This recipe makes four screwdrivers.
1 cup good vodka
1 ½ cups orange juice (fresh squeezed is best)
Orange slices
Ice
Mix the vodka and orange juice together. Pour over ice in four glasses and garnish with an orange slice.
The Piña Colada
As the men returned from World War I, they brought with them a taste for rum. This newfound love led to tropical-inspired drinks.
The Piña Colada (Spanish for “strained pineapple”) is a Puerto Rican rum drink and is a little more complicated than simply mixing the ingredients. This recipe makes four drinks.
½ fresh pineapple, cut into pieces.
6 oz. sweetened cream of coconut
2 oz. unsweetened coconut milk
8 oz. white rum
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice
2 oz. dark rum
Maraschino cherries and lime
1. Freeze pineapple chunks until solid, at least 3 hours.
2. Purée pineapple, cream of coconut, coconut milk, white rum, and lime juice with 3 cups of ice until smooth. Transfer mixture to the freezer until the consistency of a milkshake (about 25-30 minutes).
3. Blend again until it is the perfect consistency. Top each of four servings with ½ ounce of dark rum (optional) and garnish with a cherry and lime wedge.
Mai Tai
Tiki drinks originated in the 1930s and ‘40s in California, even though they are often associated with Hawaii. One of the originators of the drink was Don the Beachcomber. Trader Vic, one of the other names associated with tiki drinks, adopted and adapted his recipes, with the Mai Tai being possibly his masterpiece. What follows is the classic Trader Vic’s Mai Tai recipe. Some recipes call for a dark rum float, but it is not in the original Trader Vic recipe.
3/4 oz. fresh lime juice (the fresher the better)
1/2 oz. orange curaçao
1/4 oz. orgeat
1/4 oz. rich demerara simple syrup (with a 2:1 ratio of water to sugar)
2 oz. aged pot still or a blend of Jamaican rum (the rum should be full-bodied)
Combine all ingredients with 12 ounces of crushed ice and some cubes in a shaker. Shake until chilled and pour — ice and all — into a double old-fashioned glass. Garnish with a spent lime shell and mint sprig.
The Singapore Sling
The classic story of the Singapore Sling was that it was developed at that Long Bar in Raffles Hotel, Singapore, by Ngiam Tong Boon. A refreshing, fruity drink, it has been made in a number of different ways. What follows is the Raffles Hotel recipe for one drink.
1 ½ oz. gin
1 ½ oz. cherry heering
¼ oz. Cointreau
¼ oz. Benedictine
4 oz. pineapple juice
½ oz. lime juice
1⁄3 oz. grenadine
Dash of bitters
Shake with ice and strain into an ice-filled collins glass. Garnish with a slice of pineapple and a cherry.
The Hurricane
When whiskey was difficult to find in World War II, this drink was developed at Pat O’Brien’s bar, where they used rum and presented it in the tall glass shaped like a hurricane lamp. Hence, its name.
Recipe for a serving:
2 oz. light rum
2 oz. dark rum
2 oz. passion fruit juice
1 oz. orange juice
½ oz. fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon simple syrup
1 tablespoon grenadine
Mix the ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker and shake to combine. Strain into a hurricane glass filled with ice and garnish with a cherry and an orange slice.
Planter's Punch
Planter’s Punch was said to have originated at the Planters Hotel in Charleston, South Carolina, but others claim that it came from Jamaica. Because it is a punch in the traditional sense of the term, any one of the ingredients can be replaced with another.
1 ½ oz. dark rum
2 oz. pineapple juice
½ oz. lime juice
¼ oz. grenadine
2 oz. club soda (optional)
Pour ingredients with ice into a shaker. Shake and then strain over ice in a highball glass. Garnish with seasonal fruit.
The Mojito
The Mojito originated in Cuba, although its exact origins are a little unclear. There are a few theories about its name. It either came from a Cuban seasoning made from lime or it was a diminutive form of mojado (Spanish for “wet”). The mojito was a favorite of Ernest Hemingway.
10 fresh mint leaves
½ lime cut into four wedges
2 Tbs. white sugar, or to taste
1 c. ice cubes
1 ½ oz. white rum
½ c. club soda
Put the mint and 1 lime wedge in a glass. Using a muddler, crush the ingredients so the mint oils and lime juice are released. Add 2 more lime wedges and the sugar, and once again, muddle the limes to release the juice. Do not strain. Fill the glass with ice, almost to the top. Add rum and then fill the glass with club soda. Stir, taste, and if desired, add more sugar. Garnish with the last lime wedge.
The Grasshopper
The green-colored Grasshopper was invented in 1918 by Philip Guichet at Tujague’s a bar in New Orleans. This after-dinner drink became popular in the South during the 1950s and ‘60s.
To make one Grasshopper, mix the following into a shaker, shake well, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
¾ oz. crème de menthe
¾ oz. white crème de cacao
¼ oz. heavy cream
1 c. ice
The Pink Squirrel
The Pink Squirrel is a drink that some have said is an adult milkshake. It may have been created in the early 1940s in a cocktail lounge in Milwaukee and was popular for a time, but it lost its popularity in the 1970s. One ingredient, crème de noyaux, may be hard to find. It is an almond-flavored red liqueur and gives the drink its pink color. If you are unable to find it, substitute Amaretto and add a drop of red food coloring to get the pink color.
Pour the following into a shaker filled with ice and shake well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
¾ oz. crème de noyaux liqueur
¾ oz. white crème de cacao liqueur
1 ½ oz. heavy cream
