Cocktails are growing in popularity more each year, in fact, according to the Guardian, at-home cocktail consumption grew 44% year on year during the pandemic. From classic and well-known cocktails, to new and modern cocktails, these delicious drinks combine a range of flavours with fresh ingredients to create scrumptious and refreshing beverages that can be enjoyed by all. There are lots of easy cocktail drinks you can make and enjoy, there are even some cocktails with few ingredients that you might be able to make right away. To help you to learn how to make easy cocktails at home, we have put together a list of 10 simple cocktail recipes, including beginner cocktails that are easy to make, quick to prepare and don’t require too many ingredients.
10 Easy Cocktail Drinks
1.Mojito
This refreshing and popular cocktail originated from Cuba. It combines a slightly sweet note, with a citrus and herbaceous mint flavour. Mojitos are easy cocktail drinks to make, consisting of only 5 ingredients.
Ingredients: 60ml white rum, juice of 1 fresh lime, 2 teaspoons sugar, 6 leaves of Mint, Soda Water
Preparation: Muddle mint sprigs with sugar and lime juice. Add the rum and top with soda water
Served: Over ice, with a straw in a Collins glass
Garnish: Slice of lime, Sprigs of mint
Tips: Using an unaged white rum gives the drink a lighter flavour. Key limes provide a more intense lime flavour, while mint stems have more mint oil than the leaves, giving the drink a stronger mint tone. Muddle the ingredients 20 times for the perfect mix.
2.Margarita
If you want to try your hand at making one of the cocktails with few ingredients, a margarita is the perfect place to start. One of the most simple cocktail recipes, the margarita is quick to make and delicious to enjoy with friends.
Ingredients: 50ml Tequila, 25ml lime juice, 20ml triple sec
Preparation: Sprinkle a few teaspoons of salt on a saucer or a small plate. Rub a wedge of lime along the rim of a margarita glass then dip the rim into the salt so the entire rim is covered in salt. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, add the tequila, lime juice and triple sec and shake until the outside of the shaker feels cold. Strain the cocktail mix into the glass you prepared first and garnish with a wedge of lime.
Served: Over ice, in a margarita glass
Garnish: Salt and 2 lime wedges
Tips: Chilling the margarita glass before you prepare the cocktail makes it even more delicious. For people who aren’t fond of cold drinks, you can serve your margarita neat, i.e. without ice. If you’re making margaritas for you and your friends, simply increase the ingredients and serve in a pitcher, with pre-salted glasses.
3.Whiskey Sour
A combination of sour, bitter and sweet, the whiskey sour is one of the best simple cocktail drinks for parties. The easiest of beginner cocktails and requiring only a few simple ingredients.
Ingredients: 50ml bourbon, 35ml lemon juice, 2½ml 2:1 sugar syrup, 2 dashes bitters, ½ fresh egg white, ice and 50p-sized piece of lemon zest
Preparation: Fill a cocktail shaker with all the ingredients except for the lemon zest and shake hard, strain into an ice-filled rocks glass. Squeeze lemon zest over the drink so the oils spread over the surface, garnish and serve.
Served: Over ice, in a rocks glass
Garnish: Slice of orange and a cherry on a stick
Tips: If you aren’t in the mood to make a full cocktail, this beverage can also be made as a shot.
4. Gin and Tonic
This bitter sweet beverage, with a crisp and refreshing taste is one of the quickest easy cocktail drinks and one of the cocktails with few ingredients. This simple cocktail recipes needs only two main ingredients (as well as ice and garnish) and it can be tailored to your preferred taste.
Ingredients: the ratio of gin to tonic will depend on the strength of the gin you use and how you prefer the drink to taste. Most recipes use a 1:1, a 1:3, or a 1:3 ratio, which means you would use one to three parts gin and three parts of tonic water.
Preparation: You don’t even need a cocktail shaker for this one. Get a tall and narrow glass, fill it with ice, pour in your preferred amount of gin, add tonic water and stir well with a long-necked spoon.
Served: Over ice, in a tall, narrow glass
Garnish: Wedge of lime (or a slice of cucumber)
Tips: For extra taste, you can add lime juice into the mix. Try this combination with different flavoured gins and tonic waters until you find the perfect combination for your taste buds.
5.Rum Punch
A colourful beverage, this one of the best simple cocktail drinks for parties. Combining sweet and sour, this Caribbean cocktail is a perfect fruity drink. Although it requires a few more ingredients and preparation time than the other drinks here, this is still one of the simple cocktail recipes, and one of the most impressive.
Ingredients: 175ml freshly squeezed orange juice, 75ml freshly squeezed lime juice, 150ml golden rum, 50ml sugar syrup, dash of grenadine syrup, dash of bitters
Preparation: Pour the juices, rum, sugar syrup, grenadine and bitters into a large jug, stir well and refrigerate for an hour. Fill your glasses with ice, pour in the rum punch and garnish.
Served: Over ice, in a rum punch glass
Garnish: A sprinkle of freshly grated nutmeg, two thick slices of orange and maraschino cherries on a cocktail stick.
Tips: For a sweeter taste, add extra grenadine or for a more vibrant red colour, use cranberry juice instead of grenadine. Try experimenting with different types of rum, or add fruit like oranges, limes or lemons. Leftover rum punch can be stored in the fridge for up to two days.
6.Mimosa
Light and bubbly with a slightly citrus flavour, the mimosa is one of the quick cocktails popular with brunch or breakfast, and at events like weddings, baby showers and other special occasions. One of the cocktails with few ingredients, the mimosa only needs two ingredients.
Ingredients: sparkling wine and orange juice
Preparation: Very simple to make, simply half fill a champagne flute with orange juice and top with sparkling wine
Served: In a champagne flute
Garnish: A mimosa doesn’t need to be garnished, but if you want to make it extra delicious, you could garnish with a strawberry
Tips: The ratio of sparkling wine to orange juice varies depending on the recipe. Some suggest a 50/50 ratio, others will recommend two parts sparkling wine to one part orange juice, while some use three parts sparkling wine to one part orange juice. Instead of sparkling wine, you can use prosecco or champagne. Make sure you cool the orange juice before you use it. For a non-alcoholic mocktail, switch out the sparkling wine for a sparkling water.
7.Cosmopolitan
Also known as a cosmo, this sweet drink has a slight tang to it. Cosmopolitan is one of the cocktails with few ingredients, requiring only four ingredients. Visually aesthetic and the best simple cocktail drinks for parties, the cosmopolitan is a pretty pink drink that is ideal for special occasions.
Ingredients: 45ml lemon vodka, 15ml triple sec, 30ml cranberry juice, 10ml lime juice
Preparation: Put all the ingredients in the cocktail shaker with some ice, shake and strain
Served: In a large cocktail glass
Garnish: With orange zest or a lime wedge
Tips: To garnish with orange zest, hold the zest (approximately 3cm, round) approximately 10cm above the cocktail. Carefully wave it over a lit match or flame, then drop into the drink.
8.Tequila Sunrise
An unmixed drink and one of the easy cocktail drinks to make. Tequila sunrise is another beautiful looking drink and best simple cocktail drinks for parties.
Ingredients: 2 tsp grenadine, 50ml tequila, 1 tbsp triple sec, 1 juiced large orange (or 2 small), juiced
½ lemon
Preparation: Pour the grenadine into a tall glass and set aside. Put ice, tequila, triple sec and fruit juices into a cocktail shaker shake until the shaker is cold on the outside. Double strain the cocktail into the glass, trying not to disturb the grenadine.
Served: With ice in a tall glass
Garnish: With a cherry on a cocktail stick or an umbrella.
Tips: You can simplify this cocktail further by using just orange juice and leaving out the lemon.
9.Vodka Lemonade
Requiring just vodka and lemonade this is one of the cocktails with few ingredients and perhaps the simplest of beginner cocktails. This is a classic and refreshing drink.
Ingredients: 50ml vodka and 125ml of lemonade
Preparation: Pour the vodka into a tall glass filled with ice, top with lemonade and stir well
Served: With ice in a tall glass
Garnish: With a sprig of fresh mint
Tips: For an extra zesty kick, add lemon slices into the glass before you put the lemonade in.
10.Old Fashioned
The old fashioned is one of the most traditional and quick cocktails to make. With a caramel-like flavour combined with a zest, the elegance of this drink makes it the best simple cocktail drinks for parties.
Ingredients: 2 tsp sugar syrup or 1 tsp granulated sugar, 1-2 dashes bitters, splash of water, 60ml Jameson Black Barrel Irish Whiskey or bourbon
Preparation: Put the sugar, bitters and water in a small tumbler and mix until the sugar dissolves. Fill the glass with ice and stir in the whiskey (or bourbon). You can add a splash of soda water if you like, garnish and serve.
Served: With ice in a small tumbler
Garnish: With a slice of orange
Tips: You can also garnish with a maraschino cherry.
Tips for how to make easy cocktails at home
While these are recipes, you can change them up to better suit your taste preferences. Don’t be afraid to try different ingredients or quantities, cocktail making isn’t an exact science. To make your own simple cocktail recipes, here are some of the basic tools you might need:
- Cocktail shaker
- A strainer
- Measuring jug
- Cocktail glasses
- Long-stemmed spoons
- Cocktail sticks
Why not give some of these recipes a try at home, then come back here and share your experiences. Leave us a comment with any tips you have. If you have any easy cocktails drinks and recipes you would like to share with us, we would love to hear from you.