Five Easy Cocktails to Make At Home

Don't have a cocktail shaker? No problem, you can make a plethora of cocktails with just a spoon and a glass, or even in a jar with a lid. Let's go beyond liquor and soda and craft some delicious and exciting cocktails that are easy to make at home for any home bartender of any skill level. First, let's review the basics of cocktail crafting.

Shaking & Stirring (when and why)

Cocktails containing citrus juices, milk or cream, eggs, or other opaque ingredients should be shaken. Shaking chills and dilutes a drink, and also aerates it, creating a frothy texture and ensuring liquids with different viscosities will blend well and stay blended while you're sipping your cocktail. Stirring provides a gentler chilling and less dilution, maintaining a clear, smooth texture with much aeration, so this is great for cocktails that are composed of mainly spirits and liqueurs like a Martini, Negroni, or a Manhattan.

Before I hand out recipes that aren't liquor and soda, you can revisit that subject in Soda and Alcohol Cocktails That Work. There are endless possibilities when you swap different flavors of soda or choose from the myriad flavored sparkling water options. Or, grab a premium infused spirit from the growing category of flavored and infused spirits.

Getting Fancy: the Alaska Aperitif

Just because a cocktail calls for three ingredients, doesn't mean it can't have complex flavors. Throw a simple cocktail into a fancy glass with a garnish and you're ready to sip and mingle at Downton Abbey. The Alaska Aperitif is a perfect example. Just three liquid ingredients and one garnish create a cocktail that delivers big on flavor and complexity.

Lillet Blanc is a French aperitif, specifically an aromatized wine, from the Bordeaux region. This aperitif is made by blending white wines; Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc are the dominant grapes, with fruit liqueurs, citrus peels, and a touch of quinine. It's known for its floral, honeyed, and slightly sweet flavor profile with notes of peach and citrus. Lillet Blanc can be enjoyed on its own, chilled with an orange twist, or used as a cocktail ingredient. Yellow Chartreuse is a French liqueur, produced by Carthusian monks, known for its vibrant yellow color, bittersweet, and assertive herbal profile made with a secret recipe of 130 plants, bark, roots, spices, and flowers.

Alaska Aperitif

1.5 oz Lillet Blanc

1 oz Yellow Chartreuse

.5 oz London Dry Gin

Add all ingredients to a mixing glass and stir with a handful of cubed ice. Strain into a coupe or stemmed cocktail glass and garnish with a fresh lemon twist.

Two Tickets To Paradise: Little Italy Cocktail

Eddie Money knew what he was talking about, but in this case, no need to pack your bags or shell out the big bucks. The Paper Plane cocktail is a tried and true favorite of bourbon lovers and cocktail connoisseurs alike. But it requires a cocktail shaker. Consisting of equal parts bourbon, Aperol, lemon juice, and a bitter liqueur like Amaro Nonio. It's bold, it's flavorful, and it's a winner when shaken well, resulting in a frosty pour. You can build this cocktail in a mason jar with a lid, add some cubed ice, and then try not to get any ice from the jar into your cocktail glass after shaking it well. If you have a cocktail shaker at home, you're in business.

Here's another option that doesn't require a shake and offers a similar profile to that offered up by the Cocktail Contessa herself, cocktail book author Heather Wibbels. The Little Italy cocktail consists of bourbon, Aperol, Montenegro Amaro, and cherries for garnish. "When you drink a Little Italy cocktail, the citrus flavors will make you want to take a trip to a sunny destination," says Wibbels—a trip to Italy with a few quick stirs. Aperol is a bright orange, low-alcohol Italian aperitivo known for its bittersweet flavor made with a secret blend of herbs and roots, including gentian, rhubarb, and cinchona. Aperol is often enjoyed in the popular Aperol Spritz cocktail and is typically consumed before a meal to stimulate the appetite. Amaro Montenegro is an Italian herbal liqueur, specifically a type of amaro, known for its complex, bittersweet flavor profile and made from a secret blend of 40 botanicals, including vanilla, orange peels, and eucalyptus, produced in Bologna, Italy.

Little Italy Cocktail

2 oz bourbon

1 oz Aperol

½ oz Amaro Montenegro

Garnish: cherries

Combine bourbon, Aperol, and amaro in a mixing glass and fill with cubed ice. Stir for 30 seconds or until well-chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe glass and garnish with cherries.

The Wild Side: Ancho Reyes Old Fashioned

Playing with liqueurs is a great way to bring fun flavors and texture to cocktails. Mix a liqueur and spirit with soda, and you have a winning combination. Reach for a spicy liqueur and you've got a party in a glass. Ancho Reyes is a Mexican chili liqueur crafted with sun-dried ancho chiles, known for its unique blend of heat, sweetness, smoke, and spice. This liqueur can be enjoyed on its own, as an aperitif or digestive, or mixed into cocktails. Put Ancho Reyes together with a blanco tequila and a splash of tonic water, and you've got a refreshing, spicy elixir that is sure to please a crowd. But, I promised to leave the soda behind, so try this fun twist on the classic Old Fashioned.

Ancho Reyes Old Fashioned

1 oz Ancho Reyes Original

1 oz Añejo tequila

2 Dashes Angostura Bitters

2 Dashes Orange Bitters

Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with cubed ice and stir well. Strain over fresh cubed ice and garnish with a lemon peel.

Coffee Lovers Unite: Hazelnut Affogato

Continuing with the magic of liqueurs, Frangelico is an Italian hazelnut-flavored liqueur beloved for its rich, sweet flavor profile featuring notes of toasted hazelnuts, vanilla, and cocoa. Frangelico is commonly enjoyed neat, on the rocks, or as an ingredient in cocktails and desserts. The affogato is easy to craft and delivers big on interest and flavor. It's an excellent dessert cocktail in the summer and a heart-warming cocktail in colder months. Change up the personality of your affogato by switching out liqueurs; you can use coffee liqueurs or chocolate liqueurs.

Hazelnut Affogato

2 oz hot espresso or black coffee

½ oz Frangelico

2 scoops of vanilla ice cream

Add the scoops of vanilla ice cream to a glass or mug, top with Frangelico, and then espresso or coffee. And if you're feeling fancy, top with chocolate shavings.

Bring Out the Big Guns: French 75 Twist

The French 75 Twist cocktail is a classic drink named after a powerful French 75mm field gun used in World War I. Its origin is often linked to Harry's New York Bar in Paris around 1915, where it was initially known as the "Soixante Quinze". The drink's combination of gin (or sometimes cognac), lemon juice, simple syrup, and Champagne was said to have the same powerful and impactful effect as the artillery piece. For those of you who prefer vodka to gin, with a quick change of base spirit, swap gin for lemon vodka, and you've got a cocktail that is easy to build at home, is great for entertaining, and works well in any season.

French 75 Twist

1 oz. Deep Eddy Lemon Vodka

0.25 oz. simple syrup

Top with Champagne

Garnish with a lemon peel.

Add vodka and simple syrup to a mixing glass with ice. Stir well and strain into a champagne flute. Top with chilled Champagne, stir gently, and garnish with a lemon peel.

Creating delicious cocktails at home doesn't have to be complicated or require a fully stocked bar. With a few quality ingredients, a bit of creativity, and an understanding of the basics, you can impress your friends and yourself with delightful concoctions. Whether it's the elegant Alaska Aperitif or the adventurous Little Italy cocktail, your home bar can become a fun and experimental playground. So gather your ingredients, invite some friends over, and let the mixing begin. Cheers!