The Best Quarantine Cocktails To Make Right Now
Get your drink on.
May 13 is World Cocktail Day. That means today you can wake up, roll out of bed right, and immediately get to drinking—it’s your duty as a global citizen. But not straight out of the bottle. (Even if you’re on lockdown.)
We of course do our best to encourage “responsible” drinking, so we’ve compiled some of our favorite cocktails after diligently practicing at home for the past couple months, tweaking and experimenting like some unkempt Dr. Bunsen Honeydew.
Some of these are classics, others are slight twists on the classics with mostly ingredients you should have tucked away in your fridge. And a couple we threw in just in case you’re feeling froggy, as they may call for an Instacart and Drizzly delivery. Get to it, world citizen!
Simple: At Home or Easy Substitute
Honey Suckle
Subbing honey for simple sugars compliments the Filipino rum perfectly.
- 2 oz Don Papa 7-Year Rum
- 1 oz fresh lime juice
- 3/4 oz honey syrup (syrup can easily be made stirring hot water into equal parts honey; use good honey, it makes all the difference)
All ingredients are then shaken cold and poured into a coupe, decorated with a lime wheel.
Santa Teresa 1796 Rum Sour
A rum sour, with a clean Venezuelan rum.
- 2 oz Santa Teresa 1796 rum
- 1 oz fresh lime juice
- 1 tsp simple syrup
- Dash of Angostura (optional)
- Orange slice for garnish
Put all the ingredients into a shaker with lots of ice. Shake vigorously. Pour into an old-fashioned glass and garnish with an orange peel.
Jerry Thomas Manhattan
Created at the legendary Bar Marmont, the addition of Grand Marnier adds an orangey layer of sweetness to your Manhattan
- 2 oz Rabbit Hole “Heigold” High-Rye Bourbon (or a good rye like Redemption Rye, Templeton Rye, etc.)
- 3/4 oz Grand Marnier
- 3/4 oz Carpano Antica Formula vermouth (or sweet vermouth)
- 3 dashes Angostura bitters
- Orange peel, at least an inch in diameter
Pour the rye, orange liqueur, vermouth and bitters into a mixing glass. Add ice, stir and strain into a chilled martini glass. Hold orange peel colored-side down over the cocktail about 2 inches above a lit match, then twist and squeeze the peel over the lit match until the peel sparks. Drop the peel into the glass.
Smoke ‘Em
Flavor on flavor on flavor, mezcal style.
- 2 oz Doña Vega Espadín Mezcal
- ¾ oz organic agave syrup
- 1 oz fresh lemon juice
- 1 egg white
Combine ingredients in a shaker and add ice. Shake, strain and garnish with a Luxardo cherry and fresh grated cinnamon.
French Manhattan
A tasty twist on the Manhattan, the Chambord isn’t cloyingly sweet but rather adds a playful forest berry sweetness to an otherwise voluptuous bourbon
.
- 1/2 oz Chambord Black Raspberry Liqueur
- 1 1/2 oz Frey Ranch Bourbon
- 1 dash bitters
- 1 cherry
Shake ingredients with ice, strain into a martini glass and garnish with a Luxardo cherry
.
Tatanka
The Tatanka is Poland’s unofficial cocktail, guzzled like green beer on St. Paddys, except daily. It really should be made with Żubrowka bison grass vodka, but the excellent Belvedere Smogóry Forest Single Estate Rye will do in a pinch.
- 3 oz Żubrowka vodka (or Belvedere Smogóry Forest)
- 4 oz fresh apple juice (cloudier the better)
- ¼ oz fresh lime juice
Shake all ingredients with ice and pour into an ice-filled Old fashioned glass, garnish with green apple wedge.
Eye Candy
A slightly elderflower-softened version of the Tom Collins, the Eye Candy was originally crafted by Touché Miam, subbing in with the powerful (54.5% ABV) Fords Gin Officers’ Reserve.
- 1 1/2 ounces Fords Gin Officers’ Reserve (or other London Dry Gin)
- 1/2 ounce St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur
- 1/2 ounce Fresh Lemon Juice
- 1/2 ounce simple syrup
- 3 slices ginger root
- 1 sprig mint
- Q Mixer club soda
In a cocktail shaker, muddle a few slices of ginger, mint leaves, and simple syrup. Add the Fords Gin, St-Germain and juice and fill with ice. Shake well. Strain into an old-fashioned glass filled with fresh ice. Add a splash of club soda and garnish with a sprig of mint.
Raspberry Whale Gin Fizz
A raspberry twist on the gin fizz.
- 1 oz Gray Whale California Gin
- 1 1/2 oz Chambord Liqueur
- 1/2 oz lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp simple syrup
- 1 egg white
- 2 oz Q Mixer Club Soda
- Lemon wheel, to garnish
Shake the Gray Whale gin, Chambord, lemon juice, simple syrup and egg white in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain the contents of the shaker into an ice-filled highball glass. Add the club soda, and stir gently. Garnish with the lemon wheel, and serve.
St-Germain Spritz
A slightly sweet, rounded Elderflower-touched version of the traditional Champagne Spritz.
- 2 parts Moët & Chandon Imperial Brut Champagne (can substitute with prosecco or cava)
- 1 ½ parts St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur
- 2 parts sparkling water
Fill a tall Collins glass with ice. Add champagne first, then St-Germain, then club soda. Stir completely and then garnish with a lemon twist.
American Werewolf
A unique, herbaceous spin on the Negroni from the California distillery St. George; swap the Bruto Americano for Campari for necessity but it’s just not quite the same beast.
- 1 1/2 oz St. George Terroir Gin
- 1 oz Bruto Americano (or Campari)
- 3/4 oz Cocchi Vermouth di Torino (or sweet vermouth)
Stir all ingredients with ice to chill, then strain into a rocks glass and serve over ice. Garnish with fresh rosemary.
Complex: You Gotta Make Some Deliveries
Breakfast for Dinner
This one will make your girlfriend forgive that Devil’s Tower of dirty socks you’re building in the bedroom corner.
- 1.5 oz Don Papa Rum
- 2 oz orange juice
- 1 tsp marmalade
- 1 tbsp vanilla ice cream
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- Pinch of salt
If you’ve got a shaker at home, combine all ingredients with a scoop of ice and go to town. If you don’t have a shaker, toss everything in a blender with a half scoop of ice and fix yourself a creamsicle. Serve in a bathrobe and slippers, all day.
Grey Goose Bloody Mary Pitcher
No point in going through all this work for one drink — mix up a pitcher, and either share with neighbors or have an early siesta. Serves 10.
- 20 oz Grey Goose vodka
- 32 oz tomato juice
- 1 oz fresh lemon juice
- 1 oz fresh lime juice
- 2 tbsp prepared horseradish
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp celery salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 lime or lemon wedge
In a pitcher with a tight-fitting lid, combine all ingredients except Grey Goose vodka. Close the pitcher and shake well. Rub the lemon or lime wedge around the rim of each glass and then roll glass in remaining celery salt. Fill each glass with ice cubes, fill ⅓ with Grey Goose vodka and top off with the Bloody Mary mix. Garnish with a long celery stalk, long cucumber slice, lemon or lime wedge, and mom’s other favorite toppings. Serves 10. For garnish go nuts — celery, cucumber, lemon or lime, bacon, Canadian bacon, turkey bacon, bacon doggie treats — whatever you like, it’s World Cocktail Day.
Pineapples, Etc.
From the bartop of Dante in NYC, currently titled the world’s best bar, a complex rum and Madeira explosion.
- 1 oz. Plantation pineapple rum
- ¾ oz. dry Madeira
- ¼ oz. Nardini Mandorla
- 1.5 oz. fluffy pineapple juice
- ¼ oz. pineapple Pok pok vinegar
- 3 dashes saline solution
Build over ice in a Spritz Tumbler glass and stir well, top with East Austin pineapple cider and thin pineapple wheel for garnish.
Feeling Lazy? The Bacardi Solution
Of course if you’re feeling too lazy to get out of bed, Bacardi now has some cocktail box sets to go — consider them the Blue Apron for day drinkers. Who are we to judge?
Patrón Tequila Watermelon Basil Margarita
With notes of fresh agave and oak, Patrón Reposado is the perfect tequila for a bountiful fruit and herb-filled margarita. Travel on island time with this balanced juxtaposition of sweet and savory a unique take on the margarita, it will leave you feeling like you’re on a Mexican vacation.
1.5 parts Patrón Reposado Tequila
0.5 part watermelon puree
0.5 part basil simple syrup
1 part lime juice
Dehydrated lime wheel
Shaken and served in a rocks glass.
Garnish with lime wheel.
Bombay English Garden Gimlet
Taste the 10 hand-selected botanicals of Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin accompanied by fresh basil and floral lavender for a new take on the gimlet.
- 1.5 parts Bombay Sapphire Gin
- 0.75 part lemon juice
- 0.5 part basil syrup (1:1 dilution sugar:water)
- 2 dashes lavender bitters
Shaken and served in a rocks glass.
Dewar’s Scotch Emporium Highball
A sly nod to John Dewar’s humble beginnings in Perth, Scotland, this highball pairs the classic swirl of honey and Scottish heather of Dewars White Label with aromatic earl grey and bright lemon for a new take on a classic.
- 1.5 part Dewar’s Scotch White Label
- 0.25 part Lemon
- 0.25 part Earl Grey syrup
- 3.5 parts soda water
- Lemon wedge
Shaken and served in a highball glass.
Garnish with a lemon wedge.
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