Guest post by our friends at Advanced Mixology
Cocktails are delightful but if your home bar has minimal bar tools and available ingredients, you’ll do best with these simple cocktails. With a maximum of five ingredients each, not counting the ice, you can make amazing cocktails even while staying at home during the COVID-19 quarantine. Below are five-ingredient cocktails you’ll love to sip on during our hot spring and summer months:
Champagne Cocktail
Many of us still have so much to be thankful for. Celebrate every day of your life with an occasional champagne cocktail. With just three ingredients and no shaking, you’re on your way to a good time in just a minute. Seriously, this takes even less than a minute, not counting chilling the champagne.
Ingredients:
Sugar cube
2 drops of bitters
Champagne
Directions:
Drop a sugar cube into a champagne flute.
Add 2 dashes of bitters.
Top with chilled champagne.
Garnish: Lemon or Orange rind.
Sazerac
This departs from the traditional Sazerac because instead of mixing the absinthe into the cocktail, you keep it simple and less ABV by just adding a few spritzes of the absinthe on the insides of the glass. Any whiskey or rum may be used.
Ingredients:
1 sugar cube
3 dash of Peychaud’s Bitters
10ml soda water
2 ounces of rum
absinthe
Directions:
Chill a shaker glass.
Add a sugar cube, patience bitters and some soda water.
Muddle the sugar until dissolved.
Add rum and ice. Stir.
Fill an atomizer with some absinthe and spray the insides of a whiskey glass.
Strain the cocktail into the whiskey glass.
Garnish: Lemon peel
Whiskey Fix
Imbibe in a refreshingly delicious whiskey cocktail that’s perfect for the coming summer days. Lots and lots of ice and your favorite whiskey–what more could you ask for?
Ingredients:
1 oz lemon juice
1 oz simple syrup
2 oz whiskey
Lemon wedge
Maraschino cherry
Directions:
Chill a double whiskey glass.
Add lemon juice, simple syrup and whiskey into a cocktail shaker.
Add a small piece of ice.
Shake until the ice is nearly dissolved.
Transfer into the chilled glass.
Top with lots of crushed ice.
Garnish: with a lemon wedge and a Maraschino cherry.
Presbyterian
Lovers of the Moscow Mule and Whiskey Ginger, introducing the Presbyterian! We love the lemony ginger goodness of this cocktail. It’s best served very cold.
Ingredients:
½ oz lime juice
1 oz fresh ginger juice
2 oz rye whiskey
Splash of soda water
Crystallized ginger candy
Directions:
Add the ingredients in a cocktail shaker.
Add a small piece of ice.
Shake until the ice is nearly dissolved.
Add a splash of soda water into the shaker.
In a Collins glass, add a large chunk of ice, almost as tall as the glass.
Pour in the cocktail.
Add more soda water.
Garnish: Crystallized Ginger
Gin Rickey
Here’s another very cool cocktail made with just four ingredients that are readily available in any neighborhood store. If you’re looking for simple, this is the simplest you can get.
Ingredients:
1 oz lime juice
¾ oz simple syrup
2 oz gin
Directions:
Add the lime juice, simple syrup and gin into a cocktail shaker.
Add a large chunk of ice
Shake well until chilled.
Fill a Collins glass with a large chunk of ice, almost as tall as the glass
Double strain to remove lime bits.
Garnish: Lime Wedge
Bee’s Knees
Here’s another very simple cocktail to make that does not need any bling to make it amazing. The hardest part will be making the honey syrup–just mix one part honey with one part water. Keep the remainder in the fridge for future use.
Ingredients:
¾ oz lemon juice
¾ oz honey syrup
2 oz gin
Method:
Fill a cocktail shaker with the lemon juice, honey syrup, and gin.
Add a large chunk of ice and shake well.
Strain into a chilled coupe glass.
Foods that Pair Well
Here are some of our ideas for easy shelter-at-home bar foods you can make, as in cucumber sandwiches, or order for takeout, like Korean-spiced chicken. These all pair well with chilly summer cocktails.
Cucumber Sandwiches
For gin cocktails, open-faced cucumber sandwiches are your best bet.
Spicy Korean Chicken
Here’s a good way to enjoy your rum cocktails –spicy Korean chicken. The spice on the chicken batter and sauce pairs perfectly with the rum.
Caramel Popcorn
Celebrate movie night with some booze and caramel popcorn. Everyone will love this.
Conclusion
After some simple cocktails, you may want to move on the more intricate cocktails. Here’s a good way to practice your garnishes and start making your summer cocktails with fruit-infused vodkas.