Cocktails

My own cocktail recipe book so I don't forget them as I continuously age

Published about 2 months ago · Last edited 25 days ago · 9 min read

It is spring 2024 in The Netherlands and my hay fever just went insane.

As a result: I am avoiding leaving my house, almost like a quarantine, as antihistamines are not super effective with me. I am trying nasal sprays, eye reliefe medication, and the usual cetirizine.

With that, I decided to learn how to make some cocktails so that:

  • I can enjoy them at the safety of my pollen-free home
  • make my girlfriend (and mother in law) a happier drunk
  • save some money (it costs ~14 EUR for a cocktail in Amsterdam, a couple drinks and a few snacks with my partner and it is easily a 100 EUR bill)_
  • be a better host when I have friends over

But I'm very bad at keeping track of the things I learn, hence I have this blog. So this is my cocktail recipe menu.

Beware

Most of these recipes are for single portions.

Sometimes, when making bigger portions for 3 or 4 people, you migth be tempted to just multiply the ingredients and shake it all together.

I've done that and it didn't turn out as good as making them individually. So, if you're making for a group, I'd recommend making them one by one.

However, that can be tedious. One thing I do, is to make the mix in a bigger shaker with some adjusted proportions:

  • If a drink has 10ml of sugar syrup, when making 4, try only 25ml. Sugar Syrup gets too sweet if you scale it linearly.
  • If you're making a bigger individual recipe (I like long Paloma's), instead of making it 90ml of ethanol, make it 60ml instead. It will be less strong, but you can drink more of it.

Recipes

Spicy Michelada

Ingredients:

  • Ice
  • Salt
  • Grinded Chilli Pepper
  • Tomato Juice
  • Lime Juice
  • Worcestershire Sauce
  • Tabasco Hot Sauce
  • Pilsner Beer (used: Corona, Modelo Especial, Birra Moretti, etc)
  1. Make a salt & chilli rim in a highball glass using a lime wedge
  2. Fill the glass with ice cubes
  3. Fill half of it with tomato juice
  4. 5ml (1 tsp) of Worcestershire Sauce
  5. 30ml (1oz) of Lime Juice
  6. Add tabasco to taste. I do 5~7 drops.
  7. Stir well
  8. Pop a Corona or Modelo Especial, mix it and enjoy!

Margarita OG

This is the original margarita you're used to (or at least how I think it should be)

Ingredients:

  • Ice
  • Salt
  • Tequila (used: Jose Cuervo Gold)
  • Lime Juice
  • Cointreau
  • Agave Syrup
  1. Make a salt rim in a margarita cup or an old fashioned cup using a lime wedge
  2. Fill a shaker with ice
  3. 45ml (1.5oz) of Tequila
  4. 22.5ml (0.75oz) of Lime Juice
  5. 22.5ml (0.75oz) of Cointreau or Triple-Sec
  6. 10ml of Agave Syrup
  7. Shake it well until the mixer get cold
  8. Serve it on the rocks.

Spicy Smoky Margarita

Spicy Margarita
Spicy Margarita

This is my personal take on a Margarita, and I honestly prefer this one over the OG.

This is one of my favorites.

Ingredients:

  • Ice
  • Salt
  • Grinded Chilli Pepper
  • Tequila (used: Jose Cuervo Gold)
  • Mezcal
  • Lime Juice
  • Cointreau
  • Agave Syrup
  1. Make a salt & chilli rim in an old fashioned cup using a lime wedge
  2. Fill a shaker with ice
  3. 30ml (1oz) of Mezcal
  4. 15ml (0.5oz) of Tequila
  5. 22.5ml (0.75oz) of Lime Juice
  6. 22.5ml (0.75oz) of Cointreau or Triple-Sec
  7. 10ml of Agave Syrup
  8. Shake it well until the mixer get cold
  9. Serve it on the rocks.

Spicy Paloma

Paloma
Paloma

This is my take on a Paloma.

This is one of my favorites.

Ingredients:

  • Ice
  • Salt
  • Grinded Chilli Pepper
  • Grapefruit Soda (used: Fever-Tree Blood Orange Ginger Beer)
  • Tequila (used: Jose Cuervo Gold)
  • Mezcal
  • Lime Juice
  • Agave Syrup
  1. Make a salt & chilli rim in an old fashioned cup using a lime wedge
  2. Fill a shaker with ice
  3. 60ml (2oz) of Grapefruit Soda
  4. 30ml (1oz) of Mezcal
  5. 15ml (0.5oz) of Tequila
  6. 15ml (0.5oz) of Lime Juice
  7. 10ml of Agave Syrup
  8. Shake it well until the mixer get cold (beware, it might get gassy, so make some stops and burp the shaker)
  9. Serve it on the rocks

Long Version

  1. Make a salt & chilli rim in an old fashioned cup using a lime wedge
  2. Fill a shaker with ice
  3. 120ml of Grapefruit Soda
  4. 40ml of Mezcal
  5. 20ml of Tequila
  6. 30ml of Lime Juice
  7. 10ml of Agave Syrup
  8. Shake it well until the mixer get cold (beware, it might get gassy, so make some stops and burp the shaker)
  9. Serve it on the rocks

Whisky Sour

Whisky Sour
Whisky Sour

This is my take on a whisky sour. Often made with scotch, but I used 2 japanese blended whiskies and it was amazing as well.
I did it later using two low end whiskies and it didn't turn out as tasty as with those 2 japanese.. I might be more detailed in my recipes.

This is one of my favorites.

(I don't like Angostura Bitters, so you might miss this in this recipe. Feel free to add if it is your thing.)

Ingredients:

  • Ice
  • 2 different whiskies (can be blended or scotch. haven't done with bourbons)
  • Egg White
  • Lime Juice
  • Maple Syrup (Agave Syrup also works)
  1. Do not put ice in the shaker yet
  2. 30ml (1oz) of Whisky 1
  3. 30ml (1oz) of Whisky 2
  4. 30ml (1oz) of Lime Juice
  5. 10ml (0.5oz) of Maple Syrup (I've been preferring Agave Syrup instead)
  6. 1 egg white (30ml usually if using pasteurized bottled egg white. check your bottle)
  7. Do a dry shake with the ingredients.
  8. Add the ice
  9. Shake it well until the mixer get cold (beware, it might get gassy due to egg white, so make some stops and burp the shaker)
  10. Serve it on the rocks in an old fashioned cup.

Greyhound

Simple, easy, nice gin drink.

Ingredients:

  • Ice
  • Gin
  • Grapefruit Soda (used: Fever-Tree Blood Orange Ginger Beer)
  1. Fill a highball glass with ice.
  2. 200ml (6.7oz) of Grapefruit Soda
  3. 50ml (1.7oz) of Gin
  4. Garnish with a lime wedge.
  5. Stir it well and serve.

Gin Basil Smash

Gin Basil Smash
Gin Basil Smash

Credits go to u/qtac for posting this one in r/cocktails.

Tried at home and loved it.

Glass: Old fashioned

Ingredients:

  • Ice
  • Gin
  • Egg White
  • Lime Juice
  • Simple Syrup (boiled water and sugar)
  • Basil
  1. Do not put ice in the shaker yet
  2. 15ml (0.5oz) of Lime Juice
  3. Basil leaves and stems
  4. Muddle the basil with the lime juice
  5. 45ml (1.5oz) of Gin
  6. 10ml (0.5oz) of Simple Syrup
  7. 1 egg white (30ml usually if using pasteurized bottled egg white. check your bottle)
  8. Do a dry shake with the ingredients.
  9. Add the ice
  10. Shake it well until the mixer get cold (beware, it might get gassy due to egg white, so make some stops and burp the shaker)
  11. Serve it on the rocks in an old fashioned cup. Make sure to strain well.
  12. Garnish with basil leaves for aroma

French75 Blackcurrant

French75 Blackcurrant
French75 Blackcurrant

Have been trying to get out of my comfort zone and tried some new stuff.
Learned this one at Cocktail Club, and changed it slightly for practicity.

This one is quite sweet, easy to drink, but dangerous. It is very fresh and bubbly. The blackcurrant taste might not be for everybody.

Tip: If you don't like it too sweet, I'd recommend to either increase the lemon juice or reduce the sugar syrup.

Glass: Martini

Ingredients:

  • Ice
  • Blackcurrant Gin (used: Tanqueray Blackcurrant)
  • Sparkling Wine
  • Lemon Juice
  • Sugar Syrup
  • Lemon Zest (for garnish)
  1. Fill a shaker with ice
  2. 45ml (1.5oz) of Blackcurrant Gin
  3. 30ml (1oz) of Lemon Juice
  4. 10ml (0.5oz) of Sugar Syrup
  5. Shake it well until the mixer get cold (beware, it might get gassy, so make some stops and burp the shaker)
  6. Fill the martini glass with ice cubes
  7. Strain and pour
  8. Top up with sparkling wine.
  9. Add the lemon zest garnish. The zesting of the lemon oils over the drink really adds that citrus zinginess to the French75.

Bramble

Bramble
Bramble

I also learned this one at [Cocktail Club], but changed it to lower the sweetness more to my tone.

This became one of my favorites. I ended up drinking it 3x the day I realized how much I liked it.

Glass: Old fashioned

Ingredients:

  • Crushed Ice
  • Gin
  • Lemon Juice
  • Sugar Syrup
  • Creme de Mure
  1. Fill 1/2 of the glass with crushed ice
  2. 45ml (1.5oz) of Gin
  3. 20ml (0.7oz) of Lemon Juice
  4. 10ml (0.35oz) of Sugar Syrup
  5. Stir in the glass
  6. 15ml (0.5oz) of Creme de Mure (or Cassis, works really well too)
  7. (optional) add a lemon wedge and some blackberries. (I don't do it, but some people might enjoy.)

Caipirinha

I'm Brazilian, so I had to have this one here.

I like more sour caipirinhas, so I use sugar syrup instead of plain sugar.

Glass: Old fashioned

Ingredients:

  • Crushed Ice
  • Cachaca (51 is famous outside of Brazil, but is a really low-end one. It works tho, as it is harder to find good Cachaca abroad.)
  • Lime Wedges
  • Sugar Syrup
  1. Add 4 lime wedges to the glass
  2. 15ml of Sugar syrup
  3. Muddle the lime and sugar syrup
  4. 45ml of Cachaca
  5. Fill the glass with crushed ice
  6. Stir well until some of the ice melts and the drink gets cold
  7. Serve it with a straw