Read once, make on repeat – our favourite kind of recipes.
When it comes to making cocktails, there are the sorts of people who meticulously follow recipes and love to get all bartendery about it. If that’s you, we have some excellent cocktail recipes to challenge you. But plenty of us also just want to mix up a few ingredients (without needing to read a recipe three times) and still end up with a tasty drink. If you fall into that camp, here are some of the best cocktails to make at home.
The following recipes each have just four ingredients (okay, not counting ice and garnishes). But the best bit? They’re made with equal quantities so they’re super easy to remember. Everything gets thrown into a cocktail tin, shaken with ice and strained into a glass to enjoy. No more trying to turn your phone back on with sticky fingers to double-check a step – these recipes are foolproof.
They’re a bit like your one-pot wonder dinners, but they also happen to be surprisingly sophisticated and top contenders to become your new favourite easy cocktails.
At first glance, the classic Last Word cocktail might seem a little jarring, with its mix of gin, green Chartreuse, cherry liqueur and lime juice, but this is simple mixology at its best. Expect a balance of sweet, tart and herbal flavours, all wrapped up in a bold and complex cocktail that’s somehow still refreshing.
The recipe dates back to Prohibition in the US, which came in around 1920, although its first written reference was already in 1916. It grew from its Detroit origins to become a popular order in New York before falling out of favour for several decades. Thankfully, it’s since had a revival and still finding new fans today.
All it takes is 20mL of each ingredient, shaken in a tin with ice and strained into a coupe glass with a cherry as garnish. Well, we did say it was easy.
A riff on the Last Word, the Paper Plane follows the same approach – this time with 25mL of each of American whiskey, Aperol, amaro and lemon juice. The result is slightly sweeter and brighter than the Last Word, but it still has a bittersweet hit and a whole lot of complexity.
We can thank cocktail expert Sam Ross for the Paper Plane cocktail, which is among his many creations. Born and bred in Melbourne, Sam has gone on to find huge success in the US, where he’s worked at the likes of New York’s famed bar Milk & Honey and now runs his own venues, including Attaboy in NYC.
Another straight serve without ice in a coupe glass, be sure to add a lemon twist to the glass to complete this savvy sip. And if you do feel like flexing your bar skills, take it to the next level with our recipe for the Clarified Paper Plane.
This cocktail comes from bartender Joaquín Simó, who created it while working in top NYC bar Death & Co (which has just landed Down Under for lucky ducks in Melbourne and Brisbane). This is something of a love child of both the Last Word and Paper Plane, with a touch of Mexico thrown in with the inclusion of mezcal. Intriguing? Yes. Delicious? Absolutely.
Here, mezcal is mixed with yellow Chartreuse, Aperol and lime juice, each at 20mL, and, again, shaken in a tin with ice and strained into a glass, ideally a martini or coupe. Herbal, smoky, bitter and tangy, this cocktail is another tart and complex winner.
This is the kind of cocktail that works just as well in summer as it does year-round, and we love it finished with a simple lime wedge on the edge of the glass.
Traditionally made with Scotch whisky, this cocktail still allows for all those classic whisky notes to shine, regardless of the type of Scotch you use. But the same can also be said for other types of whisk(e)y, so feel free to mix it up with an American or Japanese example – or a local Aussie drop, perhaps – to see how the flavours change.
There’s something a little bit fancy about sipping this beautifully balanced cocktail out of a coupe glass – just don’t forget the orange peel garnish to make that OJ sing.
