10 Easy 3-Ingredient Cocktails to Make at Home
Some of the best cocktails ever created use three ingredients.
With so little in the glass, each one has to earn its place, which is why these drinks have lasted for generations. Ice, water and a garnish come free. Everything else is listed below.
Shaken
Shake each of these hard with ice for 10 to 15 seconds, then strain into a chilled glass.
- 1. Daiquiri
- 2 oz light rum, ¾ oz fresh lime juice, ¾ oz simple syrup. Serve in a coupe. Simple, sharp and a fair test of any rum.
- 2. Margarita
- 2 oz blanco tequila, 1 oz orange liqueur, ¾ oz fresh lime juice. Serve over ice or straight up, with a salted rim if you like one.
- 3. Whiskey Sour
- 2 oz bourbon, ¾ oz fresh lemon juice, ¾ oz simple syrup. Serve over ice.
- 4. Gimlet
- 2 oz gin, ¾ oz fresh lime juice, ¾ oz simple syrup. Serve in a coupe.
- 5. Bee's Knees
- 2 oz gin, ¾ oz fresh lemon juice, ¾ oz honey syrup. Swap the gin for bourbon and you have a Gold Rush.
Stirred
Stir each of these with ice for about 30 seconds, until the glass feels very cold.
- 6. Negroni
- 1 oz gin, 1 oz Campari, 1 oz sweet vermouth. Serve over ice with a strip of orange peel.
- 7. Old Fashioned
- 2 oz bourbon or rye, ¼ oz simple syrup, 2 dashes of Angostura bitters. Serve over a large ice cube with a strip of orange peel.
- 8. Manhattan
- 2 oz rye, 1 oz sweet vermouth, 2 dashes of Angostura bitters. Serve in a coupe.
Built in the glass
Pour these straight into a tall glass full of ice and give them one gentle stir.
- 9. Moscow Mule
- 2 oz vodka, ½ oz fresh lime juice, 4 oz ginger beer.
- 10. Americano
- 1½ oz Campari, 1½ oz sweet vermouth, topped with soda water. A lighter relative of the Negroni, and a good drink before dinner.
Three rules for three ingredients
- Squeeze the citrus fresh. With so few ingredients, bottled juice has nowhere to hide.
- Measure everything. A quarter ounce is the difference between balanced and too sweet.
- Use plenty of ice. A full shaker or glass chills faster and waters the drink down less.
Both syrups take five minutes to make. See How to Make Simple Syrup.
These ten are the foundation. Tell me which bottles and ingredients you have, and I'll design original cocktails around them, as simple or as ambitious as you like.