Six Cocktails for a classy evening

Martini

Martini is a legacy cocktail that relates much more than class, heritage and status. Martini is now ingrained to popular culture as a trademark of style. Critic Henry Louis Mencken described this particular cocktail as “the only American invention as perfect as the sonnet”. It is made of gin and vermouth mixed in the ratio of 2:1 with olive or a lemon twist as an ingrained decoration completing it. It is stirred in a mixing glass with ice cubes before poured into a chilled cocktail glass.

There are primarily three types of Martinis; Dry, Dirty and Perfect. A dry Martini is prepared with dry and white vermouth. A dirty Martini has a splash of olive brine or olive juice, with an olive garnish. A perfect Martini is the one with equal amount of sweet and dry vermouth. However, there are several variations of Martini apart from these traditional ones.

Gin & Tonic

Among traditional cocktails, Gin & Tonic has a high stature in popular culture. It is a Highball cocktail, served in tall glasses. It is prepared with gin and tonic water mixed either in 1:1 or 1:3 ratio. Gin is garnished with a slice or wedge of lime. It has its origins dating back to colonial India when East India Company introduced it as a protection from sickness like malaria.

A modern variation of Gin is its Spanish type. Contrary to highball glasses, Spanish Gin are served in balloon glass or coupe glass. It has splashed ice filling the drink with any garnish matching the flavor of the gin. Spanish Gin has different aromas according to herbs, vegetables or fruits used in the drink.

Old Fashioned

An Old Fashioned is among the stylish whiskey cocktails prepared primarily with spirits, bitters, soda and sugar. It originated in early years of 1800, but the name was first used only in the year 1881 in Kentucky. In fact, it is as old as the word “Cocktail” itself dating back to 1806. It was in May 13 of the year when a newspaper described Old Fashion as a cocktail, introducing both the genre and specific drink.

Old Fashioned is served in an old-fashioned glass, as the name suggest. 2 or 3 dashes of bitters are mixed with water of soda and poured into the glass with a little bit of sugar. Rye or bourbon whiskey is poured on the drink after stirring properly and adding a large ice cube on it. This cocktail is garnished with a slice of orange.

Margarita

Margarita is a special cocktail made of tequila, triple sec and lime juice. It is typically served in a margarita glass although other types of cocktail glasses are also used. The drink is served with salt on the rim of the glass, while ice is used per the type of Margarita. When it is shaken with ice, it becomes Margarita on the Rocks and when blended with ice, it is called frozen margarita. It is also served without ice. The variations may come with different liquids and in different colors. Margarita found its first mention back in 1937 per some sources, but it has several different stories of origin.

Moscow Mule

Moscow Mule comprise of Vodka, Spicy ginger beer and Lime juice. It is a type of buck typically served in a copper mug with garnished slice or lime. The mugs should be nickel or stainless steel plated on the inside and the tip as the ingredient of Moscow Mule are acidic. This cocktail is also known as Vodka Buck. It has its first reference back in 1948 in New York Herald Tribune.

Sidecar

This cocktail is prepared from cognac, orange liqueur and lemon juice. Although its exact origin is not known, it might have been prepared first during World War I. It was in 1922 when Ritz Hotel in Paris first added it on their menu. David A Embury listed it as one of the six basic drinks. He wrote that a sidecar is a Daiquiri with brandy as its base rather than run and Cointreau as the sweetening agent instead of sugar syrup. It is served with sugar on the rim of a cocktail glass.