Food & Wine’s Most Popular Cocktail Recipes of 2024

Created by legendary bartender Dick Bradsell at London’s Fred’s Club in 1983, the Espresso Martini has had a meteoric comeback in recent years, and remained our most searched-for recipe this year. The simple combination of vodka, espresso, and coffee liqueur (and various riffs) has seemingly popped up on cocktail menus everywhere from craft cocktail bars to restaurant chains alike.

This recipe, from Simon Sebbah, beverage director at New York City’s American Bar, stays true to the modern classic.

The Lemon Drop is essentially a Sidecar variation made with vodka, triple-sec orange liqueur, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and simple syrup. This boozy, sweet-tart cocktail, inspired by the classic, sugar-coated lemon candies, first came together in the early 1970s at San Francisco bar Henry Africa’s, considered the country’s first “fern bar.”

The Manhattan may be one of the most recognizable classic cocktails, and most enduring, surviving the dark times of both Prohibition and the 1980s. The simple combination of rye whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters has inspired countless variations and riffs over the years. But the classic recipe may be more popular than ever. 

Though the liquor-to-vermouth ratio can be tweaked to the drinker’s taste, this recipe follows the standard 2:1 template. The Manhattan is traditionally made with rye whiskey, bourbon is an acceptable substitute.

This lighter variation on a classic Gin & Tonic is made by mixing gin with equal parts tonic water and club soda. By reducing the tonic and adding club soda in its place, the sweetness level is lessened and bubbles are aplenty. This recipe suggests the addition of grapefruit juice which lends sweet tart notes and further brightens the cocktail. An optional dill garnish amps the herbaceous aromas and adds a layer of savory notes.

This modern classic cocktail was created by bartender Roland Gruber in the Northern Italian town of Naturno, near the Austrian border around 2005. This aromatic spritz features St-Germain elderflower liqueur, Prosecco, seltzer, and mint. Balanced and relatively dry, this effervescent highball utilizes just an half ounce of the elderflower liqueur, putting a spotlight on the botanical notes and refreshing qualities in the drink.

Predating its close relative, the vodka-based Moscow Mule, this refreshing highball composed of dark rum, ginger beer and fresh lime juice, was supposedly invented more than 100 years ago in Bermuda — where it remains the national drink. Cocktail lore claims that the drink came about when the Royal Naval Officer’s Club added local rum to a homemade ginger beer, producing the color of a looming storm cloud.

In 1991, the rum producer Gosling's Black Seal trademarked the cocktail’s name, technically making it so a true Dark ‘n Stormy can only be made with the dark rum brand if it’s featured on a menu.

This simple coffee cocktail from Mexico is traditionally made from espresso and Licor 43, a bright vanilla and citrus liqueur from Spain that features 43 different botanicals. Bittersweet and robust, this is the ultimate after-dinner drink. This recipe, from Houston’s Navy Blue, is made with just a few teaspoons of vodka and decaf cold brew, making this extra buzzy without the caffeine crash.

This vodka-spiked Shirley Temple has all the grenadine-filled nostalgia of childhood but with an edge. A shot of vodka is added to the ginger ale and grenadine mixture. The ginger soda can be cut with sparkling water to reduce the drink’s sweetness, or swapped with a lemon-lime soda for a slightly more citrus-forward flavor profile. A maraschino cherry garnish tops this grown-up take on the whimsical classic.

A traditional Whiskey Sour is composed of whiskey, lemon juice, sugar and egg white. This elegant take on the classic, which originated in the late 1800s, features a striking float of red wine floating atop the drink. This recipe doesn’t include the optional egg white but can be added for a richer mouthfeel and viscosity.

The Old Fashioned remains one of the most popular whiskey cocktails, and because of it’s simplicity, one of the most riffed on. The combination of whiskey, sugar, aromatic bitters, and ice, created a blueprint for early cocktail creation. Though bourbon is a popular whiskey choice, a base of rye whiskey is classic and makes for a spicier and drier rendition. Key to the drink is the zest from an orange peel garnish, which will add slight acidity and citrus notes.