Gin cocktails
View all recipesGin is juniper and, around it, an entire garden: coriander, angelica, citrus peel, orris root. Every brand picks its own blend of botanicals, which is why two gins can give you two different drinks from the same recipe.
That complexity is both its advantage and its demand. In a Gin & Tonic the gin shows off; in a Negroni it fights as an equal with vermouth and bitter; in a Dry Martini it is left almost alone with nowhere to hide. Start with a classic London Dry — it is the benchmark everything else is measured against.
14 recipes
Aviation
A lavender-colored cocktail that evokes the skies of the pioneering aviation era. Floral, citrusy, and with a mysterious cherry undertone from the maraschino liqueur.
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Bee’s Knees
Gin, lemon and honey. The honey does not go in neat — it sinks and never integrates — but as a syrup, and that is the whole technique.
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Clover Club
A "pretty in pink" cocktail from the pre-Prohibition era. Creamy, fruity, and with a silky foam that makes it visually stunning. A Philadelphia classic.
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Corpse Reviver No. 2
The "resurrecter of the dead." A pre-Prohibition cocktail of equal parts, balanced and surprisingly light. The absinthe rinse is its signature.
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Dry Martini
Dry, powerful, and crystal clear. It's the most iconic cocktail in history, enveloped in an aura of sophistication and a deeply botanical flavor.
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French 75
Elegant, bubbly, and with surprising "firepower." Like the French 75mm cannon that gave it its name, this cocktail makes a subtle impact.
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Gimlet
The essence of mixology reduced to its bare minimum. Citrusy, dry, and brilliantly refreshing. Developed in the British Royal Navy to combat scurvy.
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Gin & Tonic
The easiest drink to make and the easiest to ruin. The difference between a correct one and a memorable one comes down to ice, temperature and how you pour the tonic.
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Hanky Panky
A Negroni transformed by the bitter, medicinal touch of Fernet Branca. Created by Ada Coleman at the American Bar in London in 1925, it is sophisticated, complex, and surprisingly balanced.
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Negroni
Intense, bitter and aromatic cocktail.
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Southside
A refined Mojito with gin instead of rum. Herbal, citrusy, and with the botanical character of gin. Some say it originated at the 21 Club in New York during Prohibition.
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The Last Word
A cocktail of equal parts that defies logic. Herbal, citrusy, sweet, and complex. Rescued from oblivion in 2003, it is now a pillar of modern mixology.
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Tom Collins
A frothy and sophisticated lemonade. Refreshing, light, and with the botanical character of gin. A London classic that never goes out of style.
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Vesper
Ian Fleming wrote it into Casino Royale with exact measures, and those measures still work. The one martini you are allowed to shake.
View recipe →What to mix with gin
Gin already carries a garden of botanicals inside it, so it does not need you to add flavour: it needs something that brings that flavour out. Which is why it gets on with bitter and sour, and goes quiet against sweet.
Tonic water
1 part gin to 3 parts tonicQuinine is bitter, and that bitterness lifts the juniper instead of covering it. It is the benchmark mix and the one that best reveals which gin you actually own.
Gin & Tonic →Dry vermouth
6 parts gin to 1 part vermouthBarely any vermouth, and yet without it gin on its own never quite becomes a cocktail: it brings the salt and the herbal floor that round it off.
Dry Martini →Red vermouth and bitter
Equal parts, 1:1:1The sweet vermouth gives body and the Campari gives bitterness. It is the drink that convinces most people they like gin after all.
Negroni →Lime and sugar
4 parts gin, 1 lime, 1 syrupThe sour formula. The acid cuts the alcohol and the sugar holds the botanicals together so they do not scatter.
Gimlet →Soda and lemon
50 ml gin, 25 lemon, 15 syrup, topped with sodaThe long version of the one above. What tonic achieves with bitterness, soda achieves with lightness.
Tom Collins →
What does not work:Sweet mixers are what suits it worst: cola, heavily sugared tonics and supermarket juices cover exactly the botanicals you paid for. If a good gin tastes of nothing in your drink, there is almost always too much sugar rather than too little gin.
