Mai Tai
The credit for this iconic 1930s drink—whose name is a nod to the Tahitian, “Maita’i,” which means “good”—is usually given to venerable Los Angeles tiki bar Trader Vic’s.
- story: Leslie Pariseau
- photo: Dylan + Jeni
Plausible Deniability
Istanbul-based bartender Alex Waldman created this drink with the parameters of using limited citrus with a bitter liqueur to make something round, full and relatively dry.
- story: Leslie Pariseau
- photo:
Sidecar
A gussied-up cognac sour made famous at Harry’s New York Bar in Paris.
- story: Leslie Pariseau
- photo: Daniel Krieger
Pimm’s Cup
When Englishman James Pimm invented this crisp cooler in the mid-19th century, surely he could not have imagined that it would become the official cocktail of Wimbledon.
- story: Leslie Pariseau
- photo: Daniel Krieger
Toby Cecchini’s Cosmopolitan
The must-have liquid accessory of the 1990s.
- story: Leslie Pariseau
- photo: Daniel Krieger
Hemingway Daiquiri
With his prodigious constitution for drinking (and then writing about it), Ernest Hemingway shows up frequently in cocktail mythology, and none perhaps more famously than in this drink’s.
- story: Leslie Pariseau
- photo: Daniel Krieger
Julie Reiner’s Clover Club
Reiner's version of the classic has become a staple at her Brooklyn bar of the same name.
- story: Leslie Pariseau
- photo: Lizzie Munro
Whiskey Sour
This iconic sour—whiskey, lemon juice and sugar shaken over ice—forms the building block for many a cocktail.
- story: Leslie Pariseau
- photo: Daniel Krieger
Gimlet
Essentially a Gin Sour made with lime juice, legend has it that the Gimlet was created in the mid-19th century to encourage Royal Navy sailors to consume their rations of…
- story: Leslie Pariseau
- photo: Leslie Pariseau
Southside
Depending on how you look at the glass, the Southside lands somewhere between a gin mojito sans soda water or a gimlet with mint. New York’s 21 Club lays claim…
- story: Leslie Pariseau
- photo: Daniel Krieger