Cocktail generator
Press the button for a random cocktail idea, with name and ingredients.
What it's for
It's for when you fancy trying something different and don't know where to start: out comes a name with its ingredients, and from there you decide whether you have what's needed at home. They're prompts, not bar recipes: the measures get adjusted to your own taste, and that's what makes the difference between a drinkable cocktail and a good one.
The rule that holds up nearly every cocktail
Behind most classic drinks there's a single structure: strong, sour, sweet, in a 2 : 1 : 1 ratio. Two parts spirit, one of lemon or lime juice, one of sugar syrup. From there come the daiquiri, the whiskey sour, the margarita and half the menu of any bar: the spirit changes, the structure doesn't.
Knowing it is good for two things. The first is fixing: if a drink comes out sharp, it's short of sweet, not of water; if it comes out cloying, it's short of sour. The second is inventing: any spirit plus a citrus plus a syrup (honey, ginger, fruit) is already a cocktail that stands up.
Ice is an ingredient
It's the part most underestimated at home. Ice isn't only there to chill: as it melts it adds water, and that water is part of the recipe, so much so that a shaken drink is diluted by about a quarter of its volume. Little, small ice melts fast and waters things down; plenty of large ice chills more and dilutes less. The same rule goes for the glass: cold from the fridge changes the drink more than you'd think.
Always in moderation, and the version without
Every recipe of this kind also works without alcohol: take out the spirit and add tonic, soda or a juice, and the sour-sweet structure stays and the drink still makes sense. It's the simplest way to have something good for whoever is driving too, which is the reason it's worth knowing how to do.
Nearby tools
For the quantities of a dinner based on how many you are there is Servings per person, and to convert ounces, spoons and millilitres Volume converter. If it's an evening with friends, the bill gets split with Group expenses and the games are in Truth or dare.