51 of the Best Cocktail Recipes From Across America (2025)

BlackTail, New York, NY

This drink could be a dessert with its creamy sweetness.

Ingredients:
1 dash aromatic bitters
1 dash bitter cube cherry bark vanilla bitters
1/2 oz. Tonka bean syrup (2:1 cane syrup base)
3/4 oz. pineapple juice
3/4 oz. half andhalf
1/2oz. hazelnut cordial
1 and 1/5 oz.Lustau Solera Reserva Spanish brandy
1/2 oz. Bacardi, 8 years old

Directions:Shake and serve in a punch glass with a 2x2 ice cub, with a nutmeg garnish to top it all off.

Created by Jillian Vose.

This smoky, sweet drink with just ahint of chocolate is perfect for tequila fans looking to deviate from the basic margarita. And if you are in that camp, and want to learn more about how the spirit is made, Patrón'snew AR app will take you on a virtual tour— just be sure to pour yourself a cocktail first.

Ingredients:
2 oz Patrón Reposado
.45 oz Pedro Jimenez Sherry
3 dashes chocolate bitters
1 dash of saline

Directions: Stir all ingredients with ice in mixing glass and strain over ice in an old fashioned glass. Garnish withgrated nutmeg.

Porchlight, New York, NY

This drink is perfect for fall —it hasryeand Irish whiskey.

Ingredients:
1 oz. Rittenhouse
1 oz. Jameson
3/4 oz. Meletti
1/4oz. Sherry

Directions:Pour in a Coupe glass and garnishwith a twist of orange and one cherry.

Created by Nick Bennett.

The Dead Rabbit, New York, New York

"It's a kind of herbal Irish whiskey Old Fashioned with some savory notes," creator Jesse Vida says.

Ingredients:
A pinch of salt
1 dash of absinthe
1/2teaspoon of Giffard creme de Banane
1/2 oz. of creme de cacao
1/2 oz. Malmsey 5 year Madeira
1 oz. Montenegro amaro
1 oz. Powers Johns Lane

Directions: Stir, pour into an Old Fashioned glass with a large ice cube, and garnish with orange oil.

Whisler's, Austin, TX

"With an aged rum base, a touch of the Canton ginger for a little depth, and some vanilla extract to round it out, you've got yourself a slightly caffienated fall-driven sipper," creator Brett Esler says.

Ingredients
1 1/2oz. Mount Gay Black Barrel rum
3/4 oz. Stumptown cold brew coffee
1/4 oz. Domaine de Canton Ginger Liquer
1/4 oz. Giffard Banane du bresil
3 dashes Vanilla extract

Directions: Pour in to a coupe glass and garnish with a brûléed banana slice.

The Bennett,New York, NY

This drink is the perfect dessert for whiskey and coffee fans.

Ingredients:
A barspoon of cinnamon syrup
1/2 oz. cream
1/2 oz. cold brew
3/4 oz. amaretto
1/2oz.vino chinato
1 1/2 oz.Rieger whiskey

Direction:Shake and strain over one rock, put a dust ofnutmeg on top.

Created by Meaghan Dorman.

Sweet Afton, Astoria, NY

Consider this a gingery twist on a rye drink.

Ingredients
2 oz. Virgil Kaine High rye bourbon
1/4 oz.Combier
1/4 oz.Cocchi Americano
1/2 oz. Haber's tonic syrup
1/4 oz. ginger syrup
1/2 oz. lemon

Directions:Add all ingredients, shake, pour over ice with a lemon twist.

Midnight Rambler, Dallas, TX

Mmm..fall. No better time to kick back and relax with some (boozy) apple crisp, right?

Ingredients
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
3/4 oz. Domaine de Canton ginger liqeur
1 1/2oz. Laird's Applejack
2 oz.club soda

Directions:Shake the ingredients andstrain. Pourin to a hi-ball glass and garnishwith a lemon wheel and some ginger candy.

Created by Christy Pope.

Holiday Cocktail Lounge, New York, NY

This drink seems like it would go well with sweaters, scarves, and all the other good parts of fall.

Ingredients
2 oz. of Santa Teresa 1976 Rum
1/2 oz. Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqeur
3/4 oz. Earl Grey syrup
4 dashes of Angostura bitters
Orange twist as a garnish

Directions:Steep Earl Grey tea in 4 oz. of hot water. Mix with equal parts granulated sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved.Combineingredients in a mixing glass and stir untilwell-chilled, and servein a cold cocktail glass.

Created by Michael Neff.

Bastion, Nashville, TN

Ingredients
1 1/2 oz. Broker's Gin
1/2 oz. Dolin Blanc Vermouth
1/2oz. Giffard Banané Du Bresil
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz. cane sugar syrup (2:1 ratio)
1 dash Angostura Bitters
8 drops Black Pepper Tincture
1 egg white

Directions: Make Black Pepper Tincture (150g fresh black pepper, 200g Everclear) and let steep for 24 hours. Strainthrough a coffee filter to removepepper grains fromthe liquid. Shake the liquid without any iceand fine strain (so that absolutely nothing comes through)into a chilled coupe glass,. Garnish it with an Angostura swirl.

South House,Jersey City, NJ

This one is a sweet bourbon cocktail.

Ingredients
Torched thyme
2 oz. Old Forrester Bourbon (though any Kentukcy bourbon will do)
3/4 oz. fresh squeezed lemon
3/4 oz. honey syrup (one part honey to one part hot water)
Dash of orange bitters
Lemon garnish

Directions: To prepare, smoke a rocks cocktail glass with thyme.Add ice and shake for about 10 seconds, then strain over fresh ice into a cocktail glass.Garnish with a thyme sprig and a lemon wheel.

Created by Normal James Strobel.

Brabo, Alexandria, VA

This drink is a unique blend of deliciousness.

Ingredients
1 1/2 oz. Aviation gin
3/4 oz. lemon juice
3/4 Early Grey Tea Syrup
1/2oz. ginger juice
2 dashes of lavender bitters
A pinch of Himalayan sea salt

Directions: Shake the drink well with ice. Double strain it into a chilled cocktail coupe, preferably 7 oz. in capacity. The drink should have a white foam at its crest; garnish with three rosebuds.

Created by Phil Clark.

The Smoke Shop, Cambridge, MA

Consider this an excellent way to pair your bourbon with your ribs.

Ingredients
1 oz. Old Forrester bourbon
1 oz. Campari
1 oz. Cinzano sweet vermouth
1/2 oz. Vya Dry Vermouth
2 dashes of Corazon bitters

Directions: Add ice, stir, strain into a rocks glass (no ice), andgarnish with an orange peel.

Pier A Harbor House, New York, NY

This one's a variation on the New York Sour, but it uses a mixed base of brandyand bourbon.

Ingredients
1 oz. Black Dirt Apple Brandy
1 oz. Weller Special Reserve Bourbon
3/4 oz simple syupr
3/4 lemon
1/4 oz. Cabernet Franc

Directions: Combine all the ingredients except for the wine. Shake vigorously and double strain into a cocktail glass. Float the wine on top.

Created by Anthony Malone.

Ludivine, Oklahoma City

Light, refreshing, and made with local blackberries, there's nothing that screams summer in Oklahoma City louder than the Violet Femme by Ludivine's chef Jonathon Stranger.

Ingredients
1 egg white
2 oz. Old Tom gin
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz. Crème de Violette

Directions: Dry shake(a process of capping the glass with ashaker and shaking without ice in order to blend, but not dilute, the ingredients) egg white. Add ice, gin, lemon juice, and Violette. Shake, fine strain, and serve.

Eastern Standard, Boston

Whiskey may be your go-to cold-weather liquor, but this hip Boston bar's Whiskey Smash transcends seasonality, with summer flavors lemon and mint making it a refreshing escape from the city's heat and humidity.

Ingredients
2 oz. William Weller Special Reserve bourbon
1 oz. simple syrup
5 mint leaves
1/2 lemon, cut into quarters
Mint sprig, for garnish

Directions:Muddle mint, lemon, and syrup in a mixing glass. Add the bourbon and dry shake. Strain into a double old-fashioned glass over a tea strainer, making sure to squeeze the remaining liquid from the pulp into the glass. Fill with crushed ice and garnish with mint sprig.

Sable Kitchen & Bar, Chicago

Perfect for end-of-summer sipping, the popular libation is a sweet yet zesty combination of Pimm's No. 1, gin, elderflower, fresh lime juice, and mint.

Ingredients
1 1/2 oz. Pimm's No. 1
3/4 oz. gin
3/4 oz. Chase elderflower liqueur
3/4 oz. fresh lime juice
1/4 oz. simple syrup
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
2 mint sprigs
Mint leaf, for garnish

Directions:Shake all ingredients. Add mint sprigs. Shake again very lightly. Strain. Serve up. Garnish with a mint leaf, floating.

Recipe created by Mike Ryan, head bartender.

Registry Bistro, Toledo, OH

Made withvodka and unique grapefruit-rosemary bitters, this popular sipper is sure to cool you down on even the hottestdays.

Ingredients
Dash grapefruit-rosemary bitters
Dash simple syrup
1/2 oz. Chartreuse
1 oz. Watershed vodka
1 1/2 oz. grapefruit juice
Dash Campari
Cava float
Grapefruit peel, for garnish

Directions:Shake with ice and serve up or on the rocks. Add dash of Campari, finish with Cava float, and garnish with grapefruit peel.

Holeman & Finch, Atlanta

Featuring whiskey and jasmine and ginger liqueurs, the Oracle originates from one of the bar's first cocktail menus, and represents the rebirth of cocktail culture in this Southern city.

Ingredients
1 oz. rye whiskey
1 oz. jasmine liqueur
1/2 oz. ginger liqueur
1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
2 dashes Regans' orange bitters

Directions:Combine ingredients in a mixing class with ice. Shake and strain into an old-fashioned glass.

Recipe created by Greg Best.

PX, Alexandria, VA

If you've ever wanted toa drink that looked more like a magic show than a cocktail, tryrenowned mixologist Todd Thrasher's Golden One, which features liquid nitrogen-induced special effects.

Ingredients
1 oz. Glenmorangie Nectar D'Or
1/2 oz. Barenjaeger
2 1/2 oz. pear mixture
Dash of lemon bitters

Directions: For the pear mix, skin and chip 5 pears and mix with 1 bottle of German Riesling and 1/2 cup honey. Cook ingredients on a low simmer, until pears become translucent. While hot, strain through a chinois, but do not press. Reserve the solids for garnish. Freeze pears once cooled.In a mixing glass, add ingredients and ice. Stir and strain into a scotch glass. Garnish with frozen pear.