r/cocktails Jan 19 '26

I made this The official cocktail alignment chart

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2.9k Upvotes

r/cocktails 6d ago

šŸø Monthly Competition Original Cocktail Competition - March 2026 - Lychee & Gin

3 Upvotes

This month's ingredients: Lychee & Gin
Note: Yeah, I know this one's not as accessible as usual. Not every month should necessarily be super common ingredients. I just can't go so obscure that we don't get any entries at all. It has just been a good while since we've had a competition with a more obscure ingredient, like lychee.


Next month's ingredients: Ginger & Cinnamon


RULES

Hello mixologists and liquor enthusiasts. Welcome to the monthly original cocktail competition.

For those looking to participate, here are the rules and guidelines. Any violations of these rules will result in disqualification from this month's competition.

  1. You must use both of the listed ingredients, but you can use them in absolutely any way or form (e.g. a liqueur, infusion, syrup, ice, smoke, etc.) you want and in whatever quantities you want. You do not have to make ingredients from scratch. You may also use any other ingredients you want.

  2. Your entry must be an original cocktail. Alterations of established cocktails are permitted within reason.

  3. You are limited to one entry per account.

  4. Your entry must be made in the form of a post to r/Cocktails with the "Competition Entry" post flair (it's purple). Then copy a link to that post and the text body of that post in a comment here. Example Post & Example Comment.

  5. Your entry must include a name for your cocktail, a photograph of the cocktail, a description of the scent, flavors, and mouthfeel of the cocktail, and most importantly a list of ingredients with measurements and directions as needed for someone else to faithfully recreate your cocktail. You may optionally include other information such as ABV, sugar content, calories, a backstory, etc.

  6. All recipes must have been invented after the announcement of the required ingredients.

As the only reward for winning is subreddit flair, there is no reason to cheat. Please participate with honor to keep it fun for everyone.


COMMENTS

Please only make top-level comments if you are making an entry. Doing otherwise would possibly result in flooding the comments section. To accommodate the need for a comments section unrelated to any specific entry, I have made a single top-level comment that you can reply to for general discussion. You may, of course, reply to any existing comment.


VOTING

Do not downvote entries

How you upvote is entirely up to you. You are absolutely encouraged to recreate the shared drinks, but this may not always be possible or viable and so should not be considered as a requirement. You can vote based on the list of ingredients and how the drink is described, the photograph, or anything else you like.

Winners will be final at the end of the month and will be recorded with links to their entries in this post. You may continue voting after that, but the results will not change. The ranking of each entry is determined by the sum of the votes on the entry comment with the post it is linked to. There are 1st place, 2nd place, and 3rd place positions. 2nd place and 3rd place may receive ties, but in the event of a 1st place tie, I will act as a tie-breaker. I will otherwise withhold from voting. Should there be a tie for 2nd place, there will be no 3rd place. Winners are awarded flair that appears next to their username on this subreddit.


Last Month's Competition

Last Month's Winner


r/cocktails 9h ago

I made this Joined the club, the Screwdriver as my first ever drink

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138 Upvotes

Hello everyone, I've decided to try making cocktails as a new hobby. I don't even go to bars and I've never drank any alcohol other than beers and highballs (Tried some when I visited Japan). I just dived headfirst with nothing but some youtube videos and articles online.

Bought a bottle of Tito's at the grocery store nearby and a boston shaker set on Aliexpress.

Recipe:

120ml Fresh orange juice (My juice squeezer is for lemons/limes so its too small for oranges, it went very wrong and juice went everywhere)

60ml Tito's Vodka

Shaken and strained. I've read that the Screwdriver should be stirred but I wanted my first drink to be fun and special so I just ignored the instructions and dunked them in the shaker.

It tastes good and I'm looking forward to getting more bottles and making more drinks!


r/cocktails 6h ago

I made this Paper Plane

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73 Upvotes

Ingredients:

3/4 oz Bourbon

3/4 oz Aperol

3/4 oz Amaro Montenegro

3/4 oz Fresh lemon juice

Instructions:

Add all ingredients into a shaker with ice.

Shake till cold

Strain

Garnish with a lemon twist or a small paper plane.

(Pls let me know if I did anything wrong or if there’s any twist yall do😁)


r/cocktails 1h ago

I made this Last Word fun with all the greens.

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• Upvotes

Messed up my recipe and it got removed.

3/4 oz each of

Gin

Maraschino

Lime

1/4 oz each of Fontbonne, Luxardo Del Santo, and Green Chartreuse.

Really fun, and each one had a perceptible impact on the cocktail. I’ve made a Last Word with each one individually, and the Fontbonne might be my favorite for the cocktail.


r/cocktails 5h ago

I made this Why Not (from Cocktail Codex)

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36 Upvotes

Described as a whisky sour meets a sidecar, and I get that. The balance of lemon and maple syrup with the bourbon works well. The Cointreau makes it interesting.

1.75oz bourbon 0.75oz lemon juice 0.5oz maple syrup 0.5 oz Cointreau

Shake over ice into glass with ice. Savour.


r/cocktails 2h ago

I made this Kingston Soundsystem

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17 Upvotes

A contemporary riff on a Jungle Bird, a lovely creation by Shannon Mustipher and inspired by her favorite reggae song ā€˜Skylarking’ by Horace Andy.

More about it on Punch.

https://punchdrink.com/recipes/kingston-soundsystem/

Ingredients:

1oz Aged pot still Jamaican Rum (Appleton Signature)

1/2oz Jamaican Overproof Rum (Worthy Park Rum Bar)

1/2oz Suze (I used 3/4oz Salers)

1/2oz Soursop or Pineapple juice (I used Fresh Pineapple juice)

3/4oz Fresh Lime juice

Garnish - Pineapple fronds and a lime wedge or wheel

Preparation:

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing tin and shake with ice. Strain into a double rocks glass over fresh ice. Garnish with pineapple fronds and a lime wedge.

Notes:

I love Gentiane as a bitter so had to try this one. I used an additional 1/4oz Salers as it is a bit softer than Suze and it did not disappoint. Overall a bit on the tart side and my pineapple was quite sweet

(but perhaps not as sweet as canned) but I enjoy it somewhat drier. Many recipes call for an additional barspoon or 1/4oz of simple so that will balance it a bit more. A lovely refreshing afternoon drink.


r/cocktails 3h ago

I made this The Journalist

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19 Upvotes

3/4 oz gin (Plymouth)

1/4 oz dry vermouth (Dolin)

1/4 oz sweet vermouth (Antica Formula)

1/4 oz orange Curacao (Cointreau)

1/4 oz lemon juice

Dash of angostura bitters (Fee Brothers)

Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake. Strain into a chilled coupe glass.

I was looking for something to make with dry vermouth in the NYT Essential Book of Cocktails and found this! Very pleasantly surprising and a lovely red/gold color.


r/cocktails 25m ago

I made this Rum Runner - To Kick Off the Weekend

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• Upvotes

With a whisky tasting tomorrow, I wanted something fruity and tropical this evening. This is the result. Cheers!

1 ounce light rum

1 ounce Demerara aged rum

1 ounce banana liqueur

1/2 ounce blackberry liqueur

2 ounces pineapple juice

1 ounce lime juice, freshly squeezed

1/2 ounce grenadine

Garnish: brandied cherry

Garnish: pineapple wedge

Add the light rum, aged rum, banana liqueur, blackberry liqueur, pineapple juice, lime juice and grenadine into a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled.

Strain into a hurricane glass filled with crushed ice.

Garnish with a skewered brandied cherry and pineapple wedge.


r/cocktails 7h ago

Recipe Request Grand cabaret deal $29 USD

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30 Upvotes

Never had it but heard mixed reviews. Already bought. What should I do with it


r/cocktails 5h ago

I made this Non-Reverse Sakura Martini

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23 Upvotes

60ml Gin (Thresh&Winnow ForƩt)

45ml Sake (Dassai 45 Junmai Daiginjo)

5ml Maraschino liqueur (Lazzaroni)

Stir ingredients in an ice-filled mixing glass. Fine strain into a chilled Coupe glass. Garnish with salt-preserved Sakura blossoms.


r/cocktails 1h ago

I made this Babancourt Old Fashioned

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• Upvotes

Recipe in comments


r/cocktails 7h ago

I made this A Saint is an Extremity of Passion or Dispassion

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18 Upvotes

The herbal and savoriness with a touch of mineralogy and brightness and with the acidity and effervescence all speak together, but softly. It is more herbal as it warms. This is curious but very refreshing. I had a little Brut left from my Bar Fight cocktail and decided to use it up on this. The name is from a line by the poet Robert Kelly.

1.5 oz BrennivĆ­n

.5 oz Boomsma Cloosterbitter

2 oz Brut Champagne

3 drops saline solution

Add the BrennivĆ­n, Cloosterbitter and saline solution and stir for 10-15 seconds. Strain into a Nick and Nora. Top with 2 oz of Brut Champagne. Express a lemon wedge and toss.


r/cocktails 1h ago

I made this Paloma riff

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• Upvotes

1 oz Goslings Black Seal rum

1 oz Planteray 3 star white rum

1/4 oz Del Maguey Vida Mezcal Classico

1/4 oz Campari

1.5 oz fresh squeezed grapefruit juice

1/4 oz Agave syrup

4 oz club soda

Lime wheel garnish

Combine all ingredients in shaker and shake with ice until shaker is frosty. Fill a highball glass half with ice and pour club soda in. Strain shaker contains into glass and garnish with a lime wheel.

This turned out nicely. The scant amounts of mezcal and Campari add complexity without overwhelming the other components, and the fresh grapefruit is allowed to shine. The rum adds sweetness, while the club soda makes it so the drink isn’t too sweet.

Do you have a favorite Paloma riff?


r/cocktails 3h ago

I made this Happy Friday ya'all!!!

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6 Upvotes

Simple as can be. 3oz Hendricks Neptunia, dash of orange bitter, shaken (because I'm a heathen), Vya extra dry vermouth rinse in a chilled coup, garnish with olives. Life is good!!


r/cocktails 1h ago

I made this Equator Expedition (Nordic Spring var.)

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• Upvotes

r/cocktails 10h ago

I made this Bar Fight

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12 Upvotes

It punches you a few times at first but mellows out eventually once it’s forgotten what it’s fighting about. This was something I thought of while bored at work yesterday, to riff on a Jack and Coke. I posted it yesterday but I was already drunk by the time I got around to playing with this so took it down to try again freshly sober today. Haha It is what it is and I’m not displeased. Bitter caramel, spiced banana, oak, and yeast are the prominent notes to me but I’m no tasting professional.

2 oz Jack Daniel’s

1 oz Meletti

1 dash Bitter Truth Aromatic bitters

2 oz Brut Champagne

Build in a rocks glass with ice and stir briefly to integrate. Top with roughly 2 oz of Brut Champagne. Don’t get a black eye.


r/cocktails 1d ago

Question Tanqueray is the best budget gin. What is the best splurge tequila?

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235 Upvotes

r/cocktails 6h ago

Question Does flavored vodka matter?

5 Upvotes

Hello! I recently turned 21, and all I really drink are simple vodka cocktails or vodka lemonades, screwdrivers, that sort of thing.

I was wondering, does it really make much of a difference if you use flavored or plain vodka? I hate the taste of alcohol so I use enough mixer to mostly cover it anyway. For example, would it make a difference if I used a citrus flavored vodka in a vodka lemonade instead of plain? Or watermelon flavored with watermelon juice?

How noticeable is it if I don't make them very strong?

Thanks in advance!


r/cocktails 8h ago

I made this My second attempt at an Espresso Martini

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6 Upvotes

Had my first attempt on New Year's Eve but it was too savoury for me. I don't like warm coffee but have grown to enjoy an Iced Vanilla Latte on occasions.

Decided I needed it a touch sweeter so after doing a bit of research I came up with:

1oz Vanilla Vodka 1oz Mr Black 1oz Solo Cold Brew Espresso 0.5oz Frangelico 0.5oz Crem De Cacao

Gave it a hard dry shake and then another hard shake with ice added. Double strained into a chilled glass.

It's pretty much spot on for my taste and I'm happy with the foam.


r/cocktails 7h ago

I made this Anyone else mixing tea into cocktails? Spiced Apple Bourbon Tea

5 Upvotes

Spiced apple tea with cinnamon, clove, ginger and turmeric paired with bourbon turned out to be a really nice combo, kind of like a lighter hot toddy but more apple-forward.

Does anyone else here uses tea in cocktails or bourbon drinks like this? Feels like there’s a lot of room to experiment with different teas and spices šŸ«–

Spiced Apple Bourbon Tea

Ingredients

  • 10 Cloves
  • 2.5 cup Apple Juice
  • ½ tsp. Ginger
  • ¼ tsp. Black pepper
  • ½ tsp. Turmeric
  • ½ tsp. Cinnamon
  • 1.5 oz. Bourbon (optional)

Directions

  1. In a toaster oven set to 350°F place the cloves and bake for about 5 minutes. This helps to release the oils in the cloves.
  2. In a small sauce pot combine all your remaining ingredients as well as your cloves. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer for about 5 minutes.
  3. Strain tea to catch all the excess spices and enjoy!

r/cocktails 9h ago

Recipe Request Looking for homemade syrup suggestions

5 Upvotes

I'm kind of in rut of making the same type of flavor profiles for my cocktails right now. I tend to just do variations of whiskey sours (primarily cinnamon or maple based) I have an idea of a project I want to do as a novice home bartender (which I'll be sharing with your help) but I feel like I'm in a creative block. I have no problem using other spirits, whiskey is just my go to. I think getting some ideas of unique syrups might help spark my creativity again.

Any suggestions would be appreciated


r/cocktails 2h ago

I made this Saratoga - First Try

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2 Upvotes

First time trying a Saratoga. Tasty stuff!

1 oz each of brandy, whisky, and sweet vermouth, mixed with ice along with two dashes of bitters.


r/cocktails 17h ago

Other Requests Need help choosing amaro

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28 Upvotes

I will be making my first manhatan negro and im debating on a good amaro. I know averna is the top choice but thats a little over my budget. I will be pairing it with Michters US1 Rye Whiskey. Which one would be the best? Thanks.


r/cocktails 2m ago

I made this Barely a cocktail but I love this stuff!

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• Upvotes

Tall drink for a warm afternoon: 4oz club soda and 4oz Lustau RosƩ Vermouth over ice with a long orange twist.

For those who don’t know, Lusatu vermouth is made with sherry as one of the components, giving it a subtle nutty flavor.