When you’re standing in front of a fully-stocked bar, how long does it take you to decide what drink to make?

(Note: if you don’t have a fully-stocked bar, here’s our list of home bar necessities to get you up to speed)

As the saying goes, by the time you get to the bar you should know what you want. If you regularly have problems with this, maybe you don’t have enough drink recipes in your repertoire to account for every possible desire your palate presents you with.

If you knew how to make more drinks, what goes in them and what flavors they provide, you’ll always have a satisfying drink in your hand. Here are four drinks that will cover a lot of ground–

The Martini

A martini can be served in a number of different ways– dry, wet, shaken, stirred, dirty, etc. It can even be served with a different base liquor of vodka instead of gin. Here are some varieties of the martini that you need to know:

The Dirty Martini
2.5oz Gin
0.5oz Dry Vermouth
0.5oz Olive Brine (or to taste)
Add all ingredients into a mixing glass, stir and strain, serve in chilled cocktail glass

The Dry Martini
2.5oz Vodka
0.5oz Dry Vermouth
Dash of orange bitters
Add all ingredients into a mixing glass, stir and strain, serve in chilled cocktail glass

The Vodka Martini
1.5oz Vodka
0.5oz Dry Vermouth
Add all ingredients into a mixing glass, stir and strain, serve in chilled cocktail glass

…and any combination of the above. Mess around with the details until you find the type of Martini that you enjoy the most. Trust us, there’s a Martini for everyone.

The Old Fashion

The Old Fashion is a very masculine drink. Simple, elegant, strong, flavorful. For the bourbon lovers out there, this is a cocktail you should be familiar with.

The Old Fashion
1.5oz Bourbon
2 tsp Simple Syrup
1 tsp Water
2 dashes of bitters
1 ice cube
1 orange peel and/or maraschino cherry
Pour simple syrup, water and bitters in glass and stir, add ice cube, pour in bourbon, add garnish.

It is completely acceptable to play around with the water and ice cube ratios, as well as experimenting with a splash of club soda as well.

The Moscow Mule

We wouldn’t be called Moscow Mule Company if we didn’t love the Moscow Mule. Therefore, it will always be on our list of go-to drinks. We’ve written extensively about the original Moscow Mule and it’s variations, but for your convenience here they are below–

The Original Moscow Mule
2-3 Ice Cubes
1.5 oz Vodka
0.5oz Lime Juice
Ginger Beer (Cock & Bull Ginger Beer is traditionally used)
Lime Wedge garnish
Put ice cubes into chilled copper mug, add vodka and lime juice, top off with Ginger Beer, garnish.

The Kentucky Mule
2-3 Ice Cubes
1.5 oz Bourbon
0.5oz Lime Juice
Ginger Beer (Cock & Bull Ginger Beer is traditionally used)
Lime Wedge garnish
Put ice cubes into chilled copper mug, add vodka and lime juice, top off with Ginger Beer, garnish.

It’s easy to glance over the part about the copper mug, but that really is essential to the cocktail, especially if you have an authentic 100% copper mug. It enhances the flavors. Here’s a bunch of copper mugs worthy of your Moscow Mule, but this one is definitely our favorite.

The Mojito

The Mojito is a refreshing drink that originates in Cuba that’s perfect for a hot summer day.

The Mojito
1.5 oz white rum
Club soda
10 mint leaves
½ Lime cut into 4 wedges
2 Tbsp Sugar
2 ice cubes
Muddle mint and lime in a glass, add sugar and ice, add rum, top off with club soda and stir.

There you have it– variations of the Martini for when you need to be classy, the Old Fashion for when you’d want some bold flavors, the Moscow Mule when you want a refreshing hip drink, and the Mojito for those hot summer days.

Which one is your favorite? Leave a comment below!