With cocktails this easy to make, you get to start drinking sooner.
They require no muddling, blending, infusing, or pureeing.
First, let’s check that you have the minimal equipment, and then come the simplest cocktails.
Sarah Ferone
Bar Supplies
You don’t need a fully stocked home bar to mix a few drinks.
The first three two-ingredient cocktails are featured in our video with the brands used cited in parentheses.
Paloma
Sarah Ferone
This refreshing, bubbly drink from Mexico is enjoyed worldwide.
Sarah Ferone
Gimlet
This classic, sweet-tart cocktail is great with vodka, too.
Fill a rocks glass with ice and add ingredients.
Stir and garnish with a sprig of rosemary, fresh mint, or wedge of lime.
Sarah Ferone
Pour ingredients into a glass and garnish with fresh cucumber and strawberry, or an orange slice.
Bourbon Buck
In this recipe, ginger ale givesbourbona sweet, zippy, bubbly treatment.
Fill a tall glass with ice and add ingredients.
Emma Darvick
Stir and garnish with lemon.
In a mug, steep teabags in hot water for about 5 minutes.
Remove the teabags, add Irish cream, and serve.
Sarah Ferone
Cider Shandy
This variant of a classic shandy swaps lemonade withapple ciderfor a crisp fall refresher.
Combine ingredients in a pilsner glass and garnish with orange.
Fill a rocks glass with ice and add ingredients.
Sarah Ferone
Stir and garnish with an orange slice.
Pimm’s Cup
This cocktail features Pimm’s No.
1, a gin-based spirit with refreshing spice and fruit flavors.
Sarah Ferone
Try it with lemonade, too.
Fill a tall glass with ice and add ingredients.
Stir and garnish with orange.
Sarah Ferone
Combine ingredients in a champagne flute and garnish with lemon.
Cape Cooler
In this recipe,cranberry juicetakes vodka on a trip to New England.
Fill a tall glass with ice and add ingredients.
Sarah Ferone
Stir and garnish with lime.
Fill a glass with ice and add ingredients.
Stir and garnish with lime.
Sarah Ferone
Fill a rocks glass with ice and add ingredients.
Stir and garnish with coffee beans.
Fill a cocktail glasspreferably a rocks or Old Fashioned glasswith ice.
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Pour vodka and Kahlua over the ice, top with heavy cream, and stir.
Chambord French Martini
Raspberry liqueur and pineapple juice give a standard martini a sweet, fruity twist.
Pour ingredients into acocktail shakerfilled with ice and shake.
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Strain into a martini glass and top with a raspberry or lemon twist.
Add ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice, and shake vigorously until well combined.
Cosmopolitan
The 1990s called, and they want you to revisit thisSex In The Citystaple.
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Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice, add ingredients, and shake.
Strain into a martini glass and garnish with a lime slice.
Sex on the Beach
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Planning a staycation?
Time Inc. Studios
Plan on making plenty of these.
Fill a hurricane or other tall cocktail glass with ice.
Combine ingredients in an ice-filled Collins glass.
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Top with ginger beer and garnish with a lime wedge.
Coffee Old Fashioned
Just five ingredients make this cozy coffee cocktail, perfect for long winter nights.
Combine sugar with bitters and 1 teaspoon water in a cocktail glass, stirring vigorously until sugar is dissolved.
Sarah Ferone
London Lemonade
For best results, use homemade lemonade from freshly squeezed lemons.
For expedience, use whatever’s available.
Fill a rocks glass with ice and add ingredients.
Emma Darvick
Stir and garnish with a rosemary sprig.
Add ingredients to a tall glass of ice and stir.
Garnish with lemon slices and basil sprigs.
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Martini
Jonathan Knowles/Getty Images
This simple yet sophisticated classic is considered the father of all cocktails.
Fill a mixing glass or shaker with ice, add ingredients, and stir.
Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with olives and/or a twist of lemon.
Sarah Ferone
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.
In a mug of hot apple cider, add a tea bag and steep for 3 minutes.
Remove the tea bag, stir in vanilla and gin, and serve warm with lemon slices.
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Chambord Royale
Raspberry liqueur lends Champagne a fruity turn that’s fit for a queen.
Pour ingredients into a cocktail glass or champagne flute, and garnish with raspberry.
Cider Bellini
Just add sparkling wine to apple cider for awesome autumn refreshment.
Jonathan Knowles/Getty Images
Combine ingredients in a champagne flute and garnish with rosemary.
Lillet-Strawberry Spritz
Greg DuPree
This simple three-ingredient spritz is an ideal cooler for warm summer days.
Fill a glass halfway with ice and add ingredients.
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Stir to combine and garnish with sliced strawberry.
In a rocks glass with a large ice cube, add ingredients and gently stir.
Garnish with an orange slice.
Emma Darvick
Red Wine Spritz
Make this fruity, fizzy cocktail the star of your summer soirees.
Fill a glass halfway with ice, add ingredients, and stir to combine.
In awine glassfilled with ice, add ingredients and gently stir.
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Garnish with a slice of orange.
Fill a glass halfway with ice and add ingredients.
Stir to combine and garnish with olives.
Emma Darvick
Limoncello Spritz
This refreshing four-ingredient twist on the classic spritz is bright and pleasantly tart.
Fill a glass halfway with ice and add ingredients.
Stir to combine, and garnish with a rosemary sprig and lemon peel.
Greg DuPree
Fill a glass halfway with ice and add ingredients.
Stir and garnish with mango wedges.
Make some simple syrup ahead to have on hand whenever the spirit moves you.
Alexander Donin/Getty Images
Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake.
Strain into a glass filled with ice, and garnish with an orange slice and cherry.
Espresso Martini
Here’s a cocktail poised to wake up your happy hour.
Greg DuPree
Strain into a martini glass and garnish with a sprinkle of cocoa or cinnamon.
Combine ingredients in an ice-filled cocktail shaker and shake vigorously until very cold, about 30 seconds.
Strain into an ice-filled pint glass and top with whipped cream.
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Combine ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously.
Strain into a cocktail glass with a salted rim.
Grapefruit Kombucha Margarita
This recipe tops a citrusy margarita withkombuchafor a tangy, fizzy refresher.
Greg DuPree
Combine ingredients except kombucha with ice in a cocktail shaker and shake until well chilled, about 30 minutes.
Strain into a cocktail glass with a salted rim and top with kombucha.
Greg DuPree
Greg DuPree
RealSimple.com
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Emma Darvick
Stephen DeVries
RealSimple.com
