Quick Mojito

This is a classic, refreshing sparkler made with sloe gin, regular gin, and lemon juice, shaken and topped off with club soda. What to buy: Sloe gin is a red liqueur made from gin infused with sloes (also called blackthorn), a relative of plums.

Famed New Orleans barman Henry C. Ramos is said to have invented this rich, potent, and frothy egg white and cream cocktail in the 1880s. Orange flower water gives it a lovely aroma.

Except for the gin and tonic, no other cocktail is as quintessentially English as pink gin, also known as gin and bitters. A few drops of aromatic, sweetly spice-scented angostura bitters are a gentle enhancement for the bracing, juniper-driven taste of London Dry–style gin. We give you two options: a simple version (just chilled gin and bitters), and the same thing served over ice, topped off with a splash of soda water.

Infusing lots of mint and freshly grated ginger into a simple syrup takes the muddling out of these Mojitos. Since the base of the cocktail is made in advance, all you have to do is add ice and club soda—perfect for parties or your next tailgate. T

Refreshing and herbaceous, this cocktail will bring you back to life.

The blue-curaçao hue of the Na’vi people in the 2010 Oscar-nominated film Avatar may look a little frightening, as does this cocktail at first glance. But a few sips and the spiced Velvet Falernum will give you enough courage to travel by dragon. What to buy: If you can’t find Velvet Falernum, a clove- and lime-infused liqueur, try making your own. We think this recipe is a great stand-in. This Flying Blue Dragon recipe was featured as part of our Best Picture Cocktails story.

Inspired by the idea of making a camping cocktail, we thought it’d be novel to use a little pine liqueur to bring the taste of the great outdoors to the canteen. We found the punchy, herbal liqueur a little tricky to mix with, but ultimately we were able to balance it out with some dark rum and a little pineapple juice. This recipe is scaled to fit into a canteen, and serves four.

According to urban legend, the Shirley Temple was created by a bartender at Chasen’s, a Beverly Hills restaurant popular with the entertainment set in the 1930s. Rumor has it that a pint-sized regular liked to belly up with this grenadine-spiked soda. Chasen’s was shuttered in 1995, but here’s a refreshing homemade version of Shirley’s namesake drink for all you teetotalers and youngsters out there.