Skip to main content

Celebrate World Cocktail Day with The Manual’s favorite cocktails from the past year.

celebrate world cocktail day with the manuals favorite cocktails from past year ramos fizz
Image used with permission by copyright holder
In the past year, we’ve written about a lot of cocktails. There were the Mother’s Day cocktails, and the New Year’s Eve tipples—and who could forget Shotsgiving? Amongst all those, though, a couple have stood out more than others and today, the holiest of cocktail holidays (except for perhaps the night before Thanksgiving), we’re bringing them back so that we can all enjoy them one more time.

Break out the entirety of your liquor cabinet, make sure your shaker and strainer are clean, and make plenty of ice—it’s time to party.

From: 4 Must Have Cold Brew Cocktails For Summer

Recommended Videos

Negroni Coffee Swizzle
(Created by Naren Young for Dante)

Method: Swizzle with crushed ice in a highball glass. Garnish with five coffee beans.

From: 11 Spring Cocktails to celebrate National Cocktail Day

Basil Hayden’s Twisted Sour
(Created by Julie Reiner, New York)

  • 2 Parts Basil Hayden’s Bourbon
  • ½ Part Green Chartreuse
  • ½ Part Lemon Juice
  • ½ Part Grapefruit Juice
  • ½ Part Agave Syrup* (To make, combine equal parts of water with Agave Syrup)
  • ¼ Part Egg White

Method: Combine all ingredients in a mixing tin and shake without ice to blend. Add ice and shake. Strain over fresh ice in a double rocks glass and garnish with a mint sprig and a lemon wheel.

From: 6 Kickass Recipes to celebrate National Margarita Day

Chipotle Cocoa Margarita

  • 2 oz. Avión Añejo
  • 1/4 oz. Light Agave
  • 3 Slices of Orange
  • 1 Slice of Lemon
  • Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
  • Chipotle Powder

Method: Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice, and shake vigorously. Strain into a glass that has been rimmed with a mixture of cocoa powder and chipotle powder.

From: Start the year off right: 5 delicious rum cocktails that benefit your health

Big Green Bloody
(Created by Head Bartender Dave Danger and available at Kimoto Rooftop, Brooklyn, NY)

Method: build in large rocks glass or Collins glass. Garnish with banana or fried plantain chip.

*Bloody Mix (in quart container):

  • 15 oz tomatillo juice (4:1 water to paste)
  • 10 oz green tomato juice (4:1 water to paste)
  • 1 oz fresh lemon juice
  • 2 oz fresh lime juice
  • 5 oz hot sauce
  • 1 tsp garlic puree
  • 3 Tbsp fresh grated horseradish
  • 5 Tbsp celery salt (if you are concerned about sodium, substitute ground celery seed)
  • 5 Tbsp fresh ground black pepper

**Acai Syrup (in quart container):

  • 16 oz Acai juice
  • 16 oz Sugar (For healthier option, use sugar substitute)
  • 1 tsp orange blossom water

Method: Heat Acai juice and sugar in small pot until sugar dissolves (do not boil). Remove from heat and add orange blossom water.

From: 7 Cocktails to make your holidays truly happy

Hendrick’s Garden Elixir
(Created at the Driftwood Room, Miami)

  • 2 parts Hendrick’s Gin 
  • 3/4 parts Fresh Lime
  • 3/4 parts Agave Syrup
  • 2 Bar Spoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 3 muddled Basil Leaves
  • 2 Watermelon Balls Pressed
  • 5 Cherry Tomatoes

Method: Muddle, Shake and Double Strain. Serve in martini glass. Garnish with a half-tomato and basil leaf

From: Forget Bloody Marys & Mimosas: These 4 Unconventional Drinks Go Great With Brunch

Ramos Fizz (pictured)

  • 2 ounces gin
  • 1 ounce cream
  • 1 egg white
  • 1/2 ounce lemon juice
  • 1/2 ounce lime juice
  • 2 teaspoons sugar, to taste
  • 2-3 drops orange flower water
  • Seltzer

Method: Combine everything except seltzer in a cocktail shaker. Tradition dictates that the drink be shaken very hard for at least one and preferably two full minutes with ice. You can cheat by either whisking the mixture with a milk-frother or whisk (or tossing a spring from a Hawthorne strainer into the shaker and using that to whip the ingredients) until foamy, and then shaking with ice for a good 20 seconds, or you can buckle down and take the fully authentic ride, while working off the calories you’ll be taking in from the cream and sugar. Strain into a chilled Collins glass and add an ounce or two of chilled seltzer, to taste.

From: Dropping White Isn’t Only For Fashion: Check Out These 5 Brown Liquor Drinks for After Labor Day

Grilled Peach Old Fashioned

  • 2 oz. Reserva de la Familia
  • .75 oz. Carpano Antica
  • 1 slice Fresh Yellow Peach
  • 2 Italian Amarini Cherries (Luxardo)
  • 2 cube Demerara Sugar
  • 3 dashes House Citrus Bitters
  • 1 slice Fresh Grilled Peach for garnish

Method: In a mixing glass, muddle peach, cherries, sugar and bitters. Add Reserva de la Familia and Carpano Antica and stir to combine. Strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass and garnish with a grilled peach slice.

And finally, from just about every day of the year, and even though it isn’t a cocktail:

Bourbon, neat.

Happy World Cocktail Day, y’all.

Sam Slaughter
Sam Slaughter was the Food and Drink Editor for The Manual. Born and raised in New Jersey, he’s called the South home for…
8 Grilled Cocktails To Enjoy This Labor Day Weekend
grilled cocktails labor day peach cocktail

“Labor Day” and “barbecue” are obviously two very harmonious concepts, and we’re pleased to inform you that char-grilled goodness doesn’t have to be restricted to the food portion of your LDW menu. Fire-toasted fruits and herbs also make brilliant additions to cocktails, and the eight “grilled” libations that we’ve included in this round-up all deliver big flavors and high levels of refreshment.
Grilled Peach Smash
(By Ian Mendelsohn, beverage director, Alma Cocina, Atlanta, Georgia)

The sweet-and-savory flavor sensation evoked by grilled peaches feels summery in a way that few other tastes manage to pull off, and in this cocktail, beverage director Ian Mendelsohn ups the ante by adding bourbon. “The grilled peach smash is among the most classic of cocktails.The differences between the smash and the julep have been debated for years, but everyone agrees that this is a tremendous cocktail to enjoy with friends on a hot summer day,” Mendelsohn explains.

Read more
Fresh Memorial Day Cocktails to Help You Celebrate this Weekend
Nolet’s Silver Carrot and Pineapple Punch

When most people think of Memorial Day, images of barbecues, closed offices, and fun probably come to mind — but Memorial Day is much more than that. The real reason most of us have the day off is to honor the brave men and women who busted their asses and sacrificed their lives in order to provide a safe, free country for the rest of us.

This Memorial Day, one way you can show your respect is by ditching the cheap beer and raising something worthy of those that already gave so much so that you didn't have to. Before you mix up anything though, why not make a smart decision before any alcohol is involved and donate to a charity such as Thanks USA or the Folds of Honor, which helps the families of fallen soldiers?

Read more
Penelope Bourbon releases new American Light Whiskey
Penelope Bourbon is launching a 17-year-old whiskey
Whiskey in a glass

Penelope Bourbon was founded in 2018 and has quickly gained a loyal following while it continues to grow. Its newest release, Penelope American Light Whiskey, is part of the brand’s annual limited releases. These expressions consist of the rarest and longest-aged barrels Penelope has at its disposal.
Penelope American Light Whiskey

Penelope American Light Whiskey begins with a mash bill of 99% corn and 1% malted barley. It was distilled at the historic Seagram’s site in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, which is now known as Ross & Squib Distillery. It was matured for seventeen years in second-fill oak barrels before being bottled at a robust 138.8-proof.

Read more