Whether you’re looking to take up a new skill, hone your mixology skills or are simply longing for a bar-quality cocktail at home, here you’ll find our top 30 easy gin cocktails, each crafted with our award-winning London Dry Gin, to help you elevate your home sipping.
Begin with these 30 classic gin cocktail recipes, each perfect for the Classic Sipper. Looking for more ginspiration? In our cocktail book SIP, we celebrate the beauty in simplicity with 100 gin cocktails, each with just 3 ingredients. You can also find a whole host of cocktail inspiration on our online cocktail library.
BARTENDERS’ ESSENTIALS
1. GIN & TONIC
Brushing up on bartending basics? The G&T is the perfect place to start. This gin cocktail may seem simple, but it requires a few key elements – including high-quality ingredients, ample ice and a lime garnish – to succeed.
2. NEGRONI
The Negroni is a cocktail whose richness and complexity belie the ease of its preparation. Traditionally made with equal parts gin, Campari and sweet vermouth, it’s a simple serve to master.
3. WHITE LADY
A cocktail that dates back to the 1920s, the White Lady is a citrusy and frothy Prohibition-era classic. Elegant and refreshing, the drink is a worthy candidate for aspiring bartenders.
4. MARTINI
No gin cocktail is as prized (or debated) as the Martini. It may take some practicing to get yours right – brush up on Martini-making basics and terminology to help you master the serve.
5. MARTINEZ
Considered a cousin (and possible progenitor) of the Martini, the richer and darker Martinez adds sweet vermouth, bitters and Maraschino liqueur to the format. Stir this spirit-led serve over ice and sip slowly.
CLASSIC COCKTAILS
6. GIBSON
One alternative approach to the Martini, the savoury and striking Gibson is notably garnished with a pickled onion.
7. VESPER MARTINI
The famous serve ordered by James Bond in Ian Fleming’s first novel Casino Royale. In the book, Bond orders it shaken, but no self-respecting bartender would ever shake a martini. Stir or throw this classic for a sumptuous and timeless serve.
8. GIMLET
Made varyingly with lime cordial or freshly squeezed lime juice, the bright and piquant Gimlet is refreshment in a glass – and can be shaken up in mere moments.
9. HANKY PANKY
This classic creation by Ada Coleman, head bartender at the Savoy Hotel around the turn of the century, is given a cherry twist.
10. CORPSE REVIVER NO.2
Immortalized in The Savoy Cocktail Book, the Corpse Reviver No. 2 was devised to cure the hangover-stricken – reason enough to keep this restorative recipe in your proverbial back pocket.
11. TOM COLLINS
The Tom Collins is a classic for a reason. Made with gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and soda, it’s perfectly refreshing, and a breeze to mix up.
12. GIN RICKEY
In the late 1800s, a time now considered to be a ‘cocktail renaissance’, the most popular gin drink was not a Martini or a Gin & Tonic. It was a Gin Rickey. This drink is not sweet, but there’s none more refreshing.
13. EMPIRE
A classic cocktail from Harry Craddock’s 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book with a decidedly Sipsmithian twist.
14. HOT G&T
Hot gin has been a popular London tipple for centuries. This warming number is both an homage to sipping seasons past, as well as a wonderfully wintry tweak on the classic gin & tonic. Happily, it’s easy to make at home.
SPARKLING SENSATIONS
15. FRENCH 75
Gin and Prosecco go together splendidly, and the French 75 is the perfect cocktail to turn to when you’re planning a celebratory occasion – or simply fancy a bit of fizz.
16. MILLIONAIRE’S MARTINI
The classic Martini meets Champagne in this delightfully decadent throwback to the Gilded Age.
17. LONDON DRY GIN SPRITZ
A classic Sloe Gin number, the ruby-hued Sloe Gin Fizz is made with a generous glug of Prosecco (or Champagne).
18. RAMOS GIN FIZZ
If you wish to build up your bartending muscle, the Ramos Gin Fizz is the cocktail to turn to. This classic New Orleans serve is creamy and frothy, and needs to be shaken for upwards of six minutes. Trust us, it’s worth the effort.
FRUITY FAVOURITES
19. BRAMBLE
Invented by celebrated London bartender Dick Bradsell in the 1980s, the Bramble is a blackberry lover’s dream. We like this lightly pink gin cocktail with an extra drizzle of Sloe Gin.
20. PASSION MARTINI
This is gin’s answer to a certain Martini with a much less sophisticated name. Made much more sophisticated with gin, naturally.
21. CLOVER CLUB
A 19th century take on pink gin, the decadent and dessert-like Clover Club features egg whites and raspberries (and offers the chance to practice your dry shake). We make sure our version is bursting with berries by using our Very Berry Gin.
22. LADY IN RED
Sloe gin and raspberry syrup add a touch of blush to a classic White Lady.
23. DAISY
The Daisy has appeared in many guises over the years. This version is cool, refreshing and garnished with seasonal berries.
24. BEE’S KNEES
A classic gin cocktail with origins dating back to Prohibition, the delectable Bee’s Knees mingles gin, honey and citrus, and is the perfect anytime serve.
25. RED SNAPPER
The Bloody Mary is good, but for gin lovers, the Red Snapper is even better. This tomato-based number is our go-to brunch serve (and can be built straight in the glass).
26. THE LAST WORD
Lightly green – thanks to the addition of Chartreuse and lime juice – The Last Word is a Prohibition-era cocktail that’s enjoyed a recent revival. This striking serve packs a punch, but it’s blessedly easy to make.
INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCES
27. SBAGLIATO
Sbagliato translates to ‘messed up’ or ‘mistaken’ in Italian. This drink is said to be the result of a busy bartender mistakenly using sparkling wine instead of gin in a Negroni. We’ve added the gin back in to make this Sipsmith Sbagliato. Frankly, it should have never left.
28. GIN CAIPIRINHA
Like a tropical getaway in a glass, this Caipirinha is a ginful reinterpretation of the popular Brazilian serve.
29. BRONX
The Bronx cocktail is allegedly the first to ever use fresh fruit juice. Its origin lies in New York, 1906, where Johnny Solon created it as bartender of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel. He named it after the newly opened Bronx Zoo.
30. PEGU CLUB
How far did the British Empire extend? Well, if you start at this end, the furthest point (at least in terms of travel time, if not distance) would be the Pegu Club in Rangoon. The club was lost with the colony in 1942, but the drink lives on.
