There's a golden ratio to making the perfect cocktail, and it only requires three ingredients.
It's 2:1:1 (two parts liquor, such as gin, one part tart, such as lemon juice, and one part sweet, such as honey) -- that's how you make the delicious Bee's Knees, by the way.
With all the home-grown artisanal herbal bitters and one-of-a-kind booze infusions saturating the nightlife scene these days, it's understandable if you (and your wallet) get overwhelmed.
Journalist Jennifer McCartney wrote a humorous starter book, Cocktails for Drinkers: Not-Even-Remotely-Artisanal, Three-Ingredient-Or-Less Cocktails That Get To The Point, that's great for the regular, no-frills, straight-to-the-point drink maker. It has more than 100 recipes every home bartender should learn how to make (garnishes don't count as one of the three ingredients).
While some entries are obviously kidding (do you really need a recipe for a Jack and Coke?) others are foundational.
Here they are, with her instructions on how to make them using only three ingredients or fewer.
1 ounce sweet vermouth
Dash of bitters
Combine and serve up or on the rocks.
4 ounces vodka
1 tablespoon rock salt or sea salt
Place salt evenly in a shallow dish. Wet the rim of your glass with water and turn upside down into the salt, ensuring that the rim is covered in salt. Mix the grapefruit juice and vodka and pour into your salt-rimmed glass over ice.
2 ounces Campari
2 ounces sweet vermouth
Orange wheel
Mix the ingredients together and pour over ice.
2 ounces pineapple juice
1.5 ounces lime cordial
Combine ingredients and serve over ice.
2 ounces lime juice
1 ounce simple syrup
Sugar
Rim a glass with sugar, add ice, and pour in the rum, lime juice and simple syrup.
