Cocktails

Become a cocktail connoisseur with these classic recipes

Discover our top cocktail picks for spring, and with our easy to follow cocktail recipes you’ll be mixing, shaking and stirring like a pro in no time.

Read Time 4 Minutes

By Ankita Mehta

Stone’s and Soda

Stone’s Original Green Ginger Wine was first produced in 1740. With the time-honoured recipe remaining largely unchanged for over 175 years, it is one of the world’s oldest surviving alcoholic beverage brands. Made from only the finest quality Australian ginger, it leads with a powerful pungent ginger aroma followed by spicy characters on the palate where its zing and zest are quite noticeable, moderated by a softening sweetness. Ingredients 30mL Stone’s Original Green Ginger Wine 60mL soda water Sliced lime, lemon or cucumber to garnish Ice Method This classic cocktail is simple to create. Pour the Stone’s and then the soda over ice and garnish.

Old Fashioned

This cocktail is a classic. It dates back to the mid-1800s, when it first appeared with gin, but came into popularity in the late 19th century when the recipe switched to bourbon. The result was a simple, elegant and intriguing cocktail for the ages. Ingredients 30mL Woodford Reserve Bourbon 1 tsp brown sugar 2 dashes Angostura Bitters Orange zest to garnish Ice Method Add sugar, bitters and Woodford Reserve into a mixing glass and half fill with ice. Stir well and strain into a tumbler glass filled with ice. Garnish with fresh orange zest.

Christmas Sangria

We’re a little left out at Christmas in Australia. Sure, we’ve got prawns, mangos, beers and the beach. But a little part of us longs for those cosy, snow-fill Christmases, with knitted sweaters and mugs of mulled wine. This Sangria provides an extra touch of Christmas to your festive gatherings. This recipe serves eight. Ingredients 1 orange, quartered, each quarter thinly sliced crossways 1 green apple, cored, quartered, each quarter thinly sliced crossways 3/4 cup Cointreau 2 x 750mL bottles The Black Chook Sparkling Shiraz, chilled 1/4 cup caster sugar 2 cups lemonade 1 cup ice Method Place the orange, apple, Cointreau and sugar in a large bowl. Cover and place in the fridge for 30 minutes. In a large glass jug, add the fruit mixture, sparkling shiraz, lemonade and ice cubes. Serve immediately.

Tom Collins

This classic cocktail recipe came into popularity during ‘The Tom Collins Hoax of 1874’, when people around America frequently asked after a mischievous reveller called Tom Collins. Of course, Tom Collins didn’t exist – that was the joke – but his eponymous cocktail caught on. Enjoy it with lots of ice on a balmy late spring afternoon. Ingredients 50mL Bombay Sapphire Gin 25mL freshly squeezed lemon juice 15mL sugar syrup (or 2 tsp of caster sugar in the lemon juice if the syrup is unavailable) 50mL premium soda water 1 whole cherry Lemon Ice Method Pour all ingredients into a high ball glass filled with ice. Stir briefly and garnish with orange and mint. Alternatively, stir Bombay, fresh lemon juice and syrup/caster sugar in a glass. Add soda water and ice then garnish with lemon and cherry.

The Kraken Storm

Named after a mythical squid-like Norse sea monster that prays upon Scandinavian sailors, the Kraken Black Spiced Rum is rich and well-spiced – ideal for combining with ginger beer and lime. It’s a perfect storm. Ingredients 30mL The Kraken Black Spiced Rum 90mL ginger beer Lime wedge Ice Method Build in a glass over ice. Garnish with a lime wedge and serve.

Absolut Sour

There’s something absolutely wonderful about an Absolut sour. Riffing on the more familiar whisky version, this cocktail recipe doesn’t call for egg whites. But it still commands a noteworthy performance from lemon juice and is further enlivened by the addition of simple syrup and the quintessential cherry on top. Ingredients 30mL Absolut Vodka 30mL lemon juice 15mL simple syrup 3 dashes Angostura Bitters 1 whole cherry 1 wedge lemon Ice Method Fill a shaker with ice cubes. Add all ingredients. Shake and strain into a rocks glass. Garnish with a cherry and a lemon wedge.