25 Great Gin Cocktails to Try

One of the most classic of all gin drinks is the Gin Fizz! It's perfectly balanced, both sweet and tart, and adding soda water magically creates a frothy egg white foam topping. Oh and it takes only 5 minutes to make! You'll need a short list of ingredients: gin, lime juice, maple syrup, soda water, and an egg white. Head to the recipe for more!

What’s a more classic gin cocktail than THE gin and tonic? Its crisp, botanical flavor is straightforward but at the same time intriguing: a feat using only 2 ingredients! It’s no wonder that this is one of the world’s popular easy cocktails. This recipe takes a few tips from the Spanish gin tonic to amp this drink to the next level.

Ahh, the Tom Collins: a nostalgic cocktail that’s about as classic as it gets! This tall highball drink is a gin sour, a sweet and sour drink made with gin and lemon juice. It’s refreshing, bubbly, and makes any evening more fun! Here’s exactly how to make this classic cocktail.

Here’s one of the most sophisticated and refreshing gin cocktail recipes out there: a French 75! It’s got a mysterious name, but it’s made with a few simple ingredients: gin, lemon, and champagne. It’s tangy, bubbly, and a bit botanical, and it makes every occasion more festive!

Here’s a classic cocktail that is super refreshing and takes only 5 minutes to whip up! The gin gimlet became popular in the 1950's, so it's a fun throw-back drink. Not only is it simple to make, it’s the perfect balance of sweet and tart with the botanical flavor of gin. It's similar to the gin fizz above, but doesn't have the signature frothy fizz. All you need is 3 ingredients for this one!

Variations: Vodka Gimlet, French Gimlet or Basil Gimlet

A Southside is a classy classic cocktail made with mint, lemon, lime, and gin. The best way to describe it? Like a Mojito with gin! It’s also similar to a Tom Collins, but it’s not carbonated and has lime and mint. The oldest known printed recipe called “Southside” was from 1917. 

Variation: Southside Fizz

It’s tall, it’s bubbly, and it’s one of the easiest to make cocktails out there. Try the Gin Rickey! This classic cocktail was born in the 1880s and has been popular ever since. And for good reason: it’s tangy, bubbly, and irresistibly delicious. If you love a Vodka Soda or a Gin and Tonic: this is the drink for you! There’s no frills: just a classy classic highball. 

This cocktail’s got a unique name and a beautiful pale pink color! Just grapefruit juice and gin make one tangy and refreshing cocktail! It's perfect as a brunch drink or for happy hour. It’s got a light summery vibe, but it also works in winter when citrus abounds.

Variation: Add a salt rim to make it a Salty Dog

It’s minty, it’s bubbly, it’s refreshing: meet the Gin Gin Mule! You might think it’s a just liquor swap in a Moscow Mule, but this cocktail is more than meets the eye! Considered a modern classic cocktail, it’s a mashup of the mule and minty Mojito. You’ve got the bubbly ginger beer and lime of a mule, balanced by the muddled mint and sweetness of a Mojito. 

Here’s a sophisticated gin cocktail that will have all your friends talking about it: the Hanky Panky! It’s complex and nuanced, with a smooth flavor perfect for sipping. The star here is Fernet-Branca, an Italian bitter that adds an herbal punch. The cocktail is perfectly balanced: a little sweet and a little bitter, which makes it irresistible.

Here's a gin drink with an Italian vibe: the Negroni! It’s refreshing, bitter, and complex: a drink that you’ll want to sit with and savor a while. Doesn’t it look stunning? The bright red of the Campari makes for a stunning jewel-tone statement of a drink. This three ingredient cocktail is easy to make: and memorize, because it uses 1 ounce of each of its three components.

Variations: Boulevardier, Negroni Sbagliato, Old Pal, Americano or Mezcal Negroni

Last but certainly not least: the gin martini! The martini is one of the most iconic cocktails of all time. With one sip it announces itself: crisp, cool, searing, and spirit-forward. It’s seeped in tradition, and there’s no cocktail that has the amount of variations: shaken or stirred, gin or vodka, straight or on the rocks. But here’s how to make a classic dry martini…the best way!

Variation: Dirty Martini or Gibson

Here’s a classy gin cocktail that’s refreshing and sweet tart: the Bees Knees! It’s got a cute 1920’s name and a smooth flavor to match. The unique element? Honey syrup. Making simple syrup with honey instead of refined sugar adds a rich depth to cocktails. Combine it with lemon and gin, and you’ve got a refreshing cocktail that goes down easy. 

Here’s a fun gin cocktail that steals the show: the Clover Club! This bright pink drink stems back before Prohibition. Sweet raspberry or grenadine syrup combine with zingy lemon and gin to make a perfectly balanced sweet tart drink. The best part: a classic egg white foam gives a creamy body and frothy texture to each sip! 

Here’s a cocktail with a long history that inspired a slew of other drinks: the Gin Sour! It’s the lesser known relative to sours like the Whiskey Sour and Amaretto Sour. But the Gin Sour is just as tasty as its cousins: it’s smooth, tart, balanced, with floral notes from the gin.

Here’s a gin drink that’s classy and complex: the Martinez! This classic cocktail is in the spirit-forward cocktail family, a cousin of the Martini and the Manhattan. It’s balanced and just sweet enough, with notes of cherry and cinnamon, and a little spice at the finish

Want a unique gin drink?  Try the Bijou! This drink is named for the colors of glittering jewels of the three liquors that make it up. It’s been around for over a century, with a spirit-forward flavor that’s crisp and herbaceous.

Here’s a tasty spin on a classic: the Red Snapper! The name doesn’t betray this drink: though it’s both red and snappy. But it’s holding a secret: it’s essentially a classic Bloody Mary with gin. Switching out the vodka leads to a whole new drink: savory, spicy, tangy, spicy, with a hint of botanical on the finish from the gin.

Here’s a gin cocktail invented by a fictional character that went on to become a classic. Meet the Vesper martini! Yes, James Bond created this drink in the 1953 book Casino Royale, and it lives on today. The magic ingredient is Lillet Blanc, a lightly sweet, vaguely floral fortified wine that brings life and personality into this drink. 

Here’s a gin cocktail for the adventurous home bartender: the Last Word! This pale green gin sour is a classic cocktail that was all but lost to history. But with the revival of cocktail culture, this one’s come back strong! It’s equal parts sharp, sweet, and sour: full of intrigue and nuance from a few special ingredients.

Here’s a classic gin cocktail that’s as unique as its name…the Corpse Reviver No 2! Turns out that this drink has nothing scary or ghoulish about it. In fact, it’s damn good. It’s a classic gin sour cocktail that’s tart and zingy from lemon juice and orange liqueur, with a hint of licorice on the finish.

Here’s a special gin drink that will become a favorite at first sip: the Bramble! This drink has the sweetest name and it’s full of tangy, fruity and sophisticated flavors. This refreshing drink uses a special blackberry liqueur called crème de mûre. 

Meet the Pegu Club! It’s a classic 1920’s gin cocktail that was invented at, as the name suggests, the Pegu Club. This boozy drink is sophisticated and refreshing, with a citrus and herbal finish. It’s surprisingly balanced and not too sweet.

Here’s a smooth, citrus forward classic gin drink with a sophisticated vibe: the White Lady! This 1920’s style sour is clear and crisp, with a refreshing flavor and a frothy egg white foam topping. It’s super classy, perfect for a cocktail night or just sipping on the porch.

Here’s an over-the-top impressive classic gin cocktail: the Ramos Gin Fizz! The impossibly tall frothy topping and tangy burst of lime, lemon and orange blossom water makes it taste just like a lemon meringue pie. It's even tastier than the original gin fizz (shh!).