Gin

Kids will need no explanation: They will marvel at these red-and-green-striped drinks that they swirl with a straw. And for grown-ups who may want to get in on the fun, you can make another batch—a shot of gin makes a pleasant, and civilized, addition.

Classic Highballs called for club soda and a spirit, but over the years included sweeter mixers (the gin and tonic is one such version; the Moscow Mule, another). We suggest a return to the dry version, which allows premium spirits to shine.

Why you'll make it: Because it's an all-purpose refresher — drink it straight, top with sparkling water, or spike with vodka, gin, or tequila.

Cocktail historian David Wondrich prefers his martinis this way—that is, with equal parts gin and vermouth, as they were served circa 1910. To achieve the right flavor balance, he suggests using a high-proof, full-bodied gin—such as Tanqueray—that can stand up to the vermouth. For the sake of historical accuracy, he also recommends straining the drink into a chilled cocktail coupe (a stemmed glass with a wide, shallow bowl), because the martini glass as we know it didn't come on the scene until the 1920s.

This drink was featured as a Cocktail of the Month. The original Martini, which is made with sweet Italian vermouth, sugar syrup, and orange bitters, lost out to the type made with just dry French vermouth, but it is still an excellent drink. This recipe, adapted from the estimable The Old Waldorf Astoria Bar Book (1935) by Albert Stevens Crockett, calls for Old Tom Gin, which is sweeter than dry gin. Since Old Tom isn't easy to find nowadays, we've substituted a combination of dry gin and simple syrup.

Gin is big in the British Virgin Islands, as you might imagine. Here, it's combined with local soursop juice and curaçao. The name is a reference to the shade of the Caribbean Sea.

Festive and beautiful, this creation of editor Nichol Nelson is packed with real cranberry flavor. Forcing some of the berries through a sieve into the syrup intensifies the drink's fruitiness.

This recipe is adapted from Audrey Saunders, owner of Pegu Club in New York City. Crown Roast of Lamb with Rosemary requires a companion drink with body, and this cocktail has that in spades. Also, like lamb, its flavor is a bit racy.

Who cares what is in this cocktail? The name sold me when I read it in Harry Craddock's The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930). This is one of many variations.

Citrus lovers, pull up a bar stool. Ginger beer creates a lively base for this orange-and-lemon-spiked gin drink.

Chef Michael Mina created this gin-based riff on the classic Mojito as part Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program. Candied ginger and ginger beer lend a refreshingly spicy kick perfect for summer sipping. Chef Mina suggests serving spiced nuts alongside.

These refreshing cocktails are perfect for summer entertaining.

This drink was featured as a Cocktail of the Month.

Heavily spiked, our take on the Singapore Sling highlights the aromatic quality of Benedictine, a Cognac-based liqueur that smells of honey, citrus, and herbs.

This drink was featured as a Cocktail of the Month.

There are many variations of the classic Dry Martini, and this mix was created in the 1940s for Charles Dana Gibson, a US illustrator, and presumably a ladies' man, too — the two cocktail onions are said to represent the breasts of his female admirers! As far as the mix goes, the onions take the biting edge off the gin and add their own layer of complexity.