Easy Cocktails to Make at Home (No Bar Kit Required)
You don't need a bar cabinet, a jigger collection or "house-made citrus oleo saccharum" to make a great cocktail at home. You need 4 bottles, a measuring jug, and a willingness to skip the Pinterest version. Here's the genuinely easy list.
The 4-bottle starter kit
If you stock these four bottles, you can make 30+ classic cocktails without owning anything else:
- A neutral gin. Beefeater, Tanqueray or Sipsmith. £20-£25.
- A bourbon or rye whiskey. Buffalo Trace, Wild Turkey 101 or Bulleit. £25-£32.
- A blanco tequila. Olmeca Altos or Espolòn. £25-£28.
- Sweet vermouth. Carpano Antica Formula or Cocchi Vermouth di Torino. £15-£20.
Add Angostura bitters (£10, lasts a year), fresh lemons + limes, and white sugar. Total starter cost: ~£100. You're now equipped to make Negronis, Old Fashioneds, Margaritas, Martinis, Manhattans, Daiquiris and most of the classic canon.
| Item | Spend | Real cost / drink | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4-bottle starter kit | £100 one-off | £1-£3 | Buy once, save for years |
| Cocktail kit (Cocktail Crates) | £25-£35 | £4-£7 | Great for gifts / one-offs |
| Discovery subscription (Craft Gin Club) | £40/mth | N/A — for variety | Worth it if you enjoy variety |
| Bar at a London pub | N/A | £12-£15 | Save for occasions |
| Hotel bar | N/A | £16-£24 | Only for the view |
5 cocktails for absolute beginners
These are bulletproof — almost impossible to mess up, no special equipment, all 3-4 ingredients.
- Negroni. Equal parts gin, Campari, sweet vermouth. Stir with ice, strain over big ice cube, orange peel. £3 in ingredients per drink. The best gateway cocktail.
- Old Fashioned. 50ml bourbon, 1 tsp sugar (or syrup), 3 dashes Angostura, big ice cube, stir, orange peel. 5 minutes. Astonishingly good.
- Tommy's Margarita. 50ml tequila + 25ml lime juice + 15ml agave syrup. Shake hard with ice, strain into glass. Limeier and less sweet than the bottled mix.
- Whiskey Sour. 50ml bourbon + 25ml lemon juice + 15ml sugar syrup + (optional) egg white. Shake without ice first (if using egg), then with ice. Strain. Garnish cherry.
- Gin Martini (the soft way). 60ml gin + 10ml dry vermouth. Stir with ice for 30 seconds. Strain into chilled glass. Olive or lemon twist. Don't shake unless you want it cloudy.
When to buy a ready-mixed kit vs make from scratch
Cocktail kits (Cocktail Crates, MOTH, World of Zing) make sense for:
- One-off occasions — you want a specific complicated cocktail (Espresso Martini, Passion Fruit Martini) without buying 4 bottles you'll use once.
- Gifts. Almost always better than another bottle of wine.
- Cocktail parties where you want 6 different drinks without owning 12 bottles.
Cocktail kits don't make sense for:
- Cocktails you'll make weekly. A £25 bottle of gin makes 25 G&Ts; a £25 G&T kit makes 4-6.
- The classic 4-ingredient drinks above. Cheaper and better from scratch.
Most subscription cocktail boxes (Craft Gin Club, etc.) double as discovery tools — you'll meet small distilleries you wouldn't have found, and they include recipe cards. The maths works if you genuinely enjoy the discovery side.
5 next-level easy cocktails
Once you're comfortable with the starter five, these are the next move — still 3-5 ingredients, no special kit:
- Penicillin. 50ml blended Scotch + 20ml lemon + 15ml ginger-honey syrup, float of smoky Islay whisky on top. The crowd-pleaser of the last decade.
- Paloma. 50ml tequila + 25ml lime juice + grapefruit soda (Ting / San Pellegrino Pompelmo) + pinch of salt. Better than a Margarita on a hot day.
- Boulevardier. Equal parts bourbon + Campari + sweet vermouth. The whisky Negroni. Stir, orange peel, ice.
- Espresso Martini. 50ml vodka + 25ml fresh espresso + 15ml coffee liqueur + 5ml sugar syrup. Shake hard for the foam. Three coffee beans on top.
- Aperol Spritz. 3 parts prosecco + 2 parts Aperol + 1 part soda + orange wheel. Defies all "rules" but absolutely works.
The tools you actually need
Skip the bartender kit on Amazon. The minimal viable home bar:
- A measuring jug or jigger. 25ml + 50ml markings. Plastic is fine.
- A cocktail shaker. Boston shaker (£15) or a cobbler shaker (£10). Don't overpay.
- A long bar spoon. Or a long iced-tea spoon. £5.
- A fine strainer. £5. Catches lemon pips and ice shards.
- Big ice cube tray. 5x5cm cubes. Stops dilution. £8.
- Two coupe glasses + two rocks glasses. Charity-shop finds are great.
Total kit cost: £40-£60. Don't spend more until you're making cocktails 3+ times a week and know what you'd upgrade.
Mocktail moves for when you're not drinking
Mocktails work when they're a real drink, not a "watered-down cocktail." Tried-and-true picks:
- Seedlip + tonic + cucumber. Non-alcoholic gin alternative. Genuinely good with the right tonic (Fever-Tree Mediterranean).
- Virgin Paloma. Grapefruit juice + lime + sparkling water + pinch of salt. Better than 95% of "mocktails" because there's no alcohol-shaped hole — it's its own drink.
- Strawberry-balsamic shrub + soda. Make a quick shrub (strawberry + sugar + balsamic, 2 hours). Splash with soda. Adult, complex, no alcohol.
- Espresso + orange + tonic. Strong espresso, dash of orange juice, top with tonic. Caffeine, depth, complexity.
- Lyre's non-alcoholic spirits range. Negroni, Old Fashioned, Margarita versions. Best when you want the actual ritual without the alcohol.
Tools mentioned in this article
FAQ
What's the single easiest cocktail to make at home?
Negroni. Equal parts gin / Campari / sweet vermouth, stir with ice, strain over big ice cube, orange peel. 60 seconds. Impossible to mess up if you measure.
Do I need a cocktail shaker?
Only for shaken cocktails (Margaritas, Sours, Daiquiris, anything with citrus or egg). Stirred cocktails (Negroni, Old Fashioned, Martini, Manhattan) just need a glass and a long spoon.
Are cocktail subscription boxes worth it?
For discovery and gifts, yes. For "cocktails I'll make weekly", no — buy the spirits instead. £40/month at Craft Gin Club is brilliant if you genuinely enjoy meeting new distilleries; not great as a habit if you just want a routine G&T.
How do I make a Margarita without triple sec?
Tommy's Margarita: 50ml blanco tequila + 25ml fresh lime juice + 15ml agave syrup. Better than the classic for most palates. No triple sec needed.
Where do I buy good cocktail ingredients in the UK?
Master of Malt and The Whisky Exchange both have huge ranges of spirits, vermouth, bitters and liqueurs at fair prices. For specialist bottles, both regularly have things your supermarket won't.
What's a non-alcoholic cocktail that doesn't taste like sad squash?
Seedlip + tonic + cucumber, or a virgin Paloma. The trick is using real ingredients (citrus, bitters, herbs) rather than "alcohol-free version of a cocktail." Lyre's does decent NA Negronis and Old Fashioneds for the ritual.
How do I learn to taste cocktails properly?
Make the same cocktail three times, varying one ingredient — different gins, different vermouths, different ratios. You'll learn more in a week than from any cocktail book. Order at a good bar (Connaught, Tayer, Lyaness in London) and ask what they're using.