Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

The Best Cocktail Mixers

By

It’s not always easy to whip up a tasty cocktail from scratch. Whether you’re short on ingredients or simply lack the patience, sometimes it’s best to have a good ready-made or mostly-prepared option waiting at your service.

You might have designs on a solid Bloody Mary but don’t have the willpower to put it together. You might be on the move and looking to efficiently stitch together a quick Moscow Mule, with no tools at your disposal and little time to waste. Maybe you simply don’t want to make a grocery store run for the limes you don’t have.

Recommended Videos

The drinks industry is well aware of these scenarios and can outfit you accordingly through a host of pre-made mixes and cocktail kits. Some are so delicious you’d think they were prepared on the spot for your full enjoyment, by an actual bartender.

Related

Strongwater Old Fashioned Cocktail Syrup

strongwater
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Not all Old Fashioneds are created equal. The best sport a dialed-in recipe that blends all of the flavors together seamlessly. Strongwater Old Fashioned Cocktail Syrup is in its own league, with a well-rounded build made of herbs, demerara sugar, and organic cherries. There’s added complexity by way of zesty orange peel and a host of baking spices. The only thing missing is your brown liquor of choice, whether it be whiskey, bourbon, or rye.

W&P Moscow Mule Carry-On Cocktail Kit

carry on
Image used with permission by copyright holder

W&P’s crafty kits are made for the thirsty flier looking to take the edge off at cruising altitude. Yet, the neat design and tasty ingredients are as useful and rewarding on land or wherever you find yourself desiring a good mixed drink. The vintage kit outfits you with ginger syrup, a small jigger, a travel-friendly bar spoon, a coaster, and a recipe, simplifying your on-the-go bar game in style. The kit does not include booze but everything else you need to assemble the drink.

Hella Spicy Bloody Mary Mix

hella
Image used with permission by copyright holder

A good Bloody Mary recipe can do wonders, at all hours of the day. This one by Hella touts some satisfying sizzle from real horseradish as well as ghost pepper extract. And while tomato is crucial and the main focal point, depth of flavor is key in this classic brunch cocktail. Made in New York, this batch is loaded with spice, tang, savory notes, and pepper flavors. It’s equally delicious with beer as a refreshing Michelada.

Q Mixers Indian Tonic Water

q tonics
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Built to complement big and floral gins, this tonic water from Q Mixers is a touch sweet and fully effervescent. The quinine, which offers the signature bitter kick, is harvested from cinchona trees growing in the rugged Peruvian Andes. It’s tasty and invigorating on its own but all the better as an easy-to-make cocktail. Suddenly, your gin and tonics just got a lot better.

Editors' Recommendations

The Manual
The Manual
The Manual is simple — we show men how to live a life that is more engaged. Whether it be fashion, food, drink, travel…
The 5 best vegetarian and vegan dishes to try right now
Even if you love meat, you might be surprised how tasty these meals are
Cauliflower steak with peppercorn sauce

It's spring and a wonderful time of year for fresh produce to make the best vegetarian recipes all the easier to create (and thoroughly enjoy). If you like meat, so be it, maybe get more creative with your sides or try one of these dishes for fun. If you're a vegetarian, it's a fine time to put together some satisfying meals with real heart and soul. Here are some of the best vegetarian and vegan recipes for dinner to try.
Kale sauce with any noodle

This Josh McFadden recipe from Six Seasons
is great to have on hand as it can accompany just about any kind of pasta.
Ingredients

Read more
How to make The Last Word cocktail, a gin classic from another era
Impress your guests and make this circa 1916 drink
Last Word cocktail

Gin often plays a prominent role within classic cocktail culture. Such is the case with The Last Word cocktail, a delightful green concoction enlivened by the aromatic clear spirit. It's a cocktail that has practically lived two lives: one as it was born during the heyday of early 20th-century American bar life and another that started about two decades ago.

How did it come about? Drinks folklore says The Last Word was devised by Frank Fogarty at the Detroit Athletic Club circa 1916. Oddly enough, Fogarty was not a bartender but an award-winning vaudeville comedian. Regardless of his progression, he came up with a damn good cocktail that uses some rather obscure ingredients.

Read more
How to start your own home bar: the tools and mixers
the best home bar glassware version 1612854960 for your 2021

So you're building up your home bar. You've got the essential spirits in. You've added a selection of liqueurs and bitters to combine them with. Now, it's time to add the finishing touches. From mixers to tools to glasswear, we're rounding up everything else you'll need to turn a corner of your kitchen into a great home bar.
Speaking of the kitchen – this is, in my experience, the absolute best place for a home bar. While I love a good bar cart for a living room (or even an office, if you have that kind of job!) these are really more decorative than a practical place to mix drinks. The problem with using bar carts for serious cocktail making is twofold: One, the surfaces are usually too low, at below hip height, so you'll be bending over uncomfortably while you try to make your drinks. That's not chic, and it's hard on your back too. Instead you want something that's counter level, hence opting for the kitchen. The second issue is access to ice and a sink. Mixing serious cocktails requires a large amount of ice and frequent washing of glasses and tools. Sure, you can get an attractive ice bucket for your bar cart, and that certainly makes a fun decorative accessory. But you'll still be running back and forth to the kitchen to use the sink all the time anyway.
If you love the style of a bar cart, I certainly wouldn't want to stop you having one. They are great fun, and stylish to boot. I have a bar cart myself in my living room, which I love and use for very simple mixed drinks like negronis (though even then, you still have to go and fetch ice every time you want a drink). It's a great place for occasional special bottles, particularly beautiful glasswear, cocktail books, and other decorative accessories.
But for serious cocktail making, you want an area of clear counter space, near to a sink and to a freezer full of ice, and with easy access to all your bottles and tools. I find a small kitchen island perfect for this purpose, tucked into a corner of the kitchen near the appliances. Store bottles and equipment on the lower shelves of the island or on wall-mounted shelves to save space, and make sure you have a lamp or decent overhead lighting so you can see what you're doing while you mix. You'll want a small chopping board as well for slicing citrus and other fruit, and a small, sharp knife that you can borrow from your kitchen equipment.
Then it's time to turn your attention to home bar tools.

Essential home bar tools

Read more