You’re not a bartender. But on the weekends, at your own house party, you want to be. And even if you’ve prepared with your own bar cart or legit home bar (neon Budweiser light included), you still might not know how to make a good classic Martini or Sidecar. Fortunately — believe it or not — there are apps for that. Welcome to bartending school on your phone.
The Liquor Cabinet
The essential cocktails, made easy. This liquor- and cocktail-based app is the lovechild of popular fashion Instagrammer Patrick Janelle and James Beard Award-winning bartender Maxwell Britten. It organizes cocktails by liquor, skill level and flavor profile, and even provides background information about each cocktail. The recipes — ingredients, preparation and instructions — are clear but not oversimplified.
8,500+ Drink & Cocktail Recipes
For options — many options. You’ve gotta credit whoever titled this app for being upfront. There are indeed over 8,500 recipes, and the app is easy to use, if a little basic. You can search cocktails specifically by spirits, in case you want to dust off that bottle of absinthe. You can also search by ingredients, like oranges or honey, which could be a good way to experiment. It’s also free.
Cocktails — Virtual Drink Mixer and Recipes
The perfect pour. It’s simple, really: take a photo of the glass you want to drink out of, select the cocktail you want to make, and the app will tell you exactly how much of each ingredient you need to fill that glass. If the app can’t recognize your glass, you can manually enter its dimensions.
Ditch the App
Forget the Smartphone, Make These
The Perfect Manhattan
The classic Manhattan is easy to make — and easy to mess up if you don’t know what you’re doing.
The Old Fashioned
This isn’t the last Old Fashioned recipe you’ll learn. It’s the first.
The Whiskey Sour
A recipe from Joaquín Simó, the 2012 Tales of the Cocktail American Bartender of the Year.
Three Whiskey Cocktails to Make This Weekend
Learn how to make three whiskey cocktails, as taught by three prestigious NYC bartenders.
Learn the Recipe
