Every Host Should Have a Signature House Drink—Here's How to Find Yours

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The best hosts I know make entertaining at home feel like a breeze. They’re relaxed and comfortable throughout the event, spending time with their guests rather than fretting over details. And it turns out one of their fail-safe secrets is easy to replicate: creating a simple, crowd-pleasing house drink.

Offering guests a signature cocktail is a surefire way to impress: It signals that you’ve put extra thought into the affair and makes even the most basic of get-togethers more memorable for everyone. More importantly, it eliminates a lot of prep work needed for the host, making entertaining at home more spontaneous.

“Having a house drink recipe in your repertoire takes the guesswork out of party planning,” says designer and hostess extraordinaire Heather Chadduck, who notes she stocks the ingredients needed for her own house drink, a riff on the Paper Plane, on hand for impromptu gatherings. “That way, you can just serve beer, wine, and your house cocktail.”

Determined to create my own house drink (using this riff on a Hemingway Daiquiri as a starting point), I spoke with several expert hosts: Chadduck, Jaimie Dewberry, Co-Owner and Creative Director of D Studio and Co-owner of Charleston’s Dewberry Hotel, and Ian Palmer, VERANDA’s own resident mixologist (and photo editor).

Here, they share tips and tricks for leveling up your hosting game with a signature drink—plus, an easy recipe for a simple but decadent twist on a classic Negroni, the perfect house drink for gin lovers.

How to Create Your Own Signature Drink

Tweak a classic recipe.

When it comes to developing a house cocktail, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel, advises Palmer. “A small tweak on a classic cocktail is all you need for a unique and ‘signature’ spin,” he says, noting that classic drinks are foolproof and simple is usually best for guests—and hosts.

For example, Palmer and his wife like to serve gin and tonics with elderflower liqueur. “It elevates an easy cocktail, and guests love it because it makes the drink a little sweeter,” he says. Another twist he loves: swapping in a favorite amaro for the sweet vermouth in a Manhattan. “We’ll make an Alpine Manhattan in the winter with Braulio, an Italian Amaro made of Alpine herbs, roots and berries.” Last but not least: the Negroni Cioccolato, his rich twist on a classic Negroni, leveled up with a touch of crème de cacao and chocolate bitters (recipe below).

Give your house drink a spirited name with a personalized twist.

Naming a house drink is at least half the fun of creating it. “The name should include a reference to the classic cocktail [off of which the house drink is based] plus some sort of allusion to your twist,” says Palmer. For the Negroni Cioccolato, for example, Palmer combined the flavor twist (chocolate, in Italian) with the word Negroni.

Dewberry followed a similar formula when naming her house drink, the ‘Dew-tini,’ which features fresh squeezed grapefruit or orange juice, vodka, and soda served up in a martini glass. “My husband has been called ‘Dew’ by friends his whole life, and since we serve our house drink in a martini glass, we just combined his nickname with ’tini,” she says.

House drinks should never have more than four ingredients.

For Palmer’s annual holiday party, he serves drinks on demand for guests’ spirit of choice—relying on essentially five house drinks, with a distinct tequila, rum, gin, whisky, and vodka recipe. “All the drinks I come up with are made with four ingredients, max. Some require just two. That way, I can remember them easily without having to consult my notes,” he says, noting that his is a “maximalist” approach. (This jigger with lined measurements carries him through the night!)

For a more minimalist approach, Palmer serves two house drinks: a citrusy, shaken drink like a classic margarita (reposado tequila, lime, agave) and a boozy, stirred drink such as a Manhattan (rye whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters). “This pairing works well and will please most guests because if they don’t like whisky, they probably like margaritas. And if they don’t drink tequila, they probably drink bourbon,” says Palmer.

Any boozy, stirred drink can be pre-batched and stored in the freezer.

“This is a great way to make entertaining easier, while also serving your guests something special and unique—and frosty,” says Palmer. As for what types of drinks can be stored this way? “Anything that doesn’t include citrus and is usually stirred rather than shaken,” he says, such as martinis, Negronis, and Manhattans. “The liquid won’t freeze, but it will take on a thick silky texture.”

To do this at home, Palmer advises multiplying any simple recipe by six, then pouring that mixture into an empty 750 mL bottle with a cap. “You may have enough room to add one more serving, but keep in mind you’ll want to add a little water to account for what you would have added from the dilution of ice if you were stirring a single serving.” A good rule of thumb is to add a ½ ounce of water per serving, Palmer adds.

Add a seasonal twist with a simple garnish.

One simple way to freshen up a house drink is with a seasonal garnish. “In the fall, I tend to garnish my drinks with rosemary, whereas in the winter I will mix in cinnamon and in the summer, I go for mint,” says Chadduck.

During the holidays, Dewberry likes to garnish the Dew-tini with dehydrated citrus wheels, which Palmer likes to keep on hand as well. (His foolproof recipe is below.) “It’s an easy way to make a house drink feel more festive,” says Dewberry, who notes a garnish becomes even more essential in non-alcoholic versions of a house drink. “It’s important to be inclusive of all guests, and to offer a drink with equal levels of presentation and thoughtfulness to those who don’t want alcohol.”

Other items Palmer keeps on hand for easy garnishes: oranges and lemons, for making proper twists, and a jar of cherries.

Level up your presentation with chilled glasses.

When it comes to serving house drink, a little prep can go a long way. “Think of your house drink like a present you’re giving to someone,” says Dewberry. “How you present the drink is all about setting the mood for the event.” The most important trick, Palmer says, is to chill your glassware in advance of pouring out your house drink. “It will make guests feel like they’ve just been served a drink at a swanky bar, and it requires little prep and costs zero dollars,” he says.

Whether you’re chilling coupes, rocks glasses, or martini glasses, Palmer recommends putting glassware in the freezer at least 30 minutes ahead of time, and up to several days in advance if you’re planning ahead. “I like to pull a glass out right when I serve the cocktail, so it still has that layer of frost on the outside when I serve it to my guest.”

Don’t overlook the importance of ice.

The one cocktail element you need to think through in advance is ice. Especially if your house drink is served on the rocks, Palmer suggests making batches of ice cubes ahead of time. “It’s worth buying a few silicone molds for ice cubes,” says Palmer. “They really elevate your cocktail because they look better in a rocks glass and they make for better a much better drink, too.” Palmer suggests buying two sizes: 1.25 inch and 2 inch (these can be customized).

True cocktail enthusiasts ought to consider investing in the Monogram Forge Heated Ice Press, which molds large blocks of ice into slow melting, 2.5-inch spheres that keep cocktails cool without diluting their flavors. (Bonus: the 60-second effort makes for quite the party trick.) “But you can still make a good drink with ice from an icemaker,” says Palmer, “you just may want to pick up an extra bag from the store to make sure you don’t run out.”

You don’t need a fancy (read: expensive) shaker.

The key to a good shaken drink is the shake itself, not necessarily the shaker. “We have beautiful barware—and I am big believer in using your beautiful things everyday—but we have also been known to shake our Dew-tinis in Mason jars,” says Dewberry. If you are going to buy a shaker, Palmer recommends opting for two-piece shaker (such as this and this), then using a separate strainer.

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