How to Make Fancy Versions of the Martini, Negroni, Margarita, and Other Classic Cocktails
Take it from us: The best dinner party accessory is a fabulous cocktail.
Chelsea Kyle / Food Styling by Drew Aichele
What exactly counts as a fancy cocktail? Is it the setting in which the drink is served, the cocktail garnish, or the reactions from guests? When it comes to making a cocktail that feels festive, fun, and yes, a little bit fancy, we tend to turn to riffs on tried-and-true classic cocktails. For Negroni lovers, make things fancy with this Chocolate Negroni, and Margarita fans will be excited to sip on the Mumbai Margarita. By using classic cocktails as a reference point, these fancy cocktails add a little something extra to drinks that your guests are likely to recognize. This is our collection of cocktails that are fancy and fabulous in all kinds of ways.
The Lovesick Crocodile
Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
Spicy, sweet, salty, and savory, this bold cocktail is surprisingly refreshing. To achieve its depth and complexity, The Lovesick Crocodile features Ancho Reyes, a liqueur made in Mexico from smoky sun-dried ancho chiles that are macerated in cane spirit.
Marasca Fizz
Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Liberty Fennell
Is there anything more festive than a Champagne cocktail? Crisp bubbles serve as the ideal counterpart for the sweet and tart notes of cherry liqueur and cherry syrup, while a sugar rim adds a bit of extra visual intrigue.
Raspberry Frappé
Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Lucy Simon
This frozen cocktail is especially perfect for fans of sherry and comes together in minutes with the use of a high-powered blender. Plus, it’s vibrant, thanks to the raspberry eau de vie.
Chocolate Negroni
Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Lucy Simon
The Negroni truly benefits from the addition of comforting, indulgent chocolate flavor thanks to a quarter ounce of Tempus Fugit Dark Cacao, which is also known as créme de cacao, and a generous sprinkle of dark chocolate shavings as a garnish.
Matcha Highball
Chelsea Kyle / Food Styling by Drew Aichele
A little matcha goes a long way in this simple, festive highball recipe with club soda, whiskey, and honey syrup.
Miso Mary Libertine
Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Christine Keely
This deep red drink is a vibrant take on a Bloody Mary and highlights a wide variety of Japanese ingredients with shiro dashi and white miso. Packing an ultra-savory punch and garnished with a crisp, thin sheet of nori, think of this as an appetizer and a drink in one glass.
Chrysanthemum Cocktail
Matt Taylor-Gross
The Chrysanthemum cocktail is all about getting to know absinthe without any of the burn from its very high alcohol content. A sweeter blanc vermouth helps lengthen the drink and accentuates the herbal notes from the absinthe, and a bit of Benedictine adds some body. This cocktail pairs well with briny and plump oysters.
Kind of Blue
Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Lucy Simon
You’ll need to make both a blueberry syrup and a saline solution, but the resulting cocktail is special enough that the extra labor is worth it. Many of the ingredients in this cocktail can be used in other drinks, so it’s worth adding them to your bar.
Caprese Martini
Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Lucy Simon
One sip of this tomato and basil martini will immediately conjure comforting and familiar images of everyone's favorite Italian appetizer, Caprese Salad. The martini features vodka infused with tomato and basil, luscious olive oil, and a necessary hit of acid from balsamic vinegar.
Jardin Verde
This refreshing nonalcoholic cocktail from Bryan Dayton is sweet and mildly bitter from Seedlip Garden 108 with botanical notes that shine with the addition of fragrant, herbal tonic water.
Halo Halo Cocktail
Justin Ang blends silver rum, cacaçha, lime juice, and pineapple juice, with ube milk, which gives this concoction its vivid purple hue. He tops the drink with an array of garnishes that echo its namesake dessert, including mint sprigs, dehydrated mango, dehydrated pineapple, and unsweetened flaked coconut.
Mumbai Margarita
Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Lucy Simon
Rose petals and rosewater make this fragrant margarita both eye-catching and delicious.
Aviation
Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Lucy Simon
Floral violet liqueur is balanced by acidic lemon juice in this vibrantly hued classic cocktail.
Gingerbread Margarita
This winter margarita has a warm, cozy, cake-spice panache that wouldn't be out of place at a holiday party. The spiced syrup is key: It intensifies the orange flavors of the cocktail while adding a seasonal spice hit that brings much-needed warmth during the winter months.
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