Margarita Cocktail

10 Most Popular Cocktails in the World with Recipes

In simple terms, cocktail is a drink that is a mixture of three or more ingredients with one ingredient being alcohol. A cocktail is a milder version of alcoholic beverages. Throughout history of brewery, many different types of cocktails have been invented that are unique in color, composition and taste. Every cocktail has its own history and story. People have been mixing drinks to create unique ones, but it is not until 17th and 18th century that the real cocktails became popular and got recorded in history books. Some of the cocktails are extremely popular in the world. So, which are the top ten cocktails that are highly popular in the world? We shall check them out here.

A list of top ten cocktails from around the world that are the most popular:

10. Daiquiri

Daiquiri Cocktail

Daiquiri is a family of cocktail made using rum, citrus juice and sugar. The daiquiri is one of the six basic drinks listed in David A. Embury’s classic The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks. There are many variations of daiquiri. Avocado daiquiri and banana daiquiri are some of the famous variations. The drink is supposedly invented by Jennings Cox, an American mine engineer who was in Cuba at that time during the Spanish-American War.

Country of origin: Cuba

Preparation: The recipe of the cocktail is pretty simple. Shake all the ingredients into a shaker glass with ice cubes and serve up after straining the glass with ice.

9. Piña Colada

Piña colada Cocktail

Piña Colada is a famous cocktail that is known to have originated in the 19th century when the Puerto Rican pirate Roberto Cofresí served beverage or cocktail that contained coconut, pineapple and white rum to his crew to boost their morale. Today, this is what may be known as Piña Colada. The rum based beverage became popular due to the 1979 hit song, “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)”. The sweet cocktail is made with white rum, pineapple juice, coconut milk or cream that is blended with shaken ice.

Country of origin: Puerto Rico

Preparation: Mix all the three main ingredients with crushed ice. Blend the mixture until smooth; pour the contents into chilled cocktail glass, garnish and serve.

8. Mai Tai

Mai Tai Cocktail

Mai Tai is a famous rum based alcoholic cocktail that contains Curaçao liqueur, and lime juice. The drink is claimed to have been invented by Victor J. Bergeron in 1944 at his eponymous restaurant, Trader Vic’s, in California. Trader Vic’s rival, Don the Beachcomber, also had claimed the invention of the drink in 1933.

Country of origin: United Sates

The classic Mai Tai Preparation: 45 ml aged Jamaican rum, 15 ml Orgeat syrup, 15 ml Triple Sec, 30 ml fresh lime juice is mixed with shaken ice, garnished and served in a chilled glass.

7. Caipirinha

Caipirinha Cocktail

Caipirinha is the Brazilian national cocktail. The cocktail is prepared using cachaça (sugarcane hard liquor), lime and sugar. The drink is prepared by muddling the fruit and the sugar together, and adding the liquor. Historically, the recipe included lime, garlic and honey used to treat the Spanish Flu in 1918.

Country of origin: Brazil

Preparation: Mash lime and sugar using a muddler in an old-fashioned glass. Fill the glass with crushed ice and finally add the cachaça into the glass. The preparation can also be enhanced using other fresh fruits.

6. Old Fashioned

Old Fashioned Cocktail

Old Fashioned cocktail is a popular cocktail made using whiskey or brandy. The cocktail is made by muddling sugar with bitters with whiskey or brandy. The name of the cocktail became prominent during the 1880s. It is also one of six basic drinks listed in David A. Embury’s The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks. The common garnishes used for the cocktail includes orange twist or cocktail cherry.

Country of origin: United Sates

Preparation: Add sugar cube in an old-fashioned glass, saturate the content with bitters and then add a dash of plain water. Muddle the contents until dissolution. Then, fill the glass with ice cubes and whisky. Garnish with cocktail cherry or orange twist and serve up.

5. Manhattan

Manhattan Cocktail

The Manhattan cocktail is a whisky based cocktail that contains sweet vermouth, and bitters. The commonly used whiskies are rye, Canadian whisky, bourbon, blended whiskey, and Tennessee whiskey. The drink originated at the Manhattan Club in New York City in the early 1870s. The cocktail was invented by Dr. Iain Marshall.

Country of origin: United Sates

Preparation: All the ingredients are stirred with ice into a chilled glass. The simple preparation is then garnished and served.

4. Margarita

Margarita Cocktail

Margarita is a popular cocktail with tequila as the primary alcohol base. Other compositions of the cocktail include triple-sec, lime or lemon juice and often served with salt on the rim. The cocktail drink is served with ice (on the rocks), blended with ice (frozen margarita), or without ice (straight up).

Country of origin: Mexico

Preparation: Rub the lime wheel on the edge of the glass and then sprinkle salt on the rim so that it sticks to it. Make sure that the salt doesn’t go into the drinks. Mix carefully other ingredients with ice and pour carefully into the cocktail glass.

3. Cosmopolitan

Cosmopolitan Cocktail

Cosmopolitan is an IBA official cocktail which is prepared using vodka. Other ingredients of the cocktail are triple sec, cranberry juice, and freshly squeezed sweetened lime juice. The origin of the cocktail is disputed. It is believed that the cocktail was prepared at various times independently by different bartenders since 1970s.

Country of origin: United States

Preparation: All the ingredients are added together in a cocktail shaker with filled ice. Shake well and double strain into large cocktail glass. Garnish the preparation with lime wheel.

2. Mojito

Mojito Cocktail

Mojito is a well-known cocktail from Cuba which is made from 5 ingredients namely rum, sugar, lime juice, sparkling water and mint. The history of Mojito is traced back to 16th century. The primary alcohol in the cocktail is rum. Mojito is a traditional Cuban highball. Mojito is one of the most famous cocktail and has many variations.

Country of origin: Cuba

Preparations: Muddle mint leaves with sugar and lime juice. Next, add a splash of soda water and fill the glass with cracked ice. Pour the rum and top with soda water. Garnish and serve with straw.

1. Martini

Martini Cocktail

Martini is a cocktail made using gin and vermouth and garnished with lemon or an olive. The famous cocktail from 1922 is made by mixing the two ingredients gin and lemon in a ratio of 2:1. The cocktail is known to have originated in 19th century.

Country of origin: United States

Preparation: One of the most well-known cocktail is made by mixing all the ingredients and stirring the glass with ice cubes. Oil from lemon is squeezed into the cocktail glass with olive as garnish.

Vinod Suthersan is an young tech enthusiast, Blogger addict, Internet craze and thriving to learn new things on the world of Internet.