Recipe Chart for the Aromatics

An 'Aromatic' cocktail is a stirred drink. It includes spirit and some or all of: vermouth, sweetener and bitters. Simple (sugar) syrup, liqueurs, or the vermouth itself are used as the sweetener. Cocktail bitters or a bitter liqueur are used for aroma and flavor.

Here's a chart of the ingredients in our Aromatic recipes. They fall into three groups each based on a classic cocktail: Old Fashioned, Manhattan/Martini and Negroni.

The cocktails on our Top Shelf are marked. All the recipes are good but these we return to time and again.

Cocktail Spirit Syrup Liqueur Bitters
Old Fashioned
Old Fashioned bourbon simple Angostura
Talent Scout bourbon curaçao Angostura
American Trilogy rye apple-brandy Demerara orange
Corn 'n' Oil rum falernum Angostura
Rum Old Fashioned rum Demerara allspice dram orange Angostura
Oaxaca Old Fashioned tequila mezcal agave Angostura

The Martini

  • 2 oz London Dry Gin
  • 1 oz dry vermouth (Dolin Dry)
  • 3 dashes orange bitters

The Martini, revered by many as the King of Cocktails, for me is a king with no clothes. No matter how hard I try, it just tastes like a glass of cold gin. Above is The Educated Barfly's favorite Martini recipe.

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Cocktail Spirit Vermouth Liqueur Amaro Bitters
Manhattan/Martini
Manhattan rye sweet Angostura
Preakness bourbon sweet Bénédictine Angostura
De La Louisiane rye sweet Bénédictine absinthe Peychaud's
Creole Cocktail rye sweet Bénédictine Amer Picon
Red Hook rye Punt e Mes maraschino
Williamsburg bourbon dry, Punt e Mes Chartreuse
Moto Guzzi cask-strength bourbon Punt e Mes
Fallback rye apple-brandy sweet Amaro Nonino Peychaud's
Black Manhattan rye Ramazzotti orange Angostura
Martini gin dry orange
Martinez gin Punt e Mes curaçao maraschino Angostura
Deep Blue Sea gin kina crème de violette orange
Bijou gin blanc Chartreuse orange
Acacia gin kirsch Bénédictine
Negroni
Negroni gin sweet Campari
Hanky Panky gin sweet Fernet- Branca
Negroni D'Or gin blanc Gran Classico
Eeyore's Requiem gin blanc Campari Fernet Cynar orange
Chocolate Negroni gin Punt e Mes crème de cacao Campari chocolate
Lucien Gaudin gin dry Cointreau Campari
New Milano gin Dimmi Cynar
Jamaican Negroni rum sweet Campari
Old Pal rye dry Campari