Got a bottle of whiskey and not much else? Don’t know what you can possibly mix it with?
Many whiskey cocktails are complicated or call for a special type of whiskey. But we’re in college and we don’t usually have all that shit! So we collected 11 super easy whiskey recipes that you can make with pretty much any whiskey and don’t require strange and hard to find ingredients. So if you’re not much for shooting that whiskey straight, hopefully you’ve got the right stuff to make at least one of the drinks below:
1) Whiskey Sour
Other Ingredients: Lemon juice, simple syrup
A classic – Pour about 2 shots of whiskey, about the same amount of lemon juice, and one ounce of simple syrup into a cocktail shaker. Shake all the ingredients with ice. Then strain into a glass filled with ice.
2) Manhattan
Other Ingredients: Vermouth, Bitters
Pour a shot of whiskey, 1/2 oz of vermouth, and 2 dashes of bitters into a glass with ice and stir it up really well.
3) New York Cocktail
Other Ingredients: Lemon juice, sugar, Grenadine
Pour about 2 shots of whiskey, half as much lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of grenadine into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake it all up. Strain into a chilled glass.
4) Fancy Whiskey
Other Ingredients: Sugar, Triple Sec, Bitters
Pour about 2 shots of whiskey, a 1/2 oz of sugar, a 1/2 oz of Triple Sec, and a dash of bitters into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake it all up and strain into a chilled glass.
5) Boilermaker
Other Ingredients: Beer
Pour a shot of whiskey into a shot glass. Fill a cup full of beer (lighter is best). Drop the shot glass into the beer and down everything in one drink.
6) Highball
Other Ingredients: Ginger ale
Fill a tall glass with ice. Pour in about 2 shots of whiskey. Fill the rest with ginger ale.
7) Imperial Fizz
Other Ingredients: Lemon juice, sugar, club soda
Pour about 2 shots of whiskey, half as much lemon juice, and a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake it up and strain into a tall glass filled with ice. Top it off with club soda.
8) Irish Coffee
Other Ingredients: Coffee, brown sugar
Pour the coffee, a shot of whiskey (Irish is best), and a teaspoon of brown sugar into a mug. Top with whipped cream if you have it.
9) Whiskey & Coke
Other Ingredients: Coke
Fill a glass with ice and then pour in as much whiskey as you would like. Fill the rest up with coke. Pretty simple!
10) Old Fashioned
Other Ingredients: Sugar cube, bitters, water
Combine the sugar cube, Bitters, and 1 tsp. water in a glass. Muddle it, and add about 2 shots of whiskey, and stir.
11) Ward Eight
Other Ingredients: Lemon juice, powdered sugar, Grenadine
Put about 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon powdered sugar, and 1 teaspoon grenadine into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake it up and strain into a red wine glass filled with cracked ice.
Go Ahead and Argue!
People will argue that you are supposed to make each one of these with a certain type of whiskey, put them in a certain type of glass, or garnish them with different things like fruit, or even a twist. …Whatever!
Sometimes you don’t care about all that. These are really basic drinks that you can make with whiskey. Make these drinks to make your whiskey taste better, impress your friends, and still get drunk in the process.