Equal-parts cocktails—one part this, one part that, one part the other—get a lot of love for their symmetry and balance. Best of all, the recipes are super easy to remember. This summer, leave the drinks manual on the shelf and use a simple formula instead.
Float Plane Cocktail
Christine Sismondo
This slightly sweeter version of the much-loved Paper Plane cocktail calls for easier-to-find Grand Marnier instead of the original Amaro Nonino, an Italian herbal liqueur with orange notes.
Course Drinks
Cuisine cocktails
- 30 ml Canadian Rye Whisky
- 30 ml Aperol
- 30 ml Grand Marnier
- lemon juice to taste
Add 30 ml each of Canadian Rye Whisky, Aperol, Grand Marnier, and fresh lemon juice to an ice-filled cocktail tin and shake well for 30 seconds.
Strain into a chilled coupe glass and garnish by landing a small paper airplane on the rim of the glass.
For garnish: Like a cocktail umbrella with direction, a tiny paper airplane lands beautifully on the rim of your glass. Crisp, colourful origami paper folds best.
Keyword alcoholic drinks, Cocktails
Watermelon Negroni Sbagliato
Christine Sismondo
Light, modern, and elegant, the Negroni Sbagliato calls for sparkling wine instead of gin. We tweaked the recipe to make it even lower in alcohol—ready for summer entertaining!
Course Drinks
Cuisine cocktails
- 30 ml Campari
- 30 ml watermelon juice
- 30 ml non-alcoholic sparkling wine such as widely available Nozeco
- 1 dash cocktail bitters
- melon ball lightly dusted with salt optional for garnish
Add 30 ml Campari and 30 ml watermelon juice to a rocks glass filled with ice.
Top with 30 ml non-alcoholic sparkling wine.
Add a dash of cocktail bitters and a melon ball lightly dusted with salt.
For garnish: Find the melon baller in the junk drawer, scoop spheres of watermelon, and impale on a cocktail skewer. No melon baller? With a knife, cut cubes instead, and spear vertex to vertex.
Keyword alcoholic drinks, Cocktails
The Adonis Cocktail
Christine Sismondo
Dead simple to make, low in alcohol and perfectly balanced, this handsome, under-the-radar cocktail is easy to admire. An 1880s invention, it was named after a popular Broadway musical, a gender-swapped version of the Pygmalion myth.
Course Drinks
Cuisine cocktails
- 45 ml fino sherry
- 45 ml red vermouth
- 1 dash cocktail bitters
- citrus snake optional for garnish
- cherry on a cocktail skewer optional for garnish
Combine 45 ml each of fino sherry (such as widely available Tio Pepe) and red vermouth in a mixing glass filled with ice.
Stir for 30 seconds, strain into a chilled martini glass, and add a dash of cocktail bitters. Garnish with a citrus snake and a cherry on a cocktail skewer.
For garnish, you can charm a citrus snake: using a vegetable peeler, cut a strip of lemon or orange zest. On one end, cut an oval snake’s head (punch out eye-holes if you like), then twist that viper into your drink.
Keyword alcoholic drinks, Cocktails
The Bamboo Cocktail
Christine Sismondo
Use white vermouth instead of red to transform the Adonis into another classic cocktail, the Bamboo.
Course Drinks
Cuisine cocktails
- 45 ml fino sherry
- 45 ml white vermouth
- 1 dash cocktail bitters
- citrus snake optional for garnish
- cherry on a cocktail skewer optional for garnish
Combine 45 ml each of fino sherry (such as widely available Tio Pepe) and white vermouth in a mixing glass filled with ice.
Stir for 30 seconds, strain into a chilled martini glass, and add a dash of cocktail bitters. Garnish with a citrus snake and a cherry on a cocktail skewer.
Keyword alcoholic drinks, Cocktails
This recipe originally appeared in the Summer ’26 issue of Cottage Life.
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