Three-ingredient cocktails
Every drink here needs three ingredients or fewer, not counting ice, water or the garnish. Short shopping list, nothing to prep.
Fewer ingredients means each one shows, so buy the best bottle you can and squeeze your citrus fresh.
62 recipes · page 1 of 4
Three ingredients, three patterns
Most three-ingredient cocktails fall into a few simple patterns. Spirit, citrus and sugar gives you the Daiquiri and the Bee's Knees. Spirit, liqueur and citrus gives you the Margarita and the Sidecar.
Spirit, bitter and vermouth makes the Negroni. A spirit with a long mixer, as in the gin and tonic and Moscow mule, is the easiest pattern of all.
Each pattern teaches you something you can reuse. Once you know the Daiquiri ratio, you can try the same shape with gin, tequila or Cognac.
What counts as an ingredient
On this page, ice, water and garnish do not count, but everything else does, including bitters. The Manhattan qualifies because it is whiskey, sweet vermouth and Angostura bitters, even though the bitters go in by the dash.
The Old Fashioned is whiskey, sugar and bitters, with a little water to dissolve the sugar. The Dry Martini is gin, dry vermouth and orange bitters.
The Boulevardier is a Negroni made with bourbon, and uses the same three ingredients in different measures.
Getting the balance right with so few ingredients
With three ingredients, the ratio is the whole recipe. A Daiquiri is 50 ml white rum, 25 ml lime juice and 15 ml sugar syrup. A Margarita is 50 ml tequila blanco, 25 ml Cointreau and 25 ml lime juice. Measure rather than free-pour.
Squeeze citrus just before you shake, because juice loses its brightness within hours. Taste before serving. If a sour drink is too sharp, add a little syrup, and if it is too sweet, add a squeeze of lime.
Three-ingredient cocktails without alcohol
Some of the simplest drinks here have no alcohol. The Shirley Temple is ginger ale, grenadine and lime, and the virgin Moscow mule is just as short a list.
Both are built in the glass over ice, so they are a good choice when you want a quick drink for guests who are not drinking.
They are also quick to batch. Because there are so few ingredients, you can multiply the measures for a few friends and mix them in a jug, then add ice and any fizzy mixer just before pouring. Short lists also make it easy to stock a small home bar with only a few bottles.
Questions people ask
What is the easiest three-ingredient cocktail?
The Negroni is the easiest: stir 25 ml each of gin, Campari and sweet vermouth over ice and add an orange twist. Equal measures make it hard to get wrong. The gin and tonic is even simpler, with only two ingredients.
What cocktails have only three ingredients?
The Negroni, Daiquiri, Margarita, Old Fashioned, Manhattan, Sidecar and Bee's Knees all have three ingredients, not counting ice and garnish. The Black Russian and Godfather need only two. Each has a recipe on this page.
Do ice and garnish count as ingredients in a cocktail?
On this page they do not. Ice, water and garnish are left out of the count, but bitters, sugar and juice are counted. That keeps the lists honest: if a drink needs a third bottle or a lemon, it is one of the three.
How do you make a Margarita with three ingredients?
Shake 50 ml tequila blanco, 25 ml Cointreau or other triple sec and 25 ml fresh lime juice with ice, then strain into a coupe. Salt the rim if you like. The salt and lime wedge are the rim and garnish, so they are not counted.
What can I make with gin and two other ingredients?
A Negroni uses gin, Campari and sweet vermouth. A Bee's Knees uses gin, lemon juice and honey syrup. A Dry Martini uses gin, dry vermouth and orange bitters. A Gimlet is also on this page. Each takes about three minutes.
Why do three-ingredient cocktails need good ingredients?
With so few ingredients there is nothing to hide a weak one. A stale vermouth or bottled lime juice shows in the glass. Use fresh citrus, keep opened vermouth in the fridge, and measure carefully so no single ingredient dominates.