Awesome Cocktails

Until the 19th century, Polish vodka-makers used the technique of “malting” (fire-kilned drying) for rich and distinctive flavors. Over time, that old tradition faded as vodka became more associated with neutrality. Belvedere Heritage 176 applies fire to the rye before distillation, to offer a taste of vodka’s flavorful past.

Wake up and smell this deliciously nutty take on the popular coffee cocktail. The classic hazelnut liqueur, Frangelico, makes all the difference. Sweet, aromatic, and golden, it’s made in Piedmont, Northern Italy, from a guarded recipe of Italian hazelnuts combined with coffee, cocoa, and vanilla distillate and extracts.

This boxed gift set for drink enthusiasts includes eight mini-notebooks, each dedicated to a single spirit: whisky, rum, gin, vodka, tequila, champagne, sherry, and amaro, along with cocktail recipes and room to jot down your own concoctions. Includes 100 total drink ideas.

Cheers to Bols Cocktail Tubes, the fun way to sip ready-to-drink concoctions from tall 200ml cylinders serving 1-2 cocktails each. Gift packs offer four tubes in three varieties – Classic, Martini, and Modern – each featuring a different combo of Negronis, Old Fashioneds, Margaritas, and Martinis. Prosit!

Did you know that “margarita” actually means “daisy” in Spanish? Patron Tequila and St. Germain teamed up with artist and floral visionary, Maurice Harris, to create a bouquet of fresh takes on the classic cocktail. The floral secret ingredient is St. Germain liqueur, made with 1,000 handpicked elderflower blossoms.

Banish basic margaritas the easy way. This kit contains everything needed for 12 delicious servings: agave syrup, cold-pressed crystallized lime juice, spicy margarita salt, a measuring cup, and the smoky star of the show – a bottle of Ilegal Mezcal Joven, double distilled in Oaxaca by fourth-generation mezcaleros.

The French 75 cocktail has metamorphosed since its invention during WW1. It was originally a gin drink (not very French), inexplicably named after the 75mm military howitzer. Fifty years later, truly French versions charged into the field, with Grand Marnier’s cognac and orange liqueur blend among the most sophisticated.

T-Pain teamed up with food and beverage expert Maxwell Britten to create this 144-page book filled with cocktails inspired by the musician’s life and career. Each of the 50 drinks has been selected as a reflection of one of his songs, offering a variety of unique and imaginary concoctions sure to please any cocktail connoisseur.

Created in concert with musician Michelle Zauner (AKA Japanese Breakfast), this Cocktail Courier Kit packs everything needed for a Persimmon Paloma party for eight: a 375 ml bottle of Patron Reposado, Cocktail Courier Persimmon Syrup, club soda, and fresh limes, plus themed chopsticks, coasters, and a bar towel.

Boxed cocktails may be the best invention since, well, boxed wine. We dig having Drake’s Organic Spirits Boxtails in the fridge, chillin’ until we open the door and press the fixture for a glass of Mango Punch, Minted Mojito, Watermelon-Tini, Margarita, or Black Cherry Limeade. They’re non-GMO and additive-free too.

Hibear makes the most versatile insulated bottle you can buy. The stainless steel All-Day Adventure Flask holds up to 32 oz. and includes the parts needed to make pour-over and cold brew coffee, tea, cocktails, infusions, and more. The silicone sleeve at its bottom can also be removed and used as a mug.

From the authors of Death & Co, the Cocktail Codex is no ordinary drink recipe book. It teaches home bartenders about the fundamental elements that go into a good cocktail and the relationships between drinks that share attributes. The approach encourages experimentation in creating your own concoctions.

Nope, they’re not monogrammed pocket squares. They’re effin’ sly linen-poly Sweary Cocktail Coasters using acronyms that look like initials to discretely stand for curse words and phrases like “Bulls***,” “Son of a b****” and “What the f***.” Made by the otherwise classy folks at Dot & Army. Sold in a set of eight.

Portland has a reputation for keeping things weird, and Raven’s Manor is up to the challenge. The downtown lounge has a haunted mansion theme, loaded with creepy secrets to discover. Its cocktail menu includes bubbling, smoking, and flaming concoctions in fruity and “spirit-forward” varieties to please all palates.

Conquer your home bar and impress your friends with this series of six online courses about bartending and mixology. Along the way, you’ll learn all about gin, rum, vodka, whiskey, and tequila, along with the best ways to make cocktails from each spirit. Another great deal from The Awesomer Shop.

The canned cocktail craze makes drinking convenient but generally leaves us wishing for fresher flavors without an aluminum aftertaste. Williams Sonoma and Woodford Reserve whisky come to the rescue with a trio of premium bottled cocktail mixers – Old Fashioned, Whiskey Sour, and Mint Julep – especially for brown liquor lovers.

Cutwater Spirits’ third tequila release is Tequila Añejo, joining the award-winning Reposado and Blanco in Cutwater’s 20+ spirit lineup of gin, vodka, rum, whisky, mezcal, and canned cocktails produced in San Diego. The versatile distiller makes tequila in – naturally – Tequila, Mexico, using 100% blue agave that’s slow cooked in traditional brick ovens then double-distilled.

Most single malt whiskies insist on being sipped neat. X by Glenmorangie, by contrast, was created to stir it up with a myriad of mixers. Glenmorangie reimagines single malts by making X sweeter and richer with aromas of pear and vanilla distilled in extra-tall stills to allow more space for the taste to bloom.

High Camp Flasks 3-piece shaker is perfect for mixing and transporting cocktails. Its main section is a 20oz. vacuum-insulated shaker. Combined with a tight-sealing lid and a strainer module, you can fill it with ingredients, then shake them when you get to the party. Available in copper, gunmetal, or stainless steel. Engraving also available.

For the ninth year, thousands of bars, restaurants, retailers and Negroni fans will celebrate the popular three-ingredient cocktail to raise funds for charities. Campari – Italy’s iconic red aperitif – kicks off Negroni Week 2021 (Sept. 13-19) with a $100,000 donation, joined by MiniBar, Shaker & Spoon , and Imbibe Magazine.

This duo of cocktail ingredient kits gives you all the mixers you need to make eight each of two kinds of old fashioneds – the first one combining black cherry, cherry bark vanilla bitters, and hickory smoke; and a unique rum-based version with espresso, chocolate, and orange flavors. Just add the whiskey + rum of your choice.

Feeling good without feeling tipsy is the aim of alcohol-free Three Spirit. Nightcap, Livener, and Social Elixir botanical drinks are designed to reduce stress, improve mood, and make imbibers feel more social. Ingredients like cacao, turmeric, ginger, black pepper, and green tea come from plants used in remedies for centuries.

Do you love fancy ice cubes in your cocktails? You could make them in a mold, or you could do it like BAR Go’s Samurai Bartender. Sit back and watch as this talented artist carves chunks of ice into smooth rectangles, cubes, and jewel shapes using nothing but his skill and a razor-sharp knife.

Created for lovers of contemporary art and cocktails, Art Boozel is sure to please with more than 50 mixed drinks, each inspired by a famous artist. Drinks include the Frida Kahlo with tequila and watermelon, the Salvador Dalí with Spanish sherry and sesame, and the Yayoi Kusama, a sweet-tart mix of gin, pumpkin, lime, and ginger.

Pop Chart’s “Spirited Schematic of Mixed Drinks” is a wonderful piece of wall art for any home bar. It’s packed with illustrations of 120 cocktails, with each one visually broken down to its ingredients and quantities. The print measures 24″ x 36″, and is also available mounted on a birch plywood panel.

Award-winning mixologist Masahiro Urushido (of NYC’s Katana Kitten) shares his knowledge of Japanese spirits and cocktails with 80 recipes that exemplify Japan’s contribution to the cocktail scene, both from his own bar and from Japanese mixologists. Urushido analyses the Japanese approach and demystifies ages-old techniques.