...

Cocktails At Home

story

Story

facts

Facts

history

History

faq

FAQs

At VIP Bottles, we stock everything you need to make bar-quality cocktails at home.

From premium mixers & soft drinks for creating simple long serves to luxury bitters, purees, and syrups for whipping up something a little bit special, browse below to unleash your inner mixologist.

In recent years, more people than ever are ditching bars and taking cocktail shakers into their own hands.

Cocktail recipe books and blogs now inspire and inform the at-home bartender on how to make everything from classic serves to experimental mixes.

There are an infinite number of cocktails for you to create at home, from Cosmopolitans, Martinis, and Brambles, to Sazeracs, Mai Tais, and Bloody Marys.

We select premium brands used in bars such as Angostura, Fee Brothers, Funkin, Giffard, and Schweppes, our range of bottles for making cocktails at home makes it easy for you to mix up some cocktail magic.
Read More
  • The most popular cocktail in the world is the Old Fashioned.
  • An attempt to set the Guinness World Record for the world's most expensive cocktail was thwarted when the mixologist dropped and smashed a bottle of Cognac worth $77,000
  • The name of the Screwdriver cocktail derives from Persian oil workers in the 1920s. When lacking a spoon to stir, they used screwdrivers
  • A Gibson Martini uses a pickled onion instead of an olive garnish!
The first documented definition of the term “cocktail” appears in a New York newspaper in 1806, describing it as “a stimulating liquor composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water and bitters.” But, while someone was clearly mixing up drinks at this time, we can only be certain that making cocktails at home became fashionable with the publishing of the first cocktail recipe book.

The Bartenders Guide: How to Mix Drinks was written in 1862 by Jerry Thomas, a man who owned a string of saloons across New York and is commonly regarded as the father of modern mixology.

America is also considered the birthplace of at-home cocktail parties, largely due to Prohibition. From 1920 to 1933, a constitutional ban was placed on the manufacturing and selling of all alcohol in the USA. This led to a surge in underground parties, where homemade (and often rather unpleasant) spirits would be mixed with sweet ingredients to improve flavour.

A similar turn towards at-home cocktails happened exactly 100 years later with the advent of the coronavirus pandemic. As national lockdowns caused pubs and bars to close their doors, huge numbers of people began recreating their favourite serves from within their own kitchens. With many now feeling more confident and creative when mixing drinks, it seems that the trend of making cocktails at home is only going to continue.
What are the most popular cocktail recipes to make at home?

According to a Drinks International survey, the top 5 most popular cocktails in 2020 were the Margarita, Dry Martini, Daiquiri, Negroni, and taking the #1 spot, the Old Fashioned.

What do I need to make cocktails at home?

Aside from the spirits and mixers, there are a few bar tools you’ll need to prepare your own cocktails.

Most important is glassware, a jigger (shot measure), and a cocktail shaker. You may also need a muddler for recipes which include herbs, but a normal pestle & mortar will also work perfectly well.

What does shaking do to a cocktail?

Shaking a cocktail has multiple functions. At its most basic, using a cocktail shaker will ensure all the ingredients are blended together. Shaking with ice is also means that the drink will be thoroughly chilled and (especially if it’s a stiff serve) slightly diluted. The texture of the cocktail is also refined by shaking, as emulsifying and aerating the liquid helps create a smooth, velvety mouthfeel.

Showing 1–20 of 252 results

252