11 Fabulous Classic Cocktails Your Senior Parents Will Remember – And Love
If you are an adult child of parents in their senior years, you may have vague recollections of cocktails they used to enjoy when you were a kid. At this juncture, cocktails that once not only enjoyed by your parents are also very hard to find. Regarding some of these delicious adult beverages, if you were to attempt to order them when out with your parents, you might gain only a blank look from a server.
We present 11 fabulous classic cocktails that your senior parents may have enjoyed in their earlier years. They are easy to make and please your folks if they enjoy a good cocktail.
Gin Fizz
What you need:
- 2 oz. gin
- ¾ oz. lemon juice
- ¾ oz. simple syrup
- 2 oz. soda water (or enough to top off the glass)
- Optional egg white
- A lemon peel for garnish
How to make it:
Combine gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, and egg white (if egg white is used) in a shaker with ice. Shake thoroughly. Strain into a highball with ice and top it off with soda water.
Tom Collins
What you need:
- 2 ½ cups ice, divided
- 2 fluid ounces of gin
- ¾ fluid ounce of lemon juice
- ½ fluid ounce of simple syrup
- 2 fluid ounces of club soda
- 1 lemon wedge
How to make it:
Fill a Collins glass (there is such a glass, but any taller glass will do) with 1 1/2 cups of ice. Set aside in the freezer. Combine gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker. Add 1 cup ice, cover, and shake until chilled. Strain into the chilled Collins glass. Top with club soda and garnish with a lemon wedge.
Pisco Punch
What you need:
- 1 pineapple (about 4 pounds) peeled, cut into one-inch pieces
- 1 750 ml bottle of Pisco
- 2 cups simple syrup
- 1 ½ teaspoons lime zest
- 1 ½ teaspoons grapefruit zest
- ⅔ cup fresh lemon juice
How to make it:
Combine Pisco and pineapple pieces in a large pitcher or jar. Cover and refrigerate for three days and stir occasionally. Divide simple syrup in half, mixing one with the lime zest and the other with grapefruit zest. Cover and refrigerate for one night. Strain Pisco into a pitcher or punch bowl and discard the pineapple. Strain both syrups into the Pisco. Add lemon juice and stir. Garnish with pineapple or pineapple leaves.
Fuzzy Navel
What you need:
- 3 oz. peach schnapps
- 3 oz. orange juice
How to make it:
Combine ingredients into a highball glass over ice. It’s as simple as that.
Grasshopper
What you need:
- ¾ oz. green creme de menthe
- ¾ oz. white creme de cacao
- ¾ oz. light cream
- Mint leaves for garnish
How to make it:
Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass, add mint leaves for garnish, and serve.
Jack Rose
What you need:
- 2 oz. Applejack
- ¾ oz. grenadine
- ¾ oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
- A splash of Peychaud’s bitters
How to make it:
Combine ingredients in a shaker, fill with ice and shake vigorously until chilled—strain into a coupe or martini glass. Squeeze the lemon peel over the drink’s surface, skin side out, to release its fragrance. Rub the rim of your glass with the peel of the lemon and discard.
Gin Ricky
What you need:
- 2 oz. gin
- ¾ oz. fresh lime juice
- Soda water
- Lime wheel for garnish
How to make it:
Stir gin and lime juice in a highball glass with ice. Top it off with soda water and add a lime wheel for fun.
Manhattan
What you need:
- 2 fluid ounces of rye whiskey
- ½ fluid ounce of sweet vermouth
- 1 dash Angostura bitters
- 1 cup ice cubes
- 1 maraschino cherry
How to make it:
Combine whiskey, vermouth, and bitters in a cocktail mixing glass. Add ice and stir until chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a maraschino cherry.
Old Fashioned
What you need:
- 1 sugar cube
- 1 teaspoon of water
- 1 dash of bitters
- 2 fluid ounces of whiskey (rye or bourbon)
- 1 lemon twist
- ½ cup ice cubes, or as needed
- 1 orange slice for garnish
- 1 maraschino cherry for garnish
How to make it:
Muddle sugar cube, water, and bitters in an old-fashioned glass for 1 minute. Pour in whiskey; stir for 1 minute. Squeeze lemon, twist over the glass, and drop it in. Add ice cubes. Garnish with an orange slice and maraschino cherry; serve with a swizzle stick.
Daiquiri (Original Version)
What you need:
- 1 ½ fluid ounces of light rum
- 1 fluid ounce of lime juice
- 1 teaspoon simple syrup
- 1 cup of ice
How to make it:
Combine light rum, lime juice, and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker. Add ice, cover, and shake until chilled—strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Gimlet
What you need:
- 2 fluid ounces of gin
- 2 fluid ounces of sweetened lime juice
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- ½ cup ice
How to make it:
Place sugar in a shallow dish; dip the rim of the chilled glass into sugar so the rim is coated.
Scoop ice into a shaker. Pour gin and lime juice over the ice and shake well. Pour the drink into the prepared glass.
A final note. First, we understand that there are different derivations of some of the cocktails that we share with you. You may even want to customize some of these selections. Creativity is welcome when it comes to making cocktails for our family and friends, including our senior parents. Second, if your parents are not alcohol drinkers, most of these selections can be made in a nonalcoholic or “virgin cocktail” fashion. Finally, before whipping up classic cocktails for your parents, you must ensure that enjoying an alcoholic beverage with your parents will not conflict with any medication your mother or father may be taking.