Kitchen basics only
Cocktails needing no specialist equipment
A measuring cup, a spoon, maybe a blender. Nothing here needs a shaker, a strainer, a muddler or specialist ice.
Every cocktail calls for something to measure with and often something to stir with, and most kitchens already have both in a spoon drawer or a set of measuring cups. What actually requires a dedicated bar purchase is a narrower list — a shaker, a fine strainer for pips and pulp, a muddler for crushing fruit and herbs, or a mould for large-format ice. This page filters those out entirely.
The drinks below only use equipment in the measuring, stirring, citrus, blending, opening or glassware categories — the tools an ordinary kitchen tends to already cover, one way or another, without a trip to a bar shop first.
97 cocktails
Shirley Temple
Ginger ale and grenadine with a maraschino cherry — a bright, fizzy classic mocktail.
Ginger Lime Fizz
Ginger beer, lime and soda over ice with mint — a spicy, fizzy CocktailHQ original.
Espresso Tonic
Chilled tonic water over ice with a fresh double espresso poured on top — bittersweet, fizzy and cold.
French Connection
Cognac and amaretto, built over ice — a simple, warming two-ingredient sipper.
Death in the Afternoon
Absinthe topped with ice-cold Champagne — a stark two-ingredient drink credited to Ernest Hemingway.
Coffee Old Fashioned
A classic Old Fashioned given a cold-brew twist — bourbon, coffee and bitters, stirred slow.
Vietnamese Coffee Cocktail
Dark rum stirred into strong iced coffee and sweetened condensed milk — a spirited take on Vietnamese cà phê sữa đá.
Kombucha Mule
Ginger kombucha and lime over ice — a tangy, faintly funky alcohol-free take on the Moscow Mule format.
Sparkling Cranberry Mocktail
Tart cranberry juice lengthened with soda and lime — a bright, festive-looking three-ingredient mocktail.
Corpse Reviver No. 1
Cognac, apple brandy and sweet vermouth, stirred cold — the older, spirit-forward half of the Corpse Reviver family.
Oaxaca Old Fashioned
Tequila and mezcal with agave and bitters, stirred over ice — an Old Fashioned built on agave rather than grain.
Roy Rogers
Cola and grenadine with a maraschino cherry — the cola-based sibling to a Shirley Temple.
Virgin Sunrise
Orange juice and grenadine, layered so the colour bleeds from red to gold — the Tequila Sunrise without the tequila.
Alcohol-Free Bellini
Peach purée topped with alcohol-free sparkling wine — two ingredients, and the same drink the original always was.
Alcohol-Free Hot Toddy
Honey, lemon and hot water with whole spice — the toddy's comforting half, without the whisky.
Virgin Sea Breeze
Cranberry and grapefruit over ice — the Sea Breeze's dry, tart half, which was always the interesting part.
Lime Rickey
Lime, a little sugar and soda water — three ingredients, and the driest long drink on the site.