Drinks Cocktails Commit These 7 Equal-Parts Cocktails to Memory and Impress Your Friends These iconic cocktails are equally simple to make as they are delicious. By Prairie Rose Prairie Rose Prairie Rose is Food & Wine's senior drinks editor. A trained sommelier, cocktail book author, and wine and spirits educator, in addition to Food & Wine she is also the senior editor of Liquor.com. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Published on October 16, 2024 Close Photo: Chelsea Kyle / Food Styling by Drew Aichele In spirits author Kara Newman’s 2016 book Shake. Stir. Sip., which features more than 50 cocktails made in equal-parts, she writes, “Some of the best cocktails are the easiest to make.” These simple to remember drinks are also some of the most beloved. From the bittersweet Negroni to the 50/50 Martini, a lower octane version of the classic that gives vermouth and gin equal billing, equal-parts cocktails are more popular than ever but have been kicking around since the dawn of cocktail creation. Drinks that are considered equal-parts cocktails are made up of ingredients that have precisely the same proportion of ingredients, sometimes with bitters or a splash of soda for added flavor. Equal-parts cocktails are bartender favorites for a reason. They may be simple to build an require minimal measuring, but are often complex, flavor-wise. It's also easy to swap around ingredients to create easy riffs. Who hasn’t had a riff on a Negroni in the last decade? Here are seven of the most iconic equal parts drinks everyone should know how to make. 01 of 07 Americano Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Oset Babür-Winter Thought to be the precursor to the Negroni, this three-ingredient classic is made with equal-parts Campari, sweet vermouth, and soda water. Lower in alcohol than many spirit-forward classics, this refreshingly bitter spritz is an aperitivo hour favorite. Garnish with an orange peel to accentuate the tart citrus flavors in the bitter sweet Italian liqueur. Get the recipe 02 of 07 Last Word Food & Wine / Tim Nusog First served at the Detroit Athletic Club bar around 1916, the Last Word is made with an equal-parts combination of gin, Green Chartreuse, maraschino liqueur and lime juice. The resulting mix of varied ingredients produces an array of sweet and sour flavors and complex herbal notes. Largely forgotten after Prohibition, the drink was resurrected by the late Seattle bartender Murray Stenson while working at the Zig Zag Café in the early 2000s. Get the recipe 03 of 07 Negroni Guillermo Riveros / Food Styling by Oset Babur-Winter Perhaps the most famous equal-parts cocktail creation, the Negroni is made with the same ratios of gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth. The drink dates to 1919 and is believed to have first been invented at the Caffè Casoni in Florence when Italian Count Camillo Negroni ordered an Americano made with gin instead of the typical soda water. Get the recipe 04 of 07 Paper Plane Guillermo Riveros / Food Styling by Oset Babür-Winter This modern classic was created in 2008 by bartender Sam Ross for the opening menu of The Violet Hour in Chicago. Inspired by the herbaceous and bittersweet sour cocktail, the Last Word, which had gained popularity among craft cocktail bartenders across the country, the Paper Plane is a combination of bourbon, amaro, Aperol and lemon juice. The name for the cocktail comes from a hit song at the time of its creation, M.I.A.’s Paper Planes. Paper Plane 05 of 07 Corpse Reviver No. 2 Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Oset Babür-Winter This pre-Prohibition classic is part of a family of cocktails thought to have been created to revive the dead — that is, hungover imbibers — the morning after. This high-proof hangover cure is an equal-parts blend of gin, orange liqueur, Lillet Blanc, lemon juice, with just a touch of absinthe. Corpse Reviver No. 2 06 of 07 Blood & Sand Chelsea Kyle / Food Styling by Drew Aichele The recipe for Blood & Sand first appeared in Harry Craddock’s The Savoy Cocktail Book in 1930 and is said to have been inspired by the 1922 silent film of the same name starring Rudolph Valentino. An equal blend of scotch, cherry liqueur, sweet vermouth, and freshly squeezed orange juice produces a smoky sweet fusion of flavors. Get the recipe 07 of 07 Negroni Sbagliato Matt Taylor-Gross This cousin to the Negroni, translates to “mistaken Negroni” in Italian, swaps gin for sparkling wine but still includes Campari and sweet vermouth. This bittersweet aperitivo is a lighter take on the more spirit-forward Negroni but has a firmer backbone, with a slightly higher ABV than its relative, the Americano. Get the recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit