The 7 Best Equal-Parts Cocktails

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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.

Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Oset BabÃ¼r-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.

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.

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.

Guillermo Riveros / Food Styling by Oset BabÃ¼r-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.

Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Oset BabÃ¼r-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.

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.

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.

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