This week, we're talking about tequila-based cocktails. In a future article, I'll discuss the history and manufacture of everyone's favorite collegiate bad decision, but for now, let's just get straight to the drinking: 5 tequila drinks you should know. More

This week, we're discussing highballs, perhaps the easiest class of cocktail to make. A highball is a group of drinks made of a base spirit and a larger proportion of a non-alcoholic mixer. Now, most highballs are pretty straightforward—fill a glass with ice, pour on a shot of Jack, and fill the glass with Coke, for example. They're hard to screw up at a bar, and the large proportion of unleaded mixer helps you stay hydrated when you're out for a night of drinking. With one exception, the drinks I'll feature this week require a little more work than a pour of spirit and a spray from a soda gun, but they deliver a greater reward as well. More

This week, with holiday celebrations looming, we'll cover essential fizzy cocktails. Whether made from cava, prosecco, American bubbly, or the venerable Champagne, sparkling wine-based cocktails are a treat for any party, from the large to the intimate. More

Rye is, after rum, among the first New World spirits, and the first whiskey distilled in North America. George Washington made rye at Mt. Vernon, and by the time of Prohibition, rye was the primary whiskey used for cocktails. Most rye distilleries never reopened after Prohibition, in part due to the Great Experiment, and in part thanks to the changing American palate, which grew to prefer lighter spirits and blended whiskeys. The rise of single-malt scotch whisky in the 1980s and 1990s, and the subsequent growth of small-batch bourbons, have led in the last five years to a growing market for rye. Thanks to its spicy and rich flavor profile, bartenders love rye for its versatility and mixability. More

This week, we cover the favorite tipple of sailors and tiki geeks alike: rum. Now, rum is a tricky category to limit to five essentials; first, there are simply a whole damn lot of rum cocktails around. More importantly, though, the rum category is broad and deep, and the word rum refers to such a mixed bag of spirits. More

This week in Five Essentials, we'll talk about vodka. Yes, vodka. It may not be your favorite spirit, and it certainly isn't mine, but it's everywhere, and I can't ignore it. So quit yer bellyachin', belly up to my bar, and let's just have a drink already. More

This week in Five Essentials, we'll talk about yummy yummy bourbon whiskey. In future weeks, I'll explore other whiskies—rye, scotch, and Irish—but for now, I'm focusing on the king of American whiskey, bourbon. More

There are endless cocktails in the world, and new ones invented every day, but how many of these drinks are true essentials? Today we'll start a new series covering drinks everyone should know—five essential drinks for every major category of spirits. Each week, I'll offer five cocktails that are classics or deserve to be. More