10 Easy Two-Ingredient Cocktails

Gin & Tonic

This iconic two-ingredient cocktail is one of the most versatile in that each particular gin with its unique botanicals, and each tonic it’s paired with, together can express myriad flavors. The Gin & Tonic was allegedly first concocted as a malaria remedy, with its mixture of quinine, gin and lime, as early as 1857, and has truly stood the test of time.

The key to a great Gin & Tonic is a quality gin that’s at least 90-proof, a good craft tonic (such as Fever-Tree) and a garnish that complements the botanicals in the gin. Although it’s easily crafted, it can take some practice to perfect, so feel free to get creative with this fan favorite.

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50/50 Martini

Martinis can be dangerous in their conventional gin-heavy form. Sometimes, you might wish to have two or three in one sitting because you enjoy the flavor, but then you run the risk of becoming incoherent. The 50/50 Martini solves this problem with its equal split of gin and dry vermouth, creating a lower-ABV cocktail that’s both delicious and sessionable. The key to this cocktail’s extraordinary deliciousness is the vermouth—make sure to buy the highest quality you can. With one taste, the 50/50 may become your new go-to two-ingredient sipper.

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Rusty Nail

This combination of scotch and Drambuie is thought to have been first created in the 1930s, but it's popularity surged decades later due to its association with the Rat Pack. Though the Rusty Nail has fallen by the wayside in many modern drinkers' memories, the combination still works. Effectively, you're following the Old Fashioned template of sweetened whiskey, but using a scotch and honey liqueur rather than a sugar cube.

All in all, this two-part classic is still one of the more interesting ways to put a twist on your next pour of scotch.

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Whiskey Highball

Crafting an excellent Whiskey Highball is all about the details. Using high-quality whiskey is paramount—as the saying goes, if you wouldn’t sip it neat, don’t use it in the drink. You’ll also want to use high-quality ice to control both temperature and dilution, and freshly-opened club soda that has been chilled for as long as possible. The colder temperature helps slow the rate at which carbon dioxide molecules escape the water, maintaining fizz on your tongue longer.

The Whiskey Highball's enduring popularity shows that a drink with only a two ingredients can still showcase a range of complexity. 

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Godfather

Similar to the Rusty Nail, the Godfather is another whiskey-and-liqueur combination that comes in the form of bourbon or scotch mixed with amaretto. As a liqueur made from almonds and stone fruit pits, amaretto works well to bring out the notes of baking spice found in many whiskeys, particularly bourbon, managing to soften the spirit without masking its more subtle flavors.

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Dark ’n Stormy

If ginger is among your favorite flavors, the Dark ’n Stormy should be your go-to cocktail. Gosling’s Black Seal dark rum, which launched in Bermuda in 1806, owns the trademark on this highball, meaning that unless you’re using that specific rum, it technically can’t be called a Dark ’n Stormy. No matter which rum you’re using, though, the drink is delicious.

Simply fill your highball glass with ice, pour in a good-quality craft ginger beer (try Fever-Tree), float the rum on top (per the “Stormy” part of the name) and garnish with a lime wedge. 

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Kir Royale

The classic Kir cocktail is crème de cassis (a blackcurrant liqueur) mixed with white wine, but it's popularity has largely be eclipsed by the Kir Royale, which favors sparkling wine. Though traditional recipes call specifically for Champagne, this simple combination will work with any style of bubbly. What you get is a two-part cocktail that's as easy to make as it is to drink.

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Mimosa

This popular brunch cocktail doesn’t need much of an introduction, but it’s worth appreciating for its quaffability and effervescence. Store-bought orange juice is a common ingredient in many fridges, but you can vastly upgrade this two-part cocktail with little effort by using freshly squeezed juice. Grab a decent bottle of prosecco or other bubbly, mix the two, and drink away.

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Cuba Libre

This highball-style cocktail is really just a rum & Coke plus lime—a drink you’ve likely ordered at least once in your life. The Cuba Libre was awarded its name because this two-ingredient cocktail was Cuba’s victory drink after the Cuban War of Independence and the Spanish-American War.

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Cape Codder

We’ve all had a vodka-cran at some point, and that’s exactly what the Cape Codder is: a mixture of vodka and cranberry cocktail juice. Make sure you have a lime on hand to use as a garnish, because the squeezed lime wedge adds an essential acidic element to this vodka highball. 

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