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The bartending is an art, but like every art has its rules. There are some basic cocktails that every bartender must know, but there are a lot more of them that he/she should know.
Let's start with the martinis
Classic Martini
Manhattan
Rob Roy
Cosmopolitan
Chocolate Martini
Espresso Martini
Lemon drop
Gimlet
Gibson
Grasshopper
Stinger
Alexander
Sidecar

Here are some vodka cocktails

Grey Hound
Seabreaze
Baybreaze
Vodka and Soda
Fuzzy Naval
Pearl Harbor
Screwdriver
Madras
Sex on the beach
Cape cod
White Russian
Black Russian
Salty Dog
Godmother
Bloody Mary
Boccie Ball
Grape Crush
Harvey Wallbanger
Kamikaze
Mudslide
Purple Haze

Some cocktails with gin

Lime Rickey
Pink Lady
Red Snapper
Tom Collins

Rum cocktails (includes dark, light, amber, spiced, coconut and 151-proof)

Bahama Mama
Barracuda
Grog
Blue Hawaiian
Coco Loco
Mai Tai
Planters Punch
Rum Runner
Scorpion Ball
Zombie
Cuba Libre
Pina Colada
Daiquiri

Tequila drinks

Margarita
Tequila sunrise

Scotch cocktails

Godfather
Mike Collins
Rusty Nail

Irish whiskey cocktails

Irish Car Bomb
Nutty Irishman

Whiskey drinks

Bent Nail
Ward Eight
Press
Seven and Seven
John Collins

Muddle drinks

Mojito
Old Fashioned
Mint Julep

Southern Comfort drinks

Alabama Slammer
Cool Aid
Scarlet O'Hara
Sicilian Kiss
Rhett Buttler
Washington Apple

There are some drinks like Long Island Iced Tea and Grateful Dead that could be in any list because of the variety of liquors.

Wine cocktails

Sangria
Spritzer
Cooler
Kir
Black Velvet

Champagne cocktails
Bellini
Flirtini
Mimosa
Kir Royale

There are many drinks that I did not mentioned just because they can be in two or more different groups, but here they are most of them based on a liqueur base

Almond Joy
Toasted Almond
Hurricane
Orgasm
Blow Job
B&B
Oatmeal cookie
Carrot Cake
Chocolate Cake
Buttery Nipple
Singapore Sling
French Coffee
Irish Coffee
B-52
Mind Eraser
Angel Kiss
Jaeger Bomb
Red-Headed Slut
Surfer on Acid

There are more and more. I didn't include all the kinds of martinis, like dirty martini or dry, extra dry martini. The same goes with the Manhattans and the Rob Roy. All of the drinks, the martinis, the coffee drinks can be made into a shooter or shot and all the shooters can be made into a drink. You can learn new cocktails every single day and forget some of them the next day or even sooner, but the classic ones should always be in your head and when somebody ask for one, not to have even a second of doubt to know how to make it.

Learn more about this author, Lili Gordon.
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