Barback

The classic cocktail guide

Classic cocktails,
done properly.

118 classic recipes with the why behind every one, the spirits that make them, and the bars worth crossing town for.

Tonight's pour

The Old Fashioned

Whiskey, sugar, bitters. Three ingredients, and that's the way it should be. Our house build, and the drink that started Barback.

Rocks · large cube ice

60 ml2 ozbourbon or rye (Maker's Mark, Woodford Reserve, Basil Hayden's Dark Rye)
15 ml0.5 ozdemerara syrup
3 dashesAngostura bitters

Garnish: expressed orange twist

The full recipe

Start with a bottle

Pick your spirit

Agave11 recipes Gin27 recipes Rum23 recipes Whiskey19 recipes Vodka14 recipes Liqueurs24 recipes

Eight to know by heart

The essentials

All 118 cocktails

Gin · BuiltNegroniBitter, boozy and bracing, with orange oil cutting through the Campari. Rum · ShakenDaiquiriClean, tart lime against a light rum base, nothing hiding behind it. Agave · ShakenMargaritaTart lime and orange against tequila's agave bite. Gin · StirredDry MartiniCold, clean and purely spirit-forward, with just a whisper of herbal vermouth. Whiskey · ShakenPenicillinSpicy ginger and honey over scotch, finished with a smoky float on top. Whiskey · ShakenPaper PlaneBittersweet bourbon with orange and herbal notes balanced tightly against lemon. Gin · ShakenLast WordHerbal and bracing, with Chartreuse's green intensity leading the whole way. Vodka · ShakenEspresso MartiniBold coffee bitterness over a sweet, boozy base with a creamy foam top.

Holiday 2026

Gifts for cocktail lovers

12 things we actually use behind the bar: tools, ice, glassware and one book, sorted by budget so you can be done in five minutes.

See the 12 gifts

Out tonight?

Where we drink

Bars we'd send a friend to, every one checked open, with nights that string them together on foot.

Boston50 bars · 5 ready-made nightsBack Bay hotel bars, South End tiki, a basement speakeasy downtown, and the Cambridge classics.Seattle34 bars · 5 ready-made nightsHidden alley speakeasies, a whisky library on Capitol Hill, Ballard Avenue patios, and a 24-hour diner bar under the Space Needle.Toronto31 bars · 5 ready-made nightsSpeakeasies on Ossington, a sherry bar on College Street, and old-money rooftops in Yorkville.Houston30 bars · 5 ready-made nightsDowntown speakeasies, Montrose agave and tiki, Heights whiskey dens, and a couple of dives worth the drive.New Orleans29 bars · 4 ready-made nightsThe birthplace of the Sazerac, a rotating bar at Hotel Monteleone, and Magazine Street's whiskey dens.Vancouver29 bars · 4 ready-made nightsAn apothecary bar on Keefer Street that just won Best Bar in Canada, a thrift shop with a cocktail program hiding at the back, and a freezer door in Chinatown that opens into 1920s Shanghai.Mexico City28 bars · 4 ready-made nightsThe bar that reinvented Mexican aperitivo culture, a mezcal den built like a pre-Hispanic shrine, and the speakeasy ranked No. 1 in the world.Miami28 bars · 4 ready-made nightsA Little Havana cantinero show with a live band, a rooftop 40 floors above Brickell, and a taco counter with a velvet-draped bar behind the bathroom door.New York28 bars · 4 ready-made nightsThe speakeasy that started the modern cocktail revival, a Negroni bar on MacDougal Street, and an oyster-and-absinthe parlor on Bedford Avenue.Portland26 bars · 4 ready-made nightsA whiskey library with rolling ladders, a James Beard-winning scotch lodge, and a tiki bar that's run nightly karaoke since 1947.San Francisco26 bars · 4 ready-made nightsA rum temple with 1,400 bottles, a hidden bar inside a hidden bar, and a tiki room with a boat that floats on an old swimming pool.Chicago25 bars · 4 ready-made nightsA 200-rum tiki room down a River North alley, Chicago's original amaro bar in Logan Square, and the most decorated bar in the country right now in the West Loop.Los Angeles25 bars · 4 ready-made nightsA Filipinotown speakeasy with a national reputation, Los Feliz's two hottest new rooms, Arts District heavyweights, and a tiki bar on the Hermosa Beach pier.Salem6 bars · 1 ready-made nightA bank-vault restaurant, a hidden speakeasy and a hotel tavern on the Common, all walkable.

From the journal

Notes from behind the bar

April 9, 2020Call us Old FashionedWhiskey, sugar, bitters. Three ingredients, and that's the way it should be.April 20, 2020Shaken, not stirredEvery Martini drinker has a preference, and they tend to be very particular.April 27, 2020Welcome to MargaritavilleFour ingredients, no blender, and absolutely no sweet and sour mix.May 6, 2020Whiskey: what's all the hype about?Bourbon, Irish, Scotch and rye, and what makes each one worth knowing.November 2, 2026What to Make With Gin, Vermouth and CampariEqual parts gin, Campari and sweet vermouth is a Negroni, and the same three bottles get you three more classics besides.