Alcohol recommendations
If you’re looking for alcohol recommendations, you’re in the right place! Here are ALL of the brands of booze we recommend, should you ever need a hand deciding what to buy.
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Spirits
The base of almost every cocktail: vodka, rum, gin, whiskey, tequila and brandy.
Vodka
For vodka, we recommend Smirnoff.
FYI: we took a deep-dive into comparing different brands of vodka and Smirnoff came out on top. You can read our vodka comparison here.
We also took a deep-dive into Smirnoff as a brand to answer the question: is Smirnoff good vodka?
Flavoured vodka
But of course, it doesn’t just end there with vodka! There are many different flavours of vodka you can try. Here are our recommendations.
First up is vanilla vodka, a key ingredient in one of the most popular cocktails right now: the Pornstar Martini. If you haven’t tried one of these bad boys yet, then I recommend you do. Like, now.
Rum
For rum, we currently have recommendations for dark rum, spiced rum, white rum and coconut rum.
Editor’s note We have a fantastic rum cocktails collection, where we list ALL of our rum-based cocktails.
Gin
Sloe gin
Editor’s note If you’re reading this thinking “what the f@*k is sloe gin?”, see our detailed What is Sloe Gin? article to get the lowdown.
Whiskey
Rye whiskey
Bourbon
Tequila
Editor’s note Tequila is a key ingredient in the Margarita.
Brandy
Absinthe
Liqueurs
The sweet, fruity and herbal bottles that give cocktails their character.
- Southern Comfort
- Blue curaçao
- Orange curaçao
- Triple sec
- Peach schnapps
- Apple schnapps
- Coffee liqueur
- Campari
- Passoa
- Amaretto
- Galliano
- Limoncello
- Advocaat
- Blackcurrant liqueur
- Bénédictine
- Pernod
Southern Comfort
Editor’s note Check out our best cocktails with Southern Comfort for Southern Comfort cocktail inspiration.
Blue curaçao
Blue curaçao is one of the most popular cocktail ingredients ever. It’s used to create exotic-looking cocktails such as the Blue Hawaii, amongst many others.
You can read more about blue curaçao in our dedicated article.
Orange curaçao
Triple sec
Editor’s note See our detailed What is Triple Sec? article and our list of triple sec cocktail recipes.
Peach schnapps
Editor’s note You can find out more about peach schnapps in our detailed What is Peach Schnapps? article, or browse our peach schnapps cocktails.
Apple schnapps
Coffee liqueur
One of our favourite alcohol recommendations is Kahlúa. It’s bitter, delicious and luxurious, and it’s one of the key ingredients in one of the greatest, and most calorific, cocktails of all time: the White Russian.
Campari
Editor’s note Find out more about Campari in our detailed What is Campari? article.
Passoa
Editor’s note Passoa is a passion fruit liqueur and a key ingredient in the Pornstar Martini. See all our Passoa cocktails.
Amaretto
Galliano
Editor’s note Galliano is a key ingredient in the Harvey Wallbanger.
Limoncello
Advocaat
Blackcurrant liqueur
Bénédictine
Pernod
Wine, fizz & cider
Bubbles for topping up, vermouth for stirring and the odd bottle of port or cider.
Champagne
Editor’s note See all our champagne cocktails.
Prosecco
Vermouth
Port
Apple cider
Bitters
A dash or two is all you need, so one bottle lasts for ages.
Angostura bitters
Angostura bitters are in a number of our cocktails, most notably the Old Fashioned. Angostura bitters are an alcoholic mixer made from herbs and spices by the House of Angostura in Trinidad and Tobago.
Orange bitters
More on the way
That’s quite an extensive list of alcohol recommendations, right? Well, more are on the way.
Why? Because the more cocktails we add, the more alcohol we’ll be able to recommend. Our cocktail recipes are growing all the time, so why not join our mailing list and get new recipes delivered right to your inbox? For free.

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