2-Ingredient Cocktails That Will Up Your Home Bartender Game

Home bartenders have a lot of fun creating complex cocktails to show off their skills and impress their guests. But those complicated drinks can be a lot of work. And as much fun as it is to build your own home bar, it can also be costly to set up and maintain if you are partial to fancy drinks. That's fine if you entertain constantly and want to spend your time making drinks while talking to your friends, but there is a much simpler way to up your game without all the extra work. 

Two-ingredient cocktails offer the perfect solution. Cocktails don't need to be over-complicated to be good. Simple creations can be just as delicious, if not better, as the fancy ones, and much easier to make in a pinch for unexpected guests. Focusing on a few simple drinks and making them really well lets the flavors that matter get the attention they deserve. 

We've compiled a list of two-ingredient cocktails that will inspire you to get back to creating wonderful drinks without all the extra time and expense involved in building a fancy, unnecessarily overstocked home bar. Use that time extra time you have for choosing the best size and shape of ice cubes to use instead. Each of these drinks only require two ingredients, not counting the garnish — an alcohol and a mixer — and they are each designed to respect the classics and delight you and your guests. And if you want to get creative and fancy, have fun with the garnish — these extra touches add a pop of flair, color, flavor, and personality that will make a simple concoction look more fancy.   

A good gin and tonic really can't be beat. Different gins are flavored with different botanicals and aromatics, giving them distinctly different flavors, which makes this pairing with tonic work so well together. The tonic gives the drink the bubbly fizz it needs to sparkle on the tongue without overpowering the unique flavor of the gin you choose to pair it with. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary or lemon wheel to take it up a notch.

Mimosas are synonymous with brunch, and they're particularly delicious plus easy to make. All you need is a sparkling wine like Champagne or Prosecco and orange juice, but this twist on the classic swaps out the OJ for mango nectar. You can garnish it with slices of mango, orange, or strawberries, and the best part is you can adjust the proportions of the two liquids to your personal preference — and how much of a buzz you want to start the day with. 

Known more simply as a rum and Coke, the Cuba Libre, which translates to "Free Cuba," originated in Havana in the early 1900s. Garnished with a lime, you won't find a drink much easier to make. Add a few sprigs of mint to give it a boost of flavor if needed. 

A rusty nail is made using two ingredients that are both alcohols. It consists of two parts scotch and half parts Drambuie (a liqueur made from Scotch whisky), garnished with a lemon twist. Since the Drambuie is sweet, you can increase the amount for a sweeter cocktail.    

Like the incredibly simple brunch staple, mimosa, a bellini is just Prosecco with the orange juice swapped out for peach juice or puree. It's classic, simple, and refreshing, plus you can garnish it with fruits like strawberries, raspberries, or blueberries.  

A screwdriver is conveniently made using an ingredient you probably already have in your fridge. Simply mix orange juice with vodka, and garnish with a slice of fresh orange as an option. It's so simple to make that you can either prepare this cocktail in batches or simply set out the bottles of vodka and orange juice and let your guests serve themselves.

Swap out the orange juice in a screwdriver for grapefruit juice and you've got a classic cocktail known as a greyhound. You can make a slightly different version of this cocktail by replacing the vodka with gin. A greyhound pairs well with garnishments like grapefruit slices, lime wedges, and sprigs of rosemary. The refreshing citrus notes make it perfect for a summer get-together.  

Cool name aside, a dark 'n stormy is an unquestionably good cocktail — and incredibly easy to make, as long as you keep a specific whiskey on hand. The name is trademarked, so a true dark 'n stormy requires Gossling's Black Seal rum paired with ginger beer. Garnish with a lime to offset the smokiness of the rum and the spiciness of the ginger with a touch of acidity.

Death in the afternoon has a delightfully mysterious ring to it. Crafted with a mixture of absinthe and champagne, this cocktail was invented in 1932 by author Ernest Hemingway and reflects both his sophistication and penchant for minimalism without sacrificing on classic style.  

A godfather is a cocktail that commands respect. It combines 2 ounces of blended Scotch whisky and a ¼ ounce of amaretto liqueur together for a balance of sweet and smoky. If you don't like your cocktails heavy on the sweetness, simply use less amaretto. Stir the ingredients together with ice to chill them, then strain out the ice, garnish with an orange twist, and drink it straight up.

Maybe not as trendy (or confusing) as the six-seven meme, the 7 and 7 was once a very popular cocktail thanks to its great taste and the simplicity of it. All you need is Seagram's 7 Crown Whiskey over ice, then top it with 7 Up soda. Together they create a bubbly combination of flavors — notes of vanilla from the whiskey balanced by the lemon lime flavor of the soda.  

If you like a boost of caffeine with your booze, a Black Russian will do the trick. Made with just two parts vodka and one part of a coffee-flavored liqueur like Kahlúa, serve it with ice for a boozy iced-coffee-flavored drink.  

Different tequilas have different tasting notes, which makes different versions of a tequila soda quite interesting. This one uses añejo tequila, which is aged in oak barrels for one to three years. It has a darker color and a woodsy, smoky flavor with notes of caramel and butterscotch. Paired with soda water and optionally garnished with an orange wedge, the tequila takes its rightful place as the star of the cocktail. 

Wine is classy, and when you add club soda to it you get a refreshing upgrade that is perfect for a summer afternoon gathering. Take your red wine of choice, add chilled club soda and ice, then garnish it with an orange wedge if you want a flash of complementary color.

A list of two-ingredient cocktails wouldn't be complete without a martini. Just mix three parts gin with a half part of vermouth and garnish with an olive or three if you like. Add more or less vermouth depending on if you want it wet or dry — less for dry, more for wet. Swap out the gin for vodka and you have James Bond's favorite cocktail.