The 25 Most Important Cocktails of the 2000s

Gin-Gin Mule (2000)

The Gin-Gin Mule was created by Audrey Saunders, a protégé of “King Cocktail” Dale DeGroff and a significant figure during the early-2000s cocktail revival. Merging two popular drinks at the time — the Moscow Mule and the Mojito — the Gin Gin Mule is considered one of the early gin cocktails to be embraced by vodka drinkers. 

The cocktail first appeared on a menu in 2000 when Saunders was managing New York City’s Beacon restaurant. The drink didn’t reach wide acclaim until 2005, when it was featured at Saunders’s influential cocktail bar, Pegu Club, where it quickly became a guest favorite. —Prairie Rose

White Negroni (2001)

The White Negroni was born in Bordeaux in 2001, when London bartender Wayne Collins and Nick Blacknell of Plymouth Gin set out to make a Negroni during the Vinexpo trade show. With Campari and sweet vermouth unavailable, they had to rely on French ingredients — Suze, a gentian-based liqueur with a unique bitterness, and Lillet Blanc, a lightly floral wine aperitif. Combined with gin, the substitution yielded a bracing yet elegant variation that Collins dubbed the White Negroni.

At first, the drink spread slowly, and few bars outside France stocked Suze or Lillet. Its breakthrough came in New York, where Saunders acquired bottles of Suze to serve at Pegu Club, introducing the cocktail to the city’s growing bar scene. From there, other bartenders adopted the cocktail, and by the time Suze was officially imported to the U.S. in 2012, the White Negroni had already become a certified modern classic. —Dylan Ettinger

Gold Rush (2001)

The Gold Rush was created in the early 2000s at New York City’s Milk & Honey. Petraske’s childhood friend, T.J. Siegal, who was an early investor in the bar, created this simple, bee-stung Whiskey Sour variation with bourbon, honey syrup, and fresh lemon juice. The cocktail became a Milk & Honey staple and the inspiration behind another famed modern classic, the Penicillin.

“The Gold Rush is one of the fundamental examples of the Milk & Honey cocktail program: three ingredients, perfect balance, and no fuss,” says veteran bartender and Petraske protégé Richard Boccato in Regarding Cocktails, the 2016 book devoted to Milk & Honey. —Prairie Rose

Old Cuban (2001)

The Old Cuban is a modern classic that blends aged rum, lime juice, mint, simple syrup, bitters, and Champagne. Also created by Saunders while bartending at Beacon, like the Gin-Gin Mule, it became one of her signature drinks at Pegu Club. Though the bar closed in 2020, the Old Cuban lives on as one of Saunders’s biggest contributions to modern mixology.

The drink is an expert example of how to thoughtfully and artfully combine aspects of two popular cocktails to create something familiar and unique. The people-pleasing Mojito gets an upgrade with aged rum and borrows the addition of Champagne from the French 75. The result is a mixture of rum, lime, mint, and bubbles that’s more refined than your typical beachside sip. —Dylan Ettinger

Porn Star Martini (2002)

Douglas Ankrah, the late Ghanaian-born bartender, created the Porn Star Martini for the opening menu at Townhouse bar in London in 2002. The luscious, sweet-tart cocktail combines vanilla vodka, passion fruit liqueur, passion fruit purée, fresh lime juice, and vanilla simple syrup. The drink is traditionally served with a sidecar of chilled sparkling wine.

Originally called the Maverick Martini — named for a gentlemen’s club Ankrah visited while writing his cocktail book in Cape Town, South Africa — the name soon changed. “I then described it as the kind of cocktail that would be ordered by a pornstar, and the name stuck,” said Ankrah. —Prairie Rose

Chartreuse Swizzle (2003)

When Marco Dionysos entered his combination of green Chartreuse, pineapple juice, lime juice, and falernum into a Chartreuse-sponsored cocktail competition, he likely didn’t expect it to take first place. The refreshing Chartreuse Swizzle, inspired by Trinidad and Tobago’s beloved Queen’s Park Swizzle, has since become one of the most enduring and unique tropical cocktails of the past quarter century.

A modern drink like the Chartreuse Swizzle can rarely make such a strong case for inclusion in the tropical cocktail canon, especially one that uses a French herbal liqueur as a base instead of rum. From winning the competition, to being on the menu at multiple San Francisco bars, to becoming a worldwide tropical staple, the Chartreuse Swizzle’s influence and staying power are undeniable. —Dylan Ettinger

Revolver (2004)

The Revolver, a bold bourbon and coffee liqueur cocktail, was created by San Francisco bartender Jon Santer around 2004. First served at Bruno’s before finding a home at the influential Bourbon & Branch, the drink quickly became emblematic of the era’s renewed creativity and SF’s place in American cocktail culture.

Originally mixed with a rye-heavy bourbon, the Revolver swapped the Manhattan’s sweet vermouth for coffee liqueur, finished off with orange bitters and a flamed orange peel garnish. With its stripped-down three-ingredient formula, the Revolver demonstrated how a simple reimagining of a classic could make one of the oldest cocktail formulas feel fresh and accessible. It also helped to bring the now-ubiquitous flamed orange garnish into the mainstream. —Dylan Ettinger

Penicillin (2005)

Few 2000s cocktails rival Penicillin’s impact. A combination of blended Scotch whisky with lemon, honey-ginger syrup, and a float of peaty Islay single-malt created by Sam Ross at New York’s Milk & Honey, it’s the rare modern drink that earned classic status in real time.

Created in 2005, the Penicillin appeared at just the right moment. Because it predated smartphones and modern social media, it kept an insider mystique that made the cocktail “in the know” order. Specs for the drink quickly circulated the New York bar scene before finding their way to other cities nationally, then globally. Its restrained and elegant profile led many to wonder if it was some unearthed classic from the pre-Prohibition era of bartending, despite it being a wholly original creation of Ross’s (though conceived as a riff on the Gold Rush). Helping fuel its adoption was that the drink is dead simple to mix, using common ingredients that can be found at nearly any bar.

By the 2010s, the Penicillin became a drink that any working bartender needed to know how to make, as essential to their mental repertoire as an Old Fashioned or a Negroni. It also spawned a new legion of up-and-coming bartenders, each spinning off countless fanciful original creations and house cocktails, seeking to become the new Penicillin. While many have succeeded to various degrees, none have come close to the worldwide status of Ross’s original. Even in 2025, it ranks among the world’s best-selling classics. —Dylan Garret

Black Manhattan (2005)

A simple swap of traditional sweet vermouth with bittersweet, herbal amaro transforms a classic Manhattan cocktail into an even richer, more complex, and aromatic drink: a Black Manhattan. The modern classic was created by bartender Todd Smith in 2005 at San Francisco’s historic cocktail bar Bourbon & Branch. Made with rye whiskey, Averna amaro, and aromatic bitters, the inky-hued, spirit-forward cocktail was emblematic of the time.

The craft cocktail revival energized bartenders across the country to create a new catalogue of modern creations inspired by the classic cocktails of the 19th and early 20th centuries. At this same time, several spirits, once popular centuries before, were reintroduced. Amaro, a category of Italian digestifs that translates to “bittersweet,” was commonly featured as a cocktail ingredient, especially alongside whiskey. —Prairie Rose

Hugo Spritz (2005)

When bartender Roland Gruber created what would become the Hugo Spritz in the northern Italian town of Naturno in 2005, the drink was originally called the Otto and was based on a lemon balm cordial. Refashioned to feature St-Germain elderflower liqueur alongside Prosecco, seltzer, and mint, it remained a local favorite but struggled to break out of its regional boundaries.

However, the success of the Aperol Spritz and broader spritz culture caused the drink to jump to the U.S. in the early 2020s, after which its popularity exploded. The Hugo, now commonly called the Hugo Spritz, surged in the summer of 2023 when it was declared the “drink of the summer” by various social media influencers. —Prairie Rose

Siesta (2006)

Composed of blanco tequila, fresh grapefruit and lime juices, simple syrup, and Campari, the Siesta is a contemporary riff on the Hemingway Daiquiri. Created by bartender Katie Stipe in 2006 while working at Pegu Club in New York City, the bright, coral-hued drink is a tequila-based modern classic — an outlier from a time when menus were dominated by pre-Prohibition-influenced gin and whiskey cocktails. 

In the mid-2000s, Campari got a boost with the rise of the Negroni and from craft bartenders looking to embrace complex, bitter flavors. The Siesta was a gentle introduction to bittersweet aperitif-style cocktails for many consumers. It is “a gateway cocktail for guests who may not love bitter [flavors] or just want to stretch beyond the simple Margarita,” says Stipe. —Prairie Rose

Basil Gimlet (2006)

The Basil Gimlet is an herbaceous take on the classic sour. It’s made with gin, lime, and simple syrup, punched up with muddled fresh basil. The botanical-forward cocktail was an early example of using fresh herbs and ingredients to modernize pre-Prohibition classics at the start of the cocktail revival. 

In the early 2000s, after sommelier Shelley Lindgren tried a Vodka Gimlet made with basil at Boston restaurant Via Matta, her husband, Greg Lindgren, was inspired to create a gin variation. In 2006, he placed it on the opening menu of Rye, the San Francisco bar he co-owns with Jon Gasparini, and it quickly became a menu staple. The simple, verdant upgrade transformed a 19th-century gin cocktail into a contemporary classic, sparking an herbal cocktail revolution. —Prairie Rose

Greenpoint (2006)

Aromatic and spirit-forward, the Greenpoint is made with rye whiskey, Yellow Chartreuse, sweet vermouth, Angostura, and orange bitters. Created by Michael McIlroy at New York City’s Milk & Honey in 2006, it’s among the best-known riffs on the early 20th-century Brooklyn cocktail.

The Brooklyn, a cousin of the Manhattan, mixes rye whiskey, dry vermouth, maraschino liqueur, and Amer Picon. During the early 2000s, Amer Picon was hard to find in the U.S., so bartenders created neighborhood-named variations inspired by the original Brooklyn template.

For the Greenpoint, named for McIlroy’s Brooklyn neighborhood, he initially reached for Green Chartreuse, then settled on the mellower, lower-proof Yellow Chartreuse for the final recipe. —Prairie Rose

Oaxaca Old Fashioned (2007)

Created in 2007 by bartender Phil Ward at New York City’s Death & Co., the Oaxaca Old Fashioned marries reposado tequila, mezcal, agave nectar, and Angostura bitters — an earthy riff on the classic Old Fashioned. 

Widely credited with introducing mezcal to a wider U.S. audience, Ward later put the drink on the menu at his agave-focused Manhattan bar, Mayahuel. Though the bar closed in 2017, the cocktail’s influence endures. 

The split base of tequila and mezcal softens the smoke while preserving an earthy depth. Because of this, the Oaxaca Old Fashioned serves as a perfect gateway to mezcal cocktails. The modern classic is often acknowledged for helping to kick off the mezcal boom in the U.S. —Prairie Rose

Benton’s Old Fashioned (2007)

Riffs on the Old Fashioned are nothing new, but the Benton’s Old Fashioned truly changed the game. Created in 2007 by Don Lee at New York’s acclaimed PDT, the drink introduced fat-washing to the cocktail world and helped spark a wave of culinary techniques in mixology. 

Lee was inspired by the smoky, savory depth of Benton’s country ham and bacon, which are often paired with bourbon in Kentucky. By infusing whiskey with rendered fat and balancing it with maple syrup, he created a cocktail that, while familiar, was also revolutionary.

The Benton’s Old Fashioned quickly became one of PDT’s most talked-about drinks, influencing bartenders far beyond New York. The success of the Benton’s Old Fashioned popularized the technique of fat washing among high-end bar circles, cementing its place as a modern classic and a turning point in contemporary bartending techniques. —Dylan Ettinger

Paper Plane (2008)

The Paper Plane is an equal-parts sour cocktail made with bourbon, Aperol, Amaro Nonino, and fresh lemon juice. It was inspired by the Last Word, a pre-Prohibition drink unearthed in modern times by the late bartender Murray Stenson of Seattle’s Zig Zag Café. In the summer of 2008, Sam Ross — the famed bartender behind the Penicillin — riffed on the Last Word’s equal-parts template and flavor profile, and created the Paper Plane for the newly opened Violet Hour in Chicago. Named after the M.I.A. song, it was immediately a hit and has been a mainstay on cocktail menus around the world ever since. —Prairie Rose

Gin Blossom (2008)

The Gin Blossom, Julie Reiner’s elegant riff on the Martini, was created in 2008 for the opening menu of her Brooklyn bar Clover Club. Reiner wanted house versions of both a Manhattan and a Martini that would feel timeless but distinct. She had just gained access to high-quality apricot eau-de-vie and liqueur. Inspired by references to apricot brandy and the lighter 50/50 Martini, she paired Plymouth gin with equal parts blanc vermouth and apricot eau-de-vie, accented by orange bitters and an orange twist.

The resulting cocktail was a Martini variation that softened the spirit’s edge without sacrificing complexity. Blanc vermouth brought herbal sweetness, while the eau-de-vie added dry, aromatic apricot character. The Gin Blossom quickly became a Clover Club favorite, converting guests who might not otherwise order a Martini, and becoming one of the most influential cocktails of the century so far. —Dylan Ettinger

Division Bell (2009)

The Division Bell, a refreshing mezcal and Aperol-driven cocktail, was created by Phil Ward at Mayahuel in 2009. The bar was among the first New York cocktail bars to treat tequila and mezcal with the same reverence as whiskey or gin, introducing guests to the diversity and versatility of agave spirits.

The Division Bell, a contemporary riff on the Last Word, quickly became emblematic of Mayahuel’s mission to showcase agave spirits in new and sophisticated contexts. By using mezcal as the backbone of a balanced, approachable cocktail, it helped move the spirit beyond the Margarita and into the broader canon of modern cocktails. Its influence helped to secure mezcal, sotol, and raicilla a lasting place behind bars across the United States. —Dylan Ettinger

Kentucky Buck (2009)

The Kentucky Buck is a bright, fruit-forward whiskey highball made with bourbon, fresh lemon juice, ginger syrup, muddled strawberries, Angostura bitters, and club soda. Created in 2009 by bartender Erick Castro for the spring menu at San Francisco’s Bourbon & Branch, the drink riffs on the buck family of cocktails — highballs that combine a base spirit, citrus, and ginger beer or ginger ale — and the name is a nod to bourbon’s birthplace of Kentucky. 

Though it ran only through spring at Bourbon & Branch, the drink found its audience six months later at Rickhouse, the whiskey-centric bar where Castro led the opening beverage program in San Francisco’s Financial District. There, the Kentucky Buck became the signature order and, by Castro’s count, sold more than 30,000 in its first year. —Prairie Rose

Kingston Negroni (2010)

These days, Negroni variations have nearly become clichés. But rewind to 2010, and it was often difficult to find a bar that even knew how to make the original correctly, let alone one that experimented with the established Negroni formula. Enter bartender Joaquín Simó, who was then a partner at the now-closed New York City bar Pouring Ribbons. His Kingston Negroni is essentially a classic Negroni with a one-ingredient swap, using overproof rum in place of gin. However, this simple tweak creates a world of new flavor, bringing grassy notes of high-proof rum and a depth that stands in stark contrast to the original cocktail’s botanical, often floral notes. 

What makes the Kingston Negroni so important is that it helped popularize the back-pocket Negroni riff. Soon, every bartender worth their denim apron had to have their own special Negroni variation, either on the house menu or hidden away to impress guests. By 2013, Negroni culture had spread so strongly that Imbibe Magazine and Campari launched their still ongoing Negroni Week, and the drink became the cocktail-world version of a meme. But if you want to taste the riff that launched a thousand riffs, the Kingston Negroni is where you should start. —Dylan Garret

Tia Mia (2010)

The classic 1944 Mai Tai recipe is a timeless work of intention and balance. It doesn’t need to be tweaked to be mind-blowingly delicious, but that didn’t stop Ivy Mix from trying. Created in 2010 by Mix at Julie Reiner’s Hawaiian-inspired New York bar, Lani Kai, Mix added a splash of mezcal to Trader Vic’s original specs. The resulting creation was the Tia Mia, a drink that neatly merges mid-century cocktail kitsch with the agave spirit renaissance of the 2010s.

Like the drink’s name (a playful anagram of Mai Tai), this cocktail is more of a rearrangement than a revolution. The notes of smoky cooked agave from mezcal pair perfectly with a funky Jamaican rum, orgeat, and orange curaçao and create a drinking experience that’s simultaneously familiar and surprisingly fresh. —Dylan Ettinger

Naked & Famous (2011)

Joaquín Simó’s most famous cocktail creation is the Naked & Famous, conceived while bartending at New York City’s Death & Co around 2011. 

An equal-parts cocktail consisting of mezcal, Aperol, Yellow Chartreuse, and lime juice, Simó drew inspiration from the pre-Prohibition Last Word and from Sam Ross’s Paper Plane. The Last Word uses gin; Ross’s Paper Plane opts for bourbon; Simó anchors the Naked & Famous in mezcal, delivering a smoky, bittersweet profile. 

Though now widely available in the U.S., when the drink debuted, only a few brands exported mezcal from Mexico. Along with drinks like Phil Ward’s Oaxaca Old Fashioned, the Naked & Famous helped introduce U.S. audiences to mezcal as a category and showcase its versatility in mixed drinks.

The Naked & Famous has grown in popularity since its debut — evolving into a staple of modern bartending. —Prairie Rose

Morgenthaler’s Amaretto Sour (2012)

In 2012, bar legend Jeffrey Morgenthaler rehabilitated the Amaretto Sour with cask-proof bourbon. The original drink, created in the 1970s as a Disaronno brand promotion, mixed two parts amaretto to one part lemon juice. By the 1980s, as the drink gained popularity, bartenders began to incorporate commercially produced sour mix, resulting in a syrupy sweet concoction with a dubious reputation.

Known for rehabilitating maligned 1970s and 1980s drinks, Morgenthaler paired amaretto’s nutty richness with high-proof bourbon for structure and kept specs simple and replicable. Fresh lemon juice provides snap, and egg white lends a silky, meringue-like froth. The result is a bright, whiskey-anchored sour that redeemed the cocktail and helped return the drink to modern menus. —Prairie Rose

Piña Verde (2012)

The Piña Verde — Spanish for “green pineapple” — is an herbaceous spin on the Piña Colada, built with Green Chartreuse, pineapple juice, cream of coconut, and fresh lime juice. 

The cocktail first came together in the mid-2000s, when bartender Erick Castro began to experiment with floating Green Chartreuse atop the house Piña Coladas at San Diego’s Polite Provisions bar. After dialing in the specs, he dropped the traditional base spirit of rum to spotlight the herbaceous liqueur and added the drink to the menu, where staff nicknamed it the “Greenya Colada.” 

The cocktail landed in New York City in 2014 when Castro helped relaunch the East Village bar, Boilermaker. The drink quickly became a guest favorite. From there, the Chartreuse-driven Colada spread, turning a tropical classic into a bright, herbal modern staple. —Prairie Rose

Bananarac (2014)

This banana-kissed riff on the Sazerac was created by bartender Natasha David in 2014 at her now-closed New York City cocktail bar Nitecap. 

In 2013, a year before the Bananarac’s creation, Giffard Banane du Brésil hit the U.S. market and quickly became a bartender favorite. David used its ripe, caramelized-banana character to add depth and warm, baking-spice notes.

Built with rye whiskey, Cognac, banana liqueur, demerara syrup, aromatic bitters, and an absinthe rinse, it nods to the Sazerac’s New Orleans brandy roots and its modern rye base. The Bananarac unites both elements with a split base of rye and Cognac — a technique common in contemporary Sazeracs — for a balanced, aromatic take that feels classic yet modern. —Prairie Rose