You don’t need a bar book to make a good cocktail. Just remember this magic ratio: 2 parts booze, 1 part sweet, 1 part sour.

Think rum (2), simple syrup (1), lime juice (1), hello, daiquiri.

Swap rum for whiskey and you’re basically on your way to a whiskey sour.

This simple formula works for tons of classics and gives you room to play. Like it stronger? Add more spirit. Sweeter? More syrup.

The point is: you don’t need to memorize recipes, just mix, taste, tweak, and most importantly, have fun.