Making a cocktail at home is fun and easy, and a great way to impress family and friends. Start with your favorite glass. Common types are martini, high ball, rock, and coupe glasses. Next, stock the bar with vodka, rum, whiskey, tequila, and gin. Add some mixers such as cocktail mixes, sodas, juices, and bitters. Don’t forget garnishes such as olives, cherries, and lemon, limes, and oranges. Having five good gin recipes on hand will help too:

1. Gin fizz
The best part of a gin fizz is, of course, the fizz. It is a refreshing and light cocktail making it perfect for the warmer months. All you need is some basic ingredients, which are 2 ounces of gin, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice, 4 ounces club soda, and a lemon slice for garnish. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, and add the gin, sugar, and lemon juice. Shake and pour into a glass. Add club soda and a lemon slice.

2. Gin and tonic
A gin and tonic is not only a refreshing cocktail, but it is one of the easiest to create. It is as simple as adding 2 ounces of gin to a highball glass filled with ice. Next, add 4 ounces of tonic water. Garnish with either a slice or two of lemon or lime depending on your taste.

3. Tom Collins
The Tom Collins is so popular that it even has a glass named after it. This is another fairly simple cocktail to make. Start by placing 1 1/2 cups of ice into the glass, and place the glass in the freezer to keep it chilled. Next, combine 2 ounces of gin, 3/4 ounce of lemon juice, and 1/2 ounce simple syrup into a shaker. Add a cup of ice to the shaker, and shake until the mixture is cold. Pour into the chilled glass. Add 2 ounces of club soda. Garnish with a lemon slice or a cherry.

4. Dry gin martini
To shake or to stir that is the question? For most, it seems to be a matter of choice. Though, this recipe calls for the cocktail to be stirred. In a shaker add 2 1/2 ounces of a good dry gin. Add just a dash, 1/2 ounce, of dry vermouth. Add ice to the shaker, and stir it until it is chilled. Ok, you can shake it if you want. Strain into a chilled martini glass, and garnish with a twist of lemon.

5. Negroni
The Negroni is an Italian cocktail, and it is one to one to one ratio cocktail. It seems easy enough right? Start with a mixing glass, and add an ounce of gin, an ounce of Campari, and an ounce of sweet vermouth, and ice. This cocktail is stirred, not shaken. Stir until the mixture is chilled. Finish it with an orange peel.