Where Do Cocktail Recipes Come From?

I’ve been working on creating cocktails for a Diageo event in a few days (boy am I rusty). After putting random flavors together that didn’t work at all, I realized that it was time to get back to basics.

For me, cocktails normally start with the classics (daiquiri, old fashioned, negroni, martini, etc.) Then I normally incorporate something Jamaican like one of our fruits our simply a Jamaican recipe. For example, I did a cocktail named Carrots on Carrots for Martell HOME. It’s very similar to something my mom made on Sundays when I was growing up. She didn’t add cognac though. While I’ve refined it a bit and added a spirit, it uses a very similar technique to my mom’s and to my grandmother’s before her.

The other place that I find inspiration is my travels. A lot of times, my cocktails are inspired by places that I’ve been to. It might be something that they serve in a country, an ingredient they use or just a great cocktail name that I think of that I’ll then build the cocktail from. Wandering around an international farmer’s market usually jogs my memory and brings up these experiences. Then I’m grabbing ingredients and off to try something new.

I’ll let you know what I come up with.