During the 20th Century, various bad ideas encrusted the Old Fashioned. Here we will strip off those barnacles to expose the amazingly simple and sublime drink beneath.

The obvious use for these is as cocktail cherries and I won’t stand in your way there. Spoon a few with a little syrup over a scoop of icecream to bring a little summer flavor back into fall.

David Embury, the author of The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, believed a cocktail should whet the appetite, not dull it. And that a drink should be made with good-quality liquors and should not be sweet or syrupy. His Bourbon Cocktail is just that: a complex yet balanced elixir.

But for lager lovers seeking a seasonal alternative, there's a lot to be said for the michelada. The unexpected combination of flavours and the kick from the hot sauce provide a compelling - and surprisingly thirst quenching - element, making it a great long summer drink. Perhaps due to the inclusion of salt and ice cubes, your brain is tricked into thinking that you're not drinking cerveza at all - somehow the sensation of being wrong-footed only adds to the michelada's appeal.

It's anything distilled from sugarcane or sugarcane by-products. Unlike scotch or bourbon—which are defined by provenance and production method—the rum category cuts a broader swath. Distilled from fermented molasses in New England? Call it rum. Made from Nicaraguan cane juice? That's rum, too.

Jim Coudal's vodka martini: Begin by assembling the following materials and a clean, white towel at your work space. Turn off the television and eliminate other distractions. John Coltranes's First Meditations is appropriate music to work by. I cannot vouch for anything else.

Most Mojitos are served with tragically mashed mint leaves, guaranteeing two problems: bitter flavors from overzealously crushed mint, and soggy leaves that get stuck in your teeth or straw. Make your Mojito the right way by gently pressing on the mint leaves to just release their oils, then straining them out to ensure an unencumbered sipping experience.

The one straight vodka my tongue and I both still like on occasion, though, is horseradish-infused vodka. I was introduced to this at a Christmas party years ago. The hostess handed me a glass of the stuff, advertising it by saying her mother took a shot of it every morning to get her system going. I can see how it would do that.

Make your own green apple syrup and mix it with club soda—the result is so much better than overly sweetened apple sodas with “natural” flavors. Kids love it, and it makes a great nonalcoholic party drink. Or spike it!

I seemed to spend a large portion of today talking on & offline about my beloved old fashioneds. Then this great post: http://bit.ly/cYmIxn

Infusing lots of mint and freshly grated ginger into a simple syrup takes the muddling out of these Mojitos. Since the base of the cocktail is made in advance, all you have to do is add ice and club soda—perfect for parties or your next tailgate.

The Old Fashioned is one of a few common cocktails for me, both when I'm at home and when I'm out. However, when ordering one at a bar, the likelihood of something going mildly to terribly wrong is disturbingly high.

There are only two cocktails: “a slug of whiskey” and a martini. This isn’t my opinion, but the law as laid down by Bernard DeVoto in his book “The Hour,” first published in 1948 and recently reissued. It so happens that I’ve owned a copy of this book for a long time and often wondered if anyone would ever bring it back into print and whether the world would find it as engaging and infuriating as I do.

Put an Old Fashioned in my hand and I'm a happy man. This is a fine article in praise of the cocktail: "The cocktail is a lovely simple thing: a mixture of spirits and flavorings that whets the appetite, pleases the eye, and stimulates the mind."