4 Margarita

Since we’ve been polling top bars globally, the Margarita has always been a top 10-classic, but fourth is a new high. It’s one of the top-three classic serves in 18% of bars from our sample, but only top dog in 5%. Margarita is Spanish for daisy, which is cocktail for a sour-based drink, so that gives you an idea where the recipe is headed. It’s tequila, orange liqueur and lime – the salt is optional. Or else, the cool kids make it Tommy’s style – 100% agave tequila and swap agave syrup for the orange liqueur.

3 Dry Martini

Up one to third in the ranking this year is the Dry Martini, which was the most-made classic in only 6% of bars polled, but one of the five most-frequent serves in almost a quarter. This boozy yet refined gin classic can be thrown or stirred in a mixing glass – sorry Bond – while proportions of gin to dry vermouth are down to personal taste, and what you’re doing the next day. At London’s Duke’s it’s nearly all gin, while at Barcelona’s Dry Martini (formerly of The World’s 50 Best Bars) it’s a half and half. The dash of orange bitters, a squeeze of lemon or a green olive are, to many, preferable embellishments.

2 Old Fashioned

The Old Fashioned may not be the most ordered classic in the world’s elite bars this year, but it’s still the most likely cocktail to find its way into a glass in 20% of bars polled and was among the top-two classics  in a third. It was close enough to think the Old Fashioned could once again top our list, after all, this cocktail has been around forever –  traced to 1833 by historian David Wondrich – and remains a timeless classic. In its infancy it would have been made with genever, rum or brandy (whiskey wasn’t what it is now), but these days make it with bourbon (or rye), sugar, Angostura bitters and an orange twist. Don’t forget to forget the cherries.

1 Negroni

The king is dead, long live the Negroni. Finally, after eight years as best supporting cocktail, the Negroni tops our list ahead of the vanguard tipple of the cocktail renaissance, the Old Fashioned. This bitter ruby serve has ridden the wave of the classic cocktail trend, the bitter-drinks trend, the gin trend, the aperitivo trend, the Italian bartenders taking over the best bars trend – everything was carrying it forward. More than a quarter of our sample of the world’s best bars said this was their number one classic and over half said it was among their top-two serves. Traditionally, it’s made with thirds of gin, Campari and sweet vermouth, but is adjusted to taste.