The Bar

In an old-fashioned glass (naturally), muddle sugar and bitters until sugar is dissolved (sugar syrup usually mixes more quickly and thoroughly than cubes, but we're patient and happen to like the slightly gritty feel at the bottom). Add ice and whiskey; stir and garnish with cherry and serve.

For a variation with a rounder finish, use bourbon instead of rye. You can also muddle the cherries if you want to destroy them a little bit and infuse the drink.

A Highball can be made with scotch, rye, bourbon, rum or brandy, so be sure to specify your taste. However, rye goes well with ginger ale. Don't stir. Pour the liquor into a tall 8 ounce glass and add the sparkling stuff.

Shake with cracked ice until painfully cold. Serve in a chilled cocktail glass with a thin slice of lemon or orange. Wear a dashing suit and cruel smile, use an accent, and look like you're not carrying a Walther PPK. Named after the double agent Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale.

Even this is not Fleming's actual martini. Kina Lillet is the ingredient, and is no longer made because it contains quinine. Lillet makes Lillet Blanc, so we must make do with that.

In & out swirl stir. Strain into a cocktail glass. Add an olive. The vermouth can vary depending upon taste:

• Regular: 3/4 ounces
• Dry: 1/2 ounce
• Extra Dry: 1/4 ounce

In & out swirl stir. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a green olive, or rub the rim with a slice of lemon and drop it in. The vermouth can vary depending upon desire for dryness:

• Regular: 1/2 ounce
• Dry: 1/4 ounce
• Extra Dry: splash

This is how I make it when Bianca calls, "Kiki! Make me a drink!" from the other room.

Splash the vermouth into a cocktail glass, swirl until it's got legs, then pour into the shaker. Add vodka. Swirl-shake with cracked ice until painfully cold. Strain with circular motion into the glass. This is what I make for Bianca.

This is how I make it when Bianca calls, "Kiki! Make me a martini!" from the other room and specifies a gin martini.

*The preferred gins: a London dry.

• Ford's Gin. Officers' Reserve if you can get it.
• Sipsmith London Dry.
• The Botanist Islay Dry Gin.
• Hendrick's Gin (Polarbeast likes the infusion of rose and cucumber from time to time).
• Tanqueray No. Ten.
• If you do Bombay, get the London Dry, not Sapphire.

Same deal as the vodka martini: splash the vermouth into a cocktail glass, swirl until it's got legs, then pour into the shaker. Add gin. Swirl-shake with cracked ice until painfully cold. Strain with circular motion into the glass.

This classic is shaken or stirred with ice, then strained into a cocktail glass with its rim rubbed with lemon juice and dipped in sugar. If you don't want the ceremony and the sticky bits, give it flair with a lemon twist instead.

During a time when vodka exploded in popularity, someone with panache came up with the Cosmopolitan. Mix in shaker, with cranberry juice to taste. Serve in a chilled cocktail glass, preferably straight up.

My frequent drink of choice when visiting a new place. Do not shake, but stir lovingly with ice in a mixing glass, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry...but use those nice dark cherries that come in marasca syrup like Luxardo, not the obscenely scarlet spheres whose stems your friend ties with her tongue as a party trick.

Try an alternate version using orange bitters or Peychaud bitters. As long as your Manhattan contains bitters, and has a higher allowance of vermouth as compared to a martini, you're all right.

Shake and strain into a cocktail glass. This is nicely refreshing.

Pour the lemon juice into a shaker or mixing glass. Add honey syrup and Bourbon, dash the hot sauce, shake and pour over crushed ice. Garnish with a lemon peel. Not too distant from a whiskey sour vibe, the combination of pepper sauce and lemon gives it an icy, invigorating bite. It seems to be pronounced "BAU-din."

Created and named by T. Cole Newton, founder of Twelve Mile Limit in New Orleans. We first tried an incarnation of the Baudin at the Little Easy bar in downtown Los Angeles, which uses Buffalo Trace bourbon and straight honey.

Mmm, the Bloody Mary: arguably one of the more robust hangover cures, as if there really were any. We throw this one together by the book, as a literally-titled Bloody Mary tends to be too much of an emetic for the living.

At any rate: Stir ingredients vigorously in an old-fashioned glass with ice. You can stay reasonable with the Tabasco if you're aiming for taste rather than heat. If you like your Mary to have more of a bite (we do), add a dash of freshly grated horseradish. For a sweeter cocktail, a touch more Worcestershire. Garnishes range from a sprig of asparagus to a stalk of celery. We sometimes fancy topping it off with a lime wedge.

Shake or stir with cracked ice and strain over ice cubes into a highball glass. There are of course different versions of this South-of-the-border-inspired classic, some using Clamato (clam-tomato) juice rather than tomato juice, some substituting Worcestershire for the Tabasco, some adding 2-3 dashes freshly grated horseradish. Add some salt and pepper to taste, and don't forget the slice of lemon atop.

Pour the Guinness carefully into a chilled flute. Add champagne slowly; garnish with a lemon twist. Not really an Irish concoction, but I'm sure there haven't been many complaints yet.

Combine all ingredients and shake with ice. Stay cool, brother.

Created and named by Bianca, who is cool herself.

Politely muddle the peach wedge at the bottom of a highball glass. Add ingredients and stir, then pour in mineral water to top and stir lightly.

Created by R. Carey, who always has good stuff on hand. Named after some argument and with no one coming up with a more applicable title.

Combine all ingredients into glass and stir. Top with milk or non-dairy milk. Tastes a bit like when bars try to offer you "chocolatinis" or other trendy tan drinks but without the ugly note of Kahlua.

Created by Bianca, who wanted to give me something for a busy Sunday.

We attended a tasting at our local haven Bar Keeper, which is a destination in itself. Discussing a lovely selection of vodkas and whiskeys was the supremely knowledgeable Alex Castle, Head Distiller of Memphis-based Old Dominick Distillery, whose expertise aided us in padding our bar supply. Honeybells are a cross between dancy tangerines and Duncan grapefruits, and its presence in the Honeybell vodka is sublime.

Combine all ingredients except the orange juice and shake (or you can stir, but the Muddle & Wilde has a bit of sediment). Pour into a tall glass and top with the juice. The result is very cool and friendly and very slightly reminiscent of Tang, and will render you very cool and friendly after half the glass.

Invented, as usual, by Bianca.

Simply shake with cracked ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Maria recommends some tasting to find your favorite proportions, and I agree; you might add a splash of grenadine for color, or increase the creme de cacao for a sweeter taste. She also mentions the idea of making it a blended drink, which only increases my appreciation for her taste.

Submitted to the Dead Lounge by the most excellent and mysterious Maria J. A thousand thanks!

And we mean premium vodka. Jewel of Russia, Tanqueray Sterling, Belvedere, Grey Goose. Combine and shake contents over ice and pour into a martini glass. The amount of cream can vary: somewhat more than a splash, somewhat less than a dollop, but enough to make it fairly creamy.

Submitted to the Dead Lounge by Miska the Crazy Redhead from Chicago. Many thanks!

Stir with ice in a highball glass. This is best described by my friend who submitted this classy cocktail: "One of my favorite 'serious' drinks is a Godfather. For those who don't like the sweet, the scotch helps neutralize and parenthetically the Amaretto does the same for the Scotch. This is a cool drink for those who want something different and like to taste your booze. Enjoy."

Submitted to the Dead Lounge by Cosmic Star Goat. Many Thanks!

Stir with ice into a highball glass. Real milk tastes the best in this sweet concoction.

Invented by and submitted to the Dead Lounge by MISFIT. Many Thanks!

Tradition has its own ideas on what makes this breezy classic, and we're not huge fans of muddled mint. However, I'm happy to just let Zeke (the ever-so-eloquent submitter of the Shark Attack) tell his side of it:

"I had an interesting Wednesday this week. Met up with someone for drinks after work and found out many secrets—some I suspected and some I didn't. In short, it made her that much more attractive.

"Then I found out she was a demoness, possessed by the spirit of the tropics and the Devil's own Rum. And she tempted me and I did succumb. Which leads me to submit another drink recipe I was shocked not to find in the DL's repertoire, the Mojito. I'm just uncertain whether they should endorse it as a classic, or the Tropicalia section would have the rights to its dispense. So I'll leave it to you as Host to decide.

"The Mojito, a classic for the tropics and favorite of Papa Hemingway, has been around long enough to be a classic coctail, though it's really more a tropical pick-me-up...or, if made strong enough, a "pick-me-up-and-slam-me-down-give-me-a-headache-tomorrow." After watching several made on Wednesday, my version goes like this:

Take a tall glass and squeeze the juice of medium Lime into it. Crush/tear all but one mint leaf and drop into glass and add the sugar. Crush all these together in the glass (with a pestle, knife handle, etc) combining well so that the sugar is crushed and dissolved into the juice. Add 2 oz (or more depending on taste and desired inebriation level) LIGHT rum, several ice cubes, top off with seltzer/soda water. Garnish with Lime Slice and Mint Leaf. Lift to the sky and intone 'Hear, hear; Papa.' Enjoy."

Recipe and description by Zeke. Thanks again!