Vodka

We'll toast to this vitamin C-packed drink from Neal Fraser, chef at Grace Restaurant in Los Angeles.

This drink was featured as a Cocktail of the Month.

Look for 1-quart cordial bottles, carafes, or mason jars with necks wide enough for adding the fruit (and removing it, if desired, after the liqueur has matured). You may need slightly more or less fruit, vodka, and rock candy, depending on the size of the containers.

This drink was featured as a Cocktail of the Month. Adapted from the original, our recipe spares you some unpleasant puckering, because we've scaled back the lime juice. Click here to learn more about the Mike Romanoff.

My favorite recipe for the Bloody emerges from years of experimentation. Think Jonas Salk behind a bar. What I have come up with in my lab is:

A spicy spin on the Cosmo.

The wine and OJ supply antioxidants. (Amounts for a pitcher, about 20 drinks for 8 guests, are in parentheses.)

This recipe combines the cool taste of cucumber with the flavors of a Bloody Mary. You'll have to prepare 2 batches for 12 drinks. If you have a small blender, you may have to make smaller batches.

The aspic will be a deeper shade of red if made with canned tomatoes (see cooks' note, below), but fresh tomatoes will yield a brighter flavor.

The most floral and flirty cocktail we've had this year.

A classic served at Musso & Frank. Think of it as a Bloody Mary minus tomato juice.

This little-known classic cocktail is a leaner, crisper spin on the Negroni.

A splash of vodka or gin transforms this lively punch into a festive cocktail.

There are several stories about how this drink got its name, but one of the most common, from the 1950s, is that American oil rig workers would add vodka to canned orange juice, which they opened and stirred with their screwdrivers.

This drink was dreamed up in Los Angeles in the 1940s by businessman John Martin, who was desperately trying to sell Smirnoff vodka. It so happened that Jack Morgan, owner of the Cock'n Bull, was trying to sell a ginger beer he had recently concocted. The two got together and tracked down a company that had a surplus of mugs, and they had a logo of a kicking mule stamped onto them. A drink was born ...

We've spiked this lemonade with vodka to make a refreshing summer cocktail, but you can omit the alcohol. One batch will completely fill your blender, so if you need more, make multiple batches rather than doubling or tripling the recipe.

Everyone seems to have a preference when it comes to Bloody Marys — whether it's the brand of tomato juice or how much celery salt and Tabasco to use. We found this recipe to be nicely balanced, though by all means add or subtract to your liking. We also discovered that it's worth buying new horseradish: If the jar in your refrigerator looks brownish or dry, it has been in there too long and will taste very bitter.