Cocktails Tier List

A cocktail is a balance problem with a story attached. Twelve classics, unranked, judged on whether the balance holds, whether you can make one at home, and whether you want a second. All twelve entries begin in Unranked, so the ordering is entirely yours: drag or tap into S–F, rename the rows, share the link or export a PNG.

balancehow easy it is to make at homedoes it work as a second drink

12 items pre-filled Food template Nothing pre-ranked No sign-up

Drag items here

Unranked (12)

Margarita

Mojito

Negroni

Old Fashioned

Daiquiri

Whiskey Sour

Espresso Martini

Aperol Spritz

Manhattan

Pina Colada

Gin and Tonic

Cosmopolitan

How this board is built: the 12 tiles are an editorial starting set, not an official roster and not a published ranking — every entry waits in Unranked until you place it. Item tiles are original pictograms or two-letter emblems drawn for this site rather than character artwork, film stills or club logos, so nothing here is licensed material reused from a rights holder. Tiers you set are your own judgement.

What's included in this Cocktails board

The board arrives with all 12 entries present as tiles and none of them assigned to a tier. That is deliberate: a template that opens with a finished ranking only invites you to agree or disagree with whoever made it, whereas an empty ladder makes you commit to an ordering of your own. Drag a tile onto a row, or on a phone tap the tile and then the tier you want. You can add rows for extra categories, rename the standard ones, and remove any entry you do not recognise — a list you can defend is more useful than a long one you cannot.

How to rank this Cocktails board

Rank balance first: sweet, sour, strong and bitter in proportion. A drink that is only one of those is a novelty, and the classics that survive are the ones that sit in the middle. Then weigh home feasibility — how many ingredients, how much technique, and whether it needs a shaker and fresh juice at 10pm. Third, judge the second-drink test. Some cocktails are spectacular once and exhausting twice; others get better. Finish by separating the drink from the bar. A great bartender can rescue a weak recipe, and a bad one can ruin a good recipe, so rank the recipe as written.

Using the board without over-thinking it

Most people finish a board like this in a couple of minutes and then reorder the middle rows for another ten. That middle is where the honest disagreement lives, so do not rush it: place the obvious top three and the obvious bottom three first, then work inward. If two entries still feel identical, that is a real observation — say so in a row note or a text tile rather than inventing a difference. When the ordering settles, export the PNG so the arrangement is saved somewhere permanent, and copy the share link if you want someone else to argue with it.

Ranking criteria used here

balance
how easy it is to make at home
does it work as a second drink

Before you share it

Put your criterion in the board title, so a reader knows whether they are looking at a favourites list or an analytical one. If the subject changes with patches, seasons or releases, add the date. And remember the share link carries tier names, colours and the tile order — uploaded photos stay on your device, so export a PNG when those matter.