When it comes to adult house parties, serving cans of weak lager and knock-off spirits with a cheap mixer simply doesn’t cut it. In order to impress your guests, you’ll need to show off some grown-up skills – none of which will go down as smoothly as pouring some classic cocktails.

If you’re planning a celebration at home and want to brush up on some home-bartending basics, here’s a quick list of everything you’ll need to get started from scratch – although if you’re a complete novice or really want to ‘wow’ people, you might want to book in for an actual cocktail making class beforehand.

Full disclosure: None of these tips will fool a knowledgeable bartender, let alone a professional mixologist. If you invite someone of this calibre over, expect them to make the drinks or stick to serving wine.

Mixing equipment

When trying to blag bartender credentials, you need to choose your weapons carefully. Pick up a few key tools that look unusual and interesting (but leave out anything that you don’t know how to use).

• A shaker. Cobbler shakers (as opposed to Boston shakers) are the best place to start as they have a built-in strainer under the lid.
• A double-ended spirit measure. Aka a “jigger”. Single on one side, double on the other.
• A mixing spoon for stirring and slowly pouring liqueurs down. It can also serve as a muddler.
• Glassware (more on that below).
• Metal or paper straws – no plastic, please.
• Ice. Cubes and crushed is essential, spheres look extra-fancy for drinks “on the rocks”.

Tip: Clean your equipment between uses. To some people that sounds obvious, but to others it sounds like overkill. Don’t ruin the flavours of each drink by cross-contaminating it with another. Also, stay away from shop-bought drink mixes; they’re not impressing anyone.

Glassware

Serving something in the wrong glass will make it immediately apparent that you don’t know what you’re doing. Save yourself the embarrassment of serving a Sidecar in a Bellini glass by curating your glassware and cocktail menu around each other.

Highball glasses (tall ones) and rocks glasses (short ones) are mandatory. You should also have something on a stem – coupe glasses are probably the most versatile, but if you have a taste for G&Ts then opt for balloon glasses, or hurricane glasses if you like a tequila sunrise or piña colada. Always check the glass and ice requirements when trying a new cocktail recipe.

Tip: The easiest ways to keep your glasses cold is to put them in the freezer for 3 or 4 hours, leave them upside-down in a bucket of ice for 30 minutes or swirl crushed ice around them while you mix the drink.

Alcohol

If you’re stocking your own bar, keep it simple. There’s no point tempting your drinkers with exotic flavours that you don’t know how to use. Start with the six base spirits:

• Vodka
• London dry gin
• Rum (white, medium and dark)
• Tequila (silver, then gold)
• Whiskey
• Brandy

Complement these with a handful of staple liqueurs - triple sec, amaretto, something coffee-flavoured (like Kahlua) and vermouth. Also, ice. Seriously, if you run out then the party’s over.

Tip: If you can’t afford a full shelf of premium spirits, you can get away with mid-range vodka, gin and rum. Splashing out on tequila is essential for smooth drinks, and make sure you choose a versatile whiskey if you can only have one. We’d recommend Bloom gin, Russian Standard vodka and Buffalo Trace bourbon whiskey (pronounced “bur-buhn”).

Mixers

When it comes to mixers, more is more. Start with your sodas; cola and diet cola, tonic water, ginger ale and club soda. If you’re not sure how much of these you’ll drink, buy individual bottles or cans so you don’t risk an entire litre going flat for one beverage.

You should also grab some Grenadine, fruit juice (orange, cranberry and pineapple are good), aromatic bitters and sour mix, and learn to make your own simple syrup. Finally, ice. It really is essential.

Garnishes

Beautiful garnishes are the secret to making a stunning cocktail, but the quality of your drink really has to back it up. At an amateur level, stick to citrus segments, berries and gently crushed mint leaves. Mix up the presentation with quarters, peel twists or folded slices pierced with a cocktail stick, on top of ice. Are you hearing us about the ice, yet?

Menu

The secret to impressing guests is to keep your drinks selection simple. Fortunately, nobody is going to expect your home bar to be as well stocked as a high-end mixology parlour, so you can get away with having just four of five different cocktails available. Even better, the great thing about cocktail names is that they can usually cover up how simple they are to make.

To get you started, here are four easy cocktails that look and taste way more impressive than they are.

1. The Martini. Put two shots of gin (or vodka) and one shot of dry vermouth into your ice-filled shaker. Stir it for ten seconds then strain into a cocktail glass before garnishing with a twist of lemon peel. A “dirty” martini includes a splash of olive brine; a “dry” one uses less vermouth.

Shaking it instead of stirring? The extra slivers of ice will make the drink smoother, but also weaker. Tell anyone ordering this to keep their 007 fantasy at home.

1. The Daiquiri. Two shots of white rum, one shot of fresh lime juice and 20ml (not quite a full shot) of sugar syrup go into your shaker with a handful of ice. Shake it well and strain it into a cocktail glass.
2. The Dark ‘n’ Stormy. Fill a rocks glass with ice cubes and add a shot of dark rum. Fill to the top with ginger beer then squeeze a wedge of lime into the top.
3. The Margarita. Start by swiping a wedge of lime around the rim of a coupe glass (or a margarita glass if you have one) then twisting the top of the glass around on a plate of coarse salt. Next, pour two shots of silver tequila, one shot of triple sec and one shot of fresh lime juice into a shaker with cracked ice and strain into the glass over crushed ice.

Tip: Taste your drinks as you go along by siphoning. Dip a straw into the mixture, cover the top with your thumb then pull the straw out and put it into your mouth. Let go of the top and, voila, a sample. Not only will this keep your drinks in check, but you’ll look like a pro.

Only once you’ve mastered the basics is there room to get a little bit fancy. The most beneficial things to learn will be practising free pouring accurately with both hands and bump pouring – continuously pouring between glasses without spilling booze all over the bar.

Most people decide that being a cocktail bartender looks like fun when they watch a mixologist free pour with both hands, while flipping bottles of spirits behind their head. These tricks are known as cocktail “flairing” or “flair” bartending and, yes, it does look cool, but it won’t help you mix better drinks.

Plus, unless you’re really, really well practiced it doesn’t work. Dropping bottles, breaking glasses and throwing ice is the fastest way to remind your friends that you’re blagging it.