The 5 Best Cocktails for a 50th Birthday

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The 5 Best Cocktails for a 50th Birthday

Half a century deserves elegance: timeless bar classics that never go out of style – just like the birthday star.

5 recipes · updated October 12, 2026

Fifty years – that’s an occasion for style. Anyone celebrating this birthday deserves class, and the best place to find it is in the great bar classics. Drinks that were already being mixed in the finest hotel bars a hundred years ago and haven’t lost any of their shine to this day.

Our five cocktails for a 50th are elegant, balanced and made with just a few quality ingredients. They go just as well with a festive dinner as with a late night at the home bar.

Old Fashioned

The ancestor of all cocktails.

The ancestor of all cocktails – and the perfect drink for a milestone birthday. Bourbon, a touch of sugar and bitters, stirred slowly: timeless, honest and full of depth.

Bourbon Simple syrup Angostura bitters

Glass:: Rocks glass
Time:: 3 min
Strength:: Strong

View recipe

Manhattan

New York elegance, stirred cold.

New York elegance for over 150 years: rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters, stirred cold and served in a coupe. The classic for everyone who loves style in a glass.

Rye whiskey Sweet vermouth Angostura bitters

Glass:: Coupe
Time:: 3 min
Strength:: Strong

View recipe

French 75

Champagne meets gin.

Gin, lemon and Champagne – the most festive of all classics. Perfect for the welcome and the big toast to the birthday star.

Gin Lemon juice Simple syrup Champagne

Glass:: Flute
Time:: 3 min
Strength:: Medium

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Sidecar

Paris, the 1920s, Cognac.

Paris, the Roaring Twenties, Cognac: the Sidecar is the elegant ancestor of the Margarita. Fruity, warm and with a fine sugar rim – a true connoisseur’s drink.

Cognac Triple sec Lemon juice

Glass:: Coupe
Time:: 3 min
Strength:: Strong

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Aviation

A touch of sky in a glass.

A pre-war classic with a delicate lilac shimmer: gin, maraschino and a touch of crème de violette. A drink that wows – and a great conversation starter at the table.

Gin Maraschino Crème de violette Lemon juice

Glass:: Coupe
Time:: 3 min
Strength:: Strong

View recipe

Our verdict

Our tip: French 75 with Champagne for the welcome, a Sidecar or Aviation with dinner, and Old Fashioned and Manhattan for the big crowd late in the evening. Here’s to the next fifty!

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