Here's my personal collection of cocktail recipes. An excellent cocktail reference that got me started is Cocktail at Hot Wired, which is no longer around. Another nice site is the Flying Cracker. Unless otherwise specified, all these drinks are shaken over ice and served 'up'.
Shake hard with cracked ice. I generally use Bombay Sapphire gin. It has less of a bite. Tanqueray No. Ten works as well. I've also tried Magellan with success. The recipe was from the Cocktail site from which this one is derived (thank you Paul Harrington for inventing it) calls for ¼ ounce of the last two ingredients. That made it far too sour for me. Your taste may be some where in between. By far and away my most favorite.
This is a variation of a recipe I found on the Web.
You have to like Campari to enjoy this drink. I order this in bars in place of the Jasmine because I've yet to find a bartender that can get the measurements right. Most recipes call for sweet vermouth. Too sweet for me. Bear in mind, I like my coffee black.
I use super fine sugar. It dissolves more quickly.
Place sugar and, a small handful of mint in a pint or mojito glass. Use muddler to press mint to release the juices Add squeezed juice from the lime and two quarters of the skin. Muddle again to release the aromatics from the lime skin Add rum, stir, and fill with ice. Top with soda water, garnish with mint sprig and serve.
You can replace the sugar with canned sugar cane water. I use Goya. As an added flourish, add a sugar cane stirrer.
Cut the lime into quarter and place it in the bottom of a tumbler. Add the sugar and extract the juice by crushing the lemon with a pestle or a similar implement (small baseball bat?). Stir in the cachaça and then the ice.
I use Luxardo. Vary the liqueur to taste.
This is a variation of the original drink which calls for Angostura bitters in place of the Picon.