At Christmas, I examined the ten manliest cocktails for you to order at a bar. However, making yourself look manly with your choice of beverage is only half the battle. There is also the time-honoured tradition of buying drinks for women. This is where most men get hung up. It’s very easy to intercept a waitress and say that her drink is on you or to buy her another round of the same drink. It takes a real man to go off the board and buy her a drink of your choice.

So we’ve tasked the Man Lab with figuring out which cocktails are the best to order for women.

#10 Mojito

• 2-3 oz Light rum
• Juice of 1 Lime (1 oz)
• 2 tsp Sugar
• 2-4 Mint sprigs
• Soda water

Mojitos are a good summer drink which is convenient for the timing of this post. It’s a light drink that is sweet with hints of sour (from the lime) and mint. It’s an early in the night or hot summer’s night on the patio drink. Don’t go for this late in the night in the club when she’s focused on hooking up or passing out.

#9 Margarita

• 1 1/2 oz Tequila
• 1/2 oz Triple sec
• 1 oz Lime juice

Who would have thought that a drink with tequila and is a staple of the Mexican restaurant industry would be a woman’s drink. Sadly, the margarita has a bad reputation as a man’s drink but that shouldn’t stop you from ordering it for women. Remember that context is everything here. Don’t order this at a pub or a club for a woman. Mexican restaurant or a tropical resort bar only.

#8 Gin and Tonic

• 2 oz Gin
• 5 oz Tonic water
• 1 Lime wedge

Gin actually makes an appearance in three of the drinks in our manliest cocktails list. That doesn’t mean that gin is the domain of the manly man. Women like gin too. The great thing about the classic G&T is that it bridges the gender gap. It’s not too stiff for a woman but is in no way a condescendingly girly drink. However, it’s a bit of an acquired taste which is why it’s at the bottom end of the list.

#7 Bellini

• 6 oz Champagne
• 1 oz Peach schnapps

I never actually heard of the Bellini before last weekend but apparently they’re very popular with women. I think it either has to do with how they think they look carrying a champagne flute or the idea that they’re drinking a jumped up champagne drink. Champagnes and sparkling wines come off as slightly elitist but all women want to feel important. A champagne drink certainly couldn’t hurt in making them feel important.

#6 Long Island Iced Tea

• 1/2 oz Vodka
• 1/2 oz Tequila
• 1/2 oz Light rum
• 1/2 oz Gin
• 1 dash Coca-Cola
• Twist of Lemon peel (or lime)

Long Island Iced Tea is actually a misnomer. I’ve never found a LIIT recipe with actual tea in it. It’s really a few light tasting liquors mixed together with the Coke added to get that classic iced tea colour. After a few of these, she won’t really care about the misnomer in the name.

#5 Chocolate Martini

• 2 oz Vodka
• 1/2 oz Creme de Cacao

Is there anything that women love more than chocolate? Well, yes, there are a few things but I’m talking about food though. The chocolate martini says sweet and dangerous because it’s a martini (which topped last year’s Manliest Cocktails list) but it’s got some chocolate flavour to it. Add in the fact that they’re fairly hard drinks and you have a winner here.

#4 Sex On The Beach

• 1 oz Vodka
• 3/4 oz Peach schnapps
• Cranberry juice
• Grapefruit juice

#3 Island Breeze

• 4 oz Pineapple Juice
• 1 1/2 oz Rum
• 1 oz Cranberry Juice
• 2 Dashes Angostura Bitters

Another rum drink cracks the list. Rum is one of those liquors that most women like to drink. Vodka and rum are on the easier to drink side of things so you’re generally safe to stick to those drinks. Anyway, this colourful drink has the sort name that women should love and isn’t likely to overwhelm them with rim.

#2 Appletini

• 1 1/2 oz Vodka
• 1 oz Apple Pucker Schnapps

I’ve never tried a martini other than a regular vodka or gin martini but the idea behind this one is that it’s supposed to be a sweet and sour drink. It’s also supposed to be bright green. And women are stereotyped as liking coloured drinks as the popularity of the next drink on the list would indicate.

#1 Cosmopolitan

• 1 oz Vodka
• 1/2 oz Triple sec
• 1/2 oz lime juice
• 1/2 oz Cranberry juice
• Lime wedge

Cosmos are colourful, easy to drink and have some pop culture credibility thanks to Sex and the City. In other words, I think you’d be hard pressed to find a woman who hates drinking Cosmos. The versatile thing about vodka is that it’s hard but the good stuff doesn’t taste like hard liquor. That’s an important tidbit to remember when buying a drink for a woman.

Drink recipes from Webtender.