Cocktail Recipe API

GET

Match cocktail names or spirits to exact recipes and glassware.

Cocktail Recipe retrieves cocktail recipes by drink name or ingredient, providing measured ingredients, preparation instructions, and recommended glassware. Responses include serving categories and ingredient counts, with support for pulling random drinks.

Try it — live request, no key required

Request
GETapi.apiverve.com/v1/cocktail?name=martini
Query parameters
Verification
Format

No key required to try it. Get a key to use it in your app.

Example
{
  "status": "ok",
  "error": null,
  "data": {
    "count": 5,
    "filteredOn": "name",
    "cocktails": [
      {
        "name": "Espresso Martini",
        "glass": "martini",
        "category": "After Dinner Cocktail",
        "ingredients": [
          {
            "unit": "cl",
            "amount": 5,
            "ingredient": "Vodka"
          },
          {
            "unit": "cl",
            "amount": 1,
            "ingredient": "Coffee liqueur",
            "label": "Kahlúa"
          },
          {
            "special": "Sugar syrup (according to individual preference of sweetness)"
          },
          {
            "special": "1 short strong Espresso"
          }
        ],
        "ingredientCount": 4,
        "estimatedStrength": "medium",
        "preparation": "Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass."
      },
      {
        "name": "Lemon Drop Martini",
        "glass": "martini",
        "category": "All Day Cocktail",
        "ingredients": [
          {
            "unit": "cl",
            "amount": 2.5,
            "ingredient": "Vodka",
            "label": "Citron Vodka"
          },
          {
            "unit": "cl",
            "amount": 2,
            "ingredient": "Triple Sec"
          },
          {
            "unit": "cl",
            "amount": 1.5,
            "ingredient": "Lemon juice"
          }
        ],
        "garnish": "Lemon slice",
        "preparation": "Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass rimmed with sugar."
      },
      {
        "name": "French Martini",
        "glass": "martini",
        "category": "Before Dinner Cocktail",
        "ingredients": [
          {
            "unit": "cl",
            "amount": 4.5,
            "ingredient": "Vodka"
          },
          {
            "unit": "cl",
            "amount": 1.5,
            "ingredient": "Raspberry liqueur"
          },
          {
            "unit": "cl",
            "amount": 1.5,
            "ingredient": "Pineapple juice"
          }
        ],
        "preparation": "Stir in mixing glass with ice cubes. Strain into chilled cocktail glass. Squeeze oil from lemon peel onto the drink."
      },
      {
        "name": "Dirty Martini",
        "glass": "martini",
        "category": "Before Dinner Cocktail",
        "ingredients": [
          {
            "unit": "cl",
            "amount": 6,
            "ingredient": "Vodka"
          },
          {
            "unit": "cl",
            "amount": 1,
            "ingredient": "Vermouth",
            "label": "Dry vermouth"
          },
          {
            "unit": "cl",
            "amount": 1,
            "ingredient": "Olive juice"
          }
        ],
        "garnish": "Green olive",
        "preparation": "Stir in mixing glass with ice cubes. Strain into chilled martini glass."
      },
      {
        "name": "Dry Martini",
        "glass": "martini",
        "category": "Before Dinner Cocktail",
        "ingredients": [
          {
            "unit": "cl",
            "amount": 6,
            "ingredient": "Gin"
          },
          {
            "unit": "cl",
            "amount": 1,
            "ingredient": "Vermouth",
            "label": "Dry vermouth"
          }
        ],
        "preparation": "Stir in mixing glass with ice cubes. Strain into chilled martini glass. Squeeze oil from lemon peel onto the drink, or garnish with olive."
      }
    ]
  }
}

About the Cocktail Recipe API

Cocktail works by querying a large database of cocktail recipes to retrieve the ingredients, instructions, and other details of a cocktail. It returns the cocktail recipe in a structured format.

What people use it for

Bar Inventory Matching
Match available spirits against the ingredient search to show bartenders which drinks they can prepare with current bar stock.
Digital Drink Menus
Hospitality venues display drink preparation instructions and specific glassware recommendations directly on contactless tablet menus for guests.
Drink of the Day
To drive customer engagement, lifestyle apps fetch a random cocktail recipe each morning to feature on their home screen.
Event Menu Planning
Catering planners look up cocktail categories and measured ingredients to calculate supply quantities needed for upcoming wedding receptions.

Ways to call it

One endpoint, many ways in — REST with JSON, XML, YAML and CSV, plus GraphQL and an MCP interface for AI agents.

JSON
Default REST response
XML
Markup format
YAML
Human-readable
CSV
Tabular export
Beta
GraphQL
Query language
New
MCP
For AI agents

Other ways to use Cocktail Recipe

Same data, same APIVerve account, same credit balance — one key works on all of them.

Questions.

Common questions about the Cocktail Recipe API.

Read the docs →
Can I look up drinks when a user only has one ingredient on hand?
Yes. Alongside looking up drinks by cocktail name, you can query by a single ingredient like gin or rum to return all matching recipes that use it.
What recipe details are returned for each drink?
Every cocktail result includes step-by-step preparation steps, traditional glassware, cocktail category, and an ingredient count. Each ingredient is listed with its name, quantity, and unit of measure, such as cl or dash.
Is estimated drink strength included on the Free plan?
No. The estimated alcohol strength rating—indicating whether a drink is strong, medium, light, or a mocktail—is a premium field. Any paid plan unlocks this field across all recipe queries.
Is it cheap enough to fetch recipes for every drink search?
Yes. Each search costs 2 credits, meaning the Starter plan provides 100,000 recipe lookups every month. That works out to about $0.0003 per lookup, or $0.30 per 1,000 calls. The Free plan includes 100 calls per month to test your integration.
Can I pull a random cocktail recipe for daily drink features?
Yes. The API includes a dedicated endpoint that returns a random cocktail recipe with complete instructions and ingredients, making it straightforward to generate drink-of-the-day features.
Can I use recipe data in a commercial bartending or menu app?
Yes, provided you are on an active paid plan. Commercial use requires a Starter plan or higher. You may display the recipe details within your own product, but you cannot resell or redistribute the raw recipe dataset.

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