Cocktails are showstoppers these days, thanks to bartenders who are mixing them with everything from esoteric amari to sherry, house-made ginger beer and coffee-infused bourbon. I love sampling their creations at the bar, but make them myself? Not likely.

I’m not alone. Cocktails frequently lose out to wine and beer at home because so much of what’s on menus requires more effort and expense than non-professionals are willing to commit to.

It doesn’t have to be that way, though, said Claire Lower, food and beverage editor for Lifehacker.com and author of the site’s 3-Ingredient Happy Hour series.

“(Cocktails) should taste good, but everyone calm down. You’re just making a drink,” Lower said. “It should be fun, and it should be relaxing.”

You don’t need to make your own bitters to craft a cocktail at home. Instead, pick a spirit you enjoy and a classic recipe in a style that appeals to you, recommended Grünauer head bartender Scott Beskow.

“A lot of classic cocktails are simple, but they’re also nuanced and interesting,” Beskow said.

Some of the easiest call for a mere trio of ingredients, and there’s good reason for that, according to “3-Ingredient Cocktails: An Opinionated Guide to the Most Enduring Drinks in the Cocktail Canon.” Author Robert Simonson chalks it up in part to the practicality of a short ingredient list — there’s not a lot to buy, measure or mess up.

Each component counts, making drinks like the Palmetto (rum, sweet vermouth and orange bitters) and Cosmonaut (gin, lemon juice and raspberry preserves) unique from their respective Manhattan and Cosmopolitan forebears. And though these drinks may be easy to make, “none of them read on the tongue as simple-minded creations,” he wrote.

Another way to streamline cocktail-making is to measure in equal parts, whether there are two or five of those parts. Beskow’s a fan of drinks like the Last Word, which calls for three-quarters of an ounce each of gin, lime juice, green Chartreuse and maraschino liqueur.

Indeed, the Americano (Campari, sweet vermouth and club soda), Paloma (tequila, grapefruit juice, lime juice and simple syrup) and enough others fall into this category to fill another of my favorite books, “Shake. Stir. Sip: More than 50 Cocktails Made in Equal Parts.”

The most appealing aspect of such standards is their adaptability. Beskow views most classics not as recipes, but as templates for tinkering. Once the original version’s in your wheelhouse, feel free to swap spirits and bitters, or experiment with flavored syrups or proportions, he said.

“Everyone tries to get pedantic about classic cocktails, but there are no definitive recipes for any of them,” Beskow said. “They’re easy to adjust, and you still end up with something good.”

Take the Jack Rose, a cocktail traditionally made with applejack, lemon juice and grenadine. While Beskow routinely reaches for applejack, apple brandy or Calvados would be fine, too. He mixes that with either lemon or lime juice, depending on what he has on hand, and syrup from a jar of good-quality cocktail cherries.

The Old Fashioned is likewise flexible. Bourbon, rye, Cognac, rum or something else; sugar cube or simple syrup; all manner of bitters — it’s entirely up to you.

“When you get confident making a great rye Old Fashioned, then you can say, ‘OK, what does it taste like with these bitters? What does it taste like if I put a cinnamon stick in it?’ ” Beskow said. “You can make one tweak to make it your own.”

Simple doesn’t only relate to ingredients and proportions, though. Cost can also be a concern, especially when contemplating recipes that call for a quarter- or half-ounce of two or three components, each of which might cost $20-plus a bottle.

“So many people are excited about cooking, and, when they do entertain, they want to make cocktails, but they don’t want to spend $75,” said Maggie Hoffman, whose “The One-Bottle Cocktail: More than 80 recipes with Fresh Ingredients and a Single Spirit” will be published by Ten Speed Press in March.

To solve that problem, Hoffman gave bartenders from across the country this challenge: develop a great-tasting cocktail using only a single spirit and supermarket staples.

The resulting creativity is impressive. Hoffman’s bartender network returned recipes using all manner of fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, juices, teas and almond and other milks to replicate the sweet, savory, bitter and sour characteristics typically imparted by alcoholic supporting players.

Some require little prep, like the Sun-Kissed Highball that combines blanco tequila with aloe vera juice, lime juice and club soda.

Some take more, including the mezcal-based Sassy Flower, which calls for a hibiscus-rosemary syrup. And some, like the big-batch El Gallito, take a lot. You begin by making a tomato-pineapple salsa, then strain off the juice to mix with vodka. Bonus: the leftover solids make a fine salsa for chips.

Still, that’s not enough to put off anyone who loves both cooking and cocktails, Hoffman said.

“That’s not really the problem,” Hoffman said. “The truth is, people are happy to do a little DIY when it only costs $2. If you can steep a cup of tea, you can make a simple syrup with interesting flavors.”

Choice, too, can sometimes be overwhelming for home bartenders. With dozens of brands of almost every spirit now available, not to mention the flood of vermouths and other modifiers, there’s a lot of pressure to pick the right one.

Lower’s advice? It’s good to understand the difference between styles — after all, a London dry gin will behave differently in a drink than a more floral or herbaceous New Western version — and it’s sometimes fun to show off an unusual liqueur. But you can generally go with whatever bottle you like or that you already have.

Take the Elizabeth Taylor Lower featured last year. It does require crème de violette, but that’s mixed with whichever gin readers prefer and “some sort of sparkling wine.”

Lower was equally relaxed about the Trashy Diplomat, which combines sweet and dry vermouths with the juice from a jar of good quality cocktail cherries. The original Diplomat calls for dashes of maraschino liqueur and bitters.

“Maybe it’s not as perfect as something you’d get at a fancy cocktail bar, but things don’t have to taste perfect to taste good,” Lower said.

Recipes

Scott Beskow, head bartender at Grünauer in the Freight House District, adapts this pink-hued classic cocktail to suit the ingredients he has on hand.

Makes 1 drink

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice; shake until chilled. Strain into a prepared glass.

Classics that call for equal parts of each ingredient are as delicious as they are simple to make, said Grünauer’s Scott Beskow. Want to personalize it? Try a different gin, or tweak the proportions to suit your own palate.

Makes 1 drink

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice; shake until chilled. Strain into a prepared glass.

Claire Lower, food and beverage editor for Lifehacker.com, featured this cocktail in her ongoing 3-Ingredient Happy Hour series. Her version drops the usual maraschino liqueur, resulting in a lower alcohol cocktail that is, as Lower put it, “as practical as it is delicious.”

Makes 1 drink

Combine everything in an ice-filled stirring glass, stir to chill and dilute, then strain into a lowball glass over a big piece of ice.

This cocktail from “The One-Bottle Cocktail” was created by Alan Ruesga-Pelayo of New York’s Cosme, and it delivers what author Maggie Hoffman calls a leathery, smoky character that’s perfect for Scotch lovers.

Makes 1 drink

Combine mezcal, lemon juice and hibiscus-rosemary syrup in a cocktail shaker and fill with ice. Shake until well chilled, about 12 seconds. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass and garnish with a rosemary sprig.

For hibiscus-rosemary syrup: Steep 2 hibiscus tea bags (such as Traditional Medicinals) and 1 rosemary sprig in 1 cup of boiling water for 5 minutes. Strain into a resealable container with a tight-fitting lid, then add 1  1/2 cups sugar and stir or shake until dissolved. Let cool, then refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Makes about 14 ounces, or enough for 18 drinks.