Some things just go together -- and the obvious accompaniment to food is drink. Today marks the launch of Booze52, in which we explore all manner of libations that do much more than just wash down a meal.

We figured a good place to start was an exploration of the world’s greatest cocktails of all time. Why are they worth ordering or making, and what made them so damn great in the first place? So, welcome to Classic Cocktails from A to Z. We start with an inscrutable cocktail called the Algonquin.