Can I make cocktails ahead of time for a party?

Stirred spirit-forward cocktails batch beautifully; shaken citrus cocktails do not. Pre-batch Manhattans, Negronis, and Old Fashioneds the night before. Shake citrus drinks (Daiquiris, Margaritas) to order or pre-batch without the citrus and add it last.

Two categories of cocktails behave differently when batched: (1) Stirred / spirit-forward — Manhattan, Negroni, Old Fashioned, Martini, Boulevardier, Sazerac, Vieux Carré. These batch perfectly because they contain no perishable fresh ingredients. Make the batch with the proper recipe ratios, add water at 25 to 30 percent of the total volume (to simulate the dilution that stirring would have produced), bottle, refrigerate. Pour into a chilled glass over a large ice cube. Indistinguishable from one made fresh. (2) Shaken / citrus — Daiquiri, Margarita, Whiskey Sour, Cosmopolitan, Sidecar. These do NOT batch well because fresh citrus juice oxidizes within 6 to 12 hours and the cocktail loses its brightness. Two workarounds: pre-batch everything EXCEPT the citrus, then add fresh juice at serve time (the citrus is the only ingredient that needs to be fresh; everything else can be measured in advance). Alternatively, pre-shake the cocktails into individual portions and seal in mason jars for up to 4 hours — the dilution from shaking is fine, but the citrus aromatics will fade. For a party of 12, batch a 750 mL bottle of pre-mixed Negroni and a 500 mL bottle of pre-mixed Manhattan; you'll cover most of the guests with two pours each.