Do you pony up to the bar and enjoy a basic Mojito or Negroni all while secretly wishing you could make your own version at home? Well, the reality is, that making cocktails right in your own kitchen is easier than you think. You just have to be open to learning new skills and pick up a few of the right tools and ingredients.
Is it hard to make cocktails?
Making a cocktail does not have to be difficult, you’ll simply need the basic ingredients and a few of the essential tools to get started.
What if we tell you that you can make delicious cocktails at home with only a very few ingredients?
This post you will learn that you, just like many professional bartenders and mixologists, also have what it takes to craft your own special cocktail at home. So, keep reading.
What do you need to start making cocktails at home?
Liqueurs
Having a few bottles of spirits is not enough to prepare cocktails at home. You also need to pair them with liqueurs. Some of the most common liqueurs for cocktail-making include Cointreau, Kahlua, Drambuie, and Amaretto, just to name a few.
Herbs and Fruits
Always choose fresh herbs and fruits over frozen ones. The fresh ones are more likely to give your cocktail brighter and more vibrant flavors. Do your best to have fresh ingredients on hand when you plan to make cocktails. This way, you won’t have to resort to frozen or instant versions of these herbs and fruits.
Non-Alcoholic Mixers
In addition to ice, great-tasting cocktails also need to have the right mixers. Think about preparing cocktails with cranberry juice, orange juice, lemon, grapefruit, and pineapple juice. You will also need tomato juice if you’re looking to create Bloody Mary-inspired cocktails.
Simple Syrup
The syrup is an important sweetener for many cocktail recipes. To give you an idea of a few cocktails that will need simple syrup are: a Mojito, a Vodka Sour, or a Whiskey Sour; these are just a few, but there are so many more! The good news is, it’s super easy to make simple syrup, definitely no need to purchase pre-made.
Bitters
For starters, you will only need two kinds – aromatic and orange bitters.
Sodas
Some sodas we suggest having on hand are club soda, tonic water, ginger ale, ginger beer, lemon-lime, and cola. The ones we typically have on hand are tonic water, club soda, and ginger beer.
Garnish
Limes, lemons, and oranges are some of the most common garnishes that you can use in most of your cocktails. You may also need some cherries.
High-Quality Spirits
What is the most versatile spirit for cocktails?
Consider stocking up on vodka, since this is the most versatile. Add in two kinds of rum, gin, whiskey, and brandy. Put these bottles on a wall-mounted wine rack for inspiration and as a reminder that once you’ve started making your own cocktails at home, there’s no stopping!
The best cocktails celebrate the booziness of alcohol, and never make any attempts on disguising it. Many cocktails will consist of 50ml of base alcohol. Be generous with spirits and be stingy about other ingredients.
Pro-tip: many professional bartenders will pour the alcohol into the shaker last. This is because it is easier to make adjustments to the cocktail, for example adding in more sour, making it a bit sweeter or on the flip side, more diluted.
Have you ever seen the bartender take a small cocktail straw and taste the cocktail? I’m sure you have! This is where their professional expertise shines through. They’re tasting the cocktail and making adjustments before they pour and serve you that $15 cocktail.
You too can do the same thing, taste along the way, and make adjustments as necessary. By using this technique, you minimize the risk of messing up, making a terrible-tasting cocktail, and having to toss it and start fresh.
Did you know, that high-quality spirits are devoid of synthetic ingredients? But cheap spirits many times will go through a lot of industrialized methods to shorten and cheapen the process of producing them.
For example, a high-quality rum is distilled using freshly pressed sugarcane juice. But, manufacturers of low-quality rum will substitute sugarcane juice with molasses to cut costs. Now you and I might not be able to taste the difference, but a cocktail connoisseur will surely be able to recognize the difference.
Choose the right glassware
Whenever you order a cocktail at the bar, what is the first thing that you notice? Will you notice the creative appearance of how the cocktail is served? Or, do you ignore how it looks and instead you pay more attention to its aromas?
Why is glassware important for cocktails?
The right glassware for every cocktail is important because it is the first visual that your guests will see. The second thing that they will notice is the aroma. And, when they take that first sip, the shape or design of your glassware also has an influence on the overall drinking experience. So, the next time you prepare a cocktail, make sure you have the right glassware for serving.
Another pro tip, each cocktail typically has a corresponding type of glassware it should be served in. Using the right glassware will not only enhance the taste of the cocktail, but it will also reflect just how passionate you are at cocktail-making.
What glasses do you use for cocktails?
Highball Glass
If the drink you are preparing has a large ratio of mixers and will be poured over ice, use a highball glass.
Martini Glass
Use martini glassware when serving a mixed cocktail straight up; this could mean that you’ve made the cocktail by either shaking or stirring it. Note, that this is not to be confused with a cocktail that’s served neat. When a cocktail is served neat, that means it’s served without any ice or mixers. Oftentimes, whiskey will be served this way.
Copper Mug
If you want to keep your cocktail cold for a longer period of time, use a copper mug. The curved copper mug handle will help avoid heat transfer from the bartender’s hand to the guest’s hand thus keeping your cocktail colder, longer.
Wider Bowl
A drink containing red wine must be served in a slightly taller glass but with a wider bowl. This allows the aromatics of the wine to open and breathe.
Tulip-Shaped Glass
While sparkling wine is best served in a tulip-shaped glass with a long stem and a long bowl, also known as a flute or a champagne flute. Exploring different glassware can be so much fun, don’t be afraid to explore your options when making cocktails at home!
How to Choose the Right Glassware
Pro-tip: glassware must have a capacity of at least 1 ounce or 30ml. This capacity is enough to hold a single shot of spirits, served with or without ice. On the other hand, long glassware such as the highball has tall sides which make it ideal for mixed drinks. The tall sides will keep the drink effervescent.
Open-mouthed glasses are intended for drinks that are spirit-dominant. The wide opening helps release the heat and aromas of the spirits.
Needless to say, the type of glassware you use for serving cocktails could either make or break the visual and palate satisfaction for your guests.
Besides, you’ll want the cocktail, you’ve been working so hard to perfect for months, to look amazing. We suggest doing this even when you’re making the drink just for yourself even after all your guests have gone home for the night, you deserve to feel special too!
Master the ratios
The ratio of your ingredients largely spells the difference between a great-tasting cocktail and one that’s too sweet, too boozy, too tart, or too sour. Every professional bartender knows that timeless cocktails need to follow a certain ingredient ratio.
When you practice making cocktails at home, you will be able to experiment and become familiar with their ratios. You can use your gained knowledge to decide on the proper ratios of your own crafted cocktails. Note that when we say “ratio”, we refer to the perfect balance between alcohol, bitter, sweet, tart or sour, depending on the kind of cocktail you are making.
How do you determine the ratio of a cocktail?
As a beginner, you may start with the 2:1:1 ratio. This would mean 2 parts -alcohol, 1 part sweet, and 1 part sour. So, if you’ll be preparing Whiskey Sour, your ratio should be 2-part whisky, 1 part simple syrup, and 1 part lemon juice.
As you master your ratios, you will also begin to learn about how a certain cocktail would taste if you were to substitute lime for lemon. Or, how the taste of the cocktail improves with the addition of a dash of bitters. All these and more will take you to new heights in the exciting world of cocktail-making.
Read The Bartender’s Manifesto
A lot of these tips and basic recipes can be found in one of our favorite books THE BARTENDER’S MANIFESTO BY TOBY MALONEY, which can be described as follows: “The Death & Co book is the definitive guide to the contemporary craft cocktail movement, from one of the world’s most influential and lauded bars. Featuring hundreds of recipes for original creations as well as classic drink cocktails, Death & Co is not only a comprehensive collection of the bar’s best—it’s also a complete cocktail education.” Truly a book worth adding to your recipe collection!
Have plenty of ice on hand.
How do you know exactly how much ice to have on hand? The answer is typical – more than you think.
Pro-tip: never make the mistake of drinking or offering room temperature cocktails, that are supposed to be served chilled, just because you run out of ice. The problem with this is, that temperature has a great effect on cocktails and the beverage will no longer taste the same, even if you claim to have mixed superb ingredients to it.
Think about it like this, how would you feel if the bartender offers you a drink and says – “Drink this cocktail I prepared a while ago.” It does not take a second sip to realize just how disappointing such a drink turns out to be.
Make sure you vigorously shake your cocktail before serving it. That is, if the recipe calls for “shaking”. In fact, this is something that we practice during our weekly Happy Hour episodes on YouTube. The importance of having the right temperature for your cocktails cannot be overemphasized. Ice serves two purposes, in addition to keeping the cocktail cold, it helps dilute spirit-dominant cocktails.
How do you make professional cocktails?
In addition to having the right tools and ingredients, you need to learn the 6 basic methods of bartending, once these methods become second nature, cocktail preparation is easy.
What are the 6 basic methods of bartending?
Stirring
This may sound silly, but learning to stir the proper way is crucial to the quality of your cocktail. Stirring must be done quickly to drinks that are made up of wines, liqueurs, spirits, and effervescent drinks. Performing this method longer than necessary could lead to over dilution which may negatively impact the taste of your drink.
The method of stirring is just like a gentle method of cooling the liquid down, making sure it tastes good as its cold enough to drink. Stirring is not like shaking where you create agitation in order to bond and brighten the flavors.
Free Pouring
When you learn the art of free pouring, you’ll be confident doing this right in front of your guests. This method of preparing cocktails does not require a jigger or any measuring tool. You just have to comfortably pour liquor into the glassware, careful enough to be able to pour exactly the right amount.
Always grab the bottle by the neck when free pouring. This will give you enough control on the bottle and make it easier for you to turn the bottle upside down. Remember that when you’re turning the bottle upside down, make sure the bottle is on a vertical position so that the liquid pours out consistently.
Muddling
Muddling is a method where you’re pushing and twisting down the muddler bar tool in order to break up the ingredient and extract the flavors from it. Learning this method by heart will make you adept at extracting flavors from herbs or fruits.
You have to know when to muddle strong enough to let out the fresh flavors or gentle enough so as not to make the drink become bitter. Make sure as well to find the right tool that works for you to make this method a lot easier to do.
Shaking
The shaking method is used for cocktails containing fruit juices, cream, eggs, and simple syrup. Note that cocktails with effervescent drinks should not be shaken, beverages with bubbles, sodas for example. Any ingredient that’s heavy and which needs to be bonded into the spirit could use some amount of shaking.
This vigorous back-and-forth motion of shaking will allow the ingredients to become cold enough to wake it up, and bond their flavors together in order to create one delicious cocktail.
Shaking does not have to be fancy or follow a specific rhythm when done. It just needs to be done vigorously to make sure that every flavor is bonded well into one another. But, never shake anything carbonated!
Layering
You need to have a complete understanding of how the layering method must be done. This way, you know exactly which ingredient to pour first into the glass and which should be poured last. The right sequence for layering can significantly affect the outcome of your prepared cocktail. Remember, most people consume with their eyes first, smell and taste second.
Think about Brain Hemorrhage, Rainbow Shots, Mai Tai and Tequila Sunrise. These are layered drinks that look just as impressive as they taste. You too can prepare cocktails at home that look so beautiful once you have learned the art of layering cocktail ingredients.
Blending
Learning the right way to blend the ingredients together is also important when preparing cocktails at home. You need to use an electric blender, like a Vitamix, to combine solid foods, ice, and fruits together. You have to learn to use your blender properly to be able to achieve the right texture and consistency for your cocktail.
If you’re looking to master the art of preparing cocktails, it’s a great idea to invest in a versatile blender such as a Vitamix. With a Vitamix, you’ll quickly learn you won’t need a food processor, an espresso machine, or any other equipment to prepare cocktails at home. You just need to practice and remember to have fun!
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