COCKTAIL MAKING TECHNIQUES

SPECIFIC BARTENDING TECHNIQUES

There are a few techniques that need to know to prepare the majority of cocktails. The basic steps bartenders use every day, including shaking, stirring and muddling. By practicing these techniques we can make great, consistent drinks.

HOW TO SHAKE COCKTAILS: (SHAKING)

Red Thermal Cocktail Shaker (ANY STANDARD SHAKER)

Many cocktail recipes call for the ingredients to be shaken using a cocktail shaker. Of all the cocktail preparations, shaking is by far the most enjoyable and entertaining for you and your guests. Shaking is a simple technique that, with a little practice and by following a few tips, you’ll master in no time. Once you get your personal shaking style down your cocktails will emerge crisp, cool and concentrated.

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: 2 minutes

Here’s How:

1. Place ice cubes in the shaker first. This will chill the shaker and cool the liquids as you add them.
2. Use 5-6 ice cubes for one drink.
3. When making two drinks at once use less ice to make room in the shaker if needed.
4. Don’t overfill the shaker. Give the ingredients plenty of room to move around.
5. Shake most drinks vigorously to a slow count of ten.
6. Shake drinks longer and harder that have many ingredients or ingredients that don’t mix well such as eggsor cream. Thirty seconds is a good goal.
7. The majority of the time, you are done shaking when the cocktail shaker becomes frosty on the outside.
8. Shake to a rhythm. Hum a tune and shake to the beat.

 EQUIPMENT REQUIRED:

• Cocktail Shaker
• Ice Cubes
• Spirits, Liqueurs and Mixers as called for in the recipe
• Strainer (If using a Boston Shaker)

HOW TO STIR A COCKTAIL: (STIRRING)

Bar Spoon/Stirrer

Typically, drinks are stirred when they contain distilled spirits only, such as Martinis and Manhattans. It may seem like a simple technique that you mastered when you pour, and it is, but its purpose in mixology is important. When you stir drinks the key is to gently combine the ingredients and dissolve enough ice to water down the potent mix: don’t stir cocktails like you are mixing a cake batter, instead keep it slow, smooth and steady and be patient.

• When to Shake and When to Stir
• Essential Bar Tools

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: 20-30 seconds

Here’s How:

1. Fill a mixing glass half way with ice. Use the base of a cocktail shakeror a highball glass if no mixing glass is available.
2. Add liquors and other cocktail ingredients.
3. Hold a bar spoonat the top of the twisted part of the shaft between your thumb and first two fingers.
4. Technique #1: Dunk the bar spoon into the glass and twirl the shaft back and forth and up and down for 20-30 seconds.

Technique #2: Place the bar spoon along the inside of the glass and gently rotate, moving only your wrist, it around the outer edge for 20-30 seconds.

5. Strain the cocktail into a well-chilled glassappropriate for the cocktail.

Tips:

1. When making mixed drinks(built in glass over ice) most bartenders will either leave the drink as is or give the drink a stir or two, but will usually include a sip stick or straw for the drinker to stir as desired.
2. If no bar spoon is available, use the longest spoon possible and slowly stir it around the glass as well as up and down.
3. Diluting the ice into the cocktail is essential to water down the alcohol just enough to make it palatable.

EQUIPMENT REQUIRED:

• Mixing Glass, Base of a Cocktail Shaker or Highball Glass
• Bar Spoon
• Ice
• Cocktail Ingredients
• Strainer

HOW TO STRAIN COCKTAILS: (STRAINING)

Getting Drinks From Shaker to Glass

Barware Set

Uber Bar Tools – Cocktail Jigger, Julep Strainer, Hawthorne Strainer, Bar Spoon

Straining is used almost every time a cocktail is mixed in a cocktail shaker, no matter if they are shaken or stirred. It is a very simple technique, but there are a few tips that you should know and a few different techniques that will be dependent on the type of shaker and the drink’s ingredients.

Why Do We Strain?

We strain cocktails because we either want no ice (e.g. Martinis) or fresh ice (almost always recommended), or when we do not want a certain ingredient, such as torn mint leaves, in the finished drink.

1.      Strain Using a Cocktail Shaker

The three-piece cocktail shaker is the easiest to strain drinks from because the strainer is built into one of the lids.

When you use with this strainer, you will want to get a firm grasp on the mixing tin, placing your forefinger and middle finger on top of the strainer lid to secure it (trust me, the strainer lid can and will come off). Slowly tip your cocktail shaker upside down over the serving glass and let the drink pour out. Due to the smaller hole, give it a little shake to move the ice around and ensure you get all of the liquid.

2.      Strain Using a Boston Shaker

The Boston shaker requires that you use a separate tool to strain because there is not one included. Most of the time you will use a Hawthorne strainer, but you may also want to use a julep strainer.

Hawthorne Strainer – This strainer is very common to see in bars. It has a flat top with either 2 or 4 “thumbs” sticking out and a semi-circle of springs underneath. It is designed to fit snuggly in a shaker tin and holds back ice and almost all solid ingredients, creating a clean, crisp cocktail in the glass.

To use the Hawthorne strainer, place it inside of the mixing tin with the coil facing down. Hold the strainer in place with your forefinger and slowly tip the tin over the serving glass. When the glass is filled, quickly return the tin to an upright position to avoid any spills on the bar.

Julep Strainer – Use this strainer when straining from the mixing glass of your Boston shaker. This is useful when stirring drinks because it is often recommended to pour ingredients into the clear glass part of your shaker so you can see what and how much you’re pouring.

To use the julep strainer, place it inside the mixing glass with the bowl of the spoon facing out (upside down). Hold the strainer on the joint between the handle and bowl using your forefinger while you slowly tip the mixing glass over the serving glass. When the glass is filled, quickly return the tin to an upright position.

Breaking the Shaker – This is a method of straining that some professional bartenders like to use. Essentially, you are going to crack the seal of the Boston shaker and carefully pour the drink into the serving glass through the small gap you create between the tin and glass pieces of the shaker. The trick is to control the pour without letting any ice fall through the gap or force the two pieces apart, therefore dumping the entire drink. It requires practice and it’s recommended to do so with water. Also, this will not strain out any herbs or small solids.

Some Boston shakers, like the Quick Strain Tins, have strainer holes built into the walls and make quick work of straining.

3.      Double or Fine Straining

On occasion you will come across cocktail recipes that suggest double straining (e.g.Watermelon Cooler and Basil North). This is often used when the cocktail is mixed using torn herbs and other small solid ingredients that are not desired in the drink. When double straining, you are running the drink through two strainers, one of those mentioned above and a fine mesh strainer.

To double strain, place your regular strainer in or on the cocktail shaker and hold a fine mesh strainer by its handle over your glass. Pour through both strainers into the glass, anything that made it through the first strainer will (hopefully) be caught in the mesh. If your mesh strainer is larger than the diameter of the glass, be sure to pour slowly so your liquid doesn’t splash over the rim.

HOW TO BLEND COCKTAILS : (BLENDING)

Frozen Strawberry Margarita

Blended cocktails are a great treat, especially for the hot summer months when you are entertaining, but it is difficult to get consistent results. Blending the perfect cocktails time after times takes practice and a level of patience that can easily be learned. It is very easy to make a chunky cocktail or a soupy one if you are not careful and these few tips will walk you through the process of blending great cocktails.

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: 5 minutes

Here’s How:

1. Add your liquors, juices and fruits to the blender’s pitcher.

Doing this step before adding ice ensures that these ingredients are mixed properly before the blender goes to work on the ice. For fruits, chop them into chunks of about 1 inch.

2. Add your ice.

Less ice is better so start out with about 1 cup per drink. You can always add more ice later in the blending process if you find it is too watery. Also, start out with cracked or crushed ice because cubes tax the motor beyond what is necessary and may shorten the life of the blender’s motor and blades.

3. Secure the lid on the pitcher and start blending at a slow speed.

This is where the pulse speed comes in handy because you can start and stop the motor in short bursts to chop any large ingredients or ice.

4. Build up the speed.

Work through the speed cycles of your blender step by step for the smoothest, chunk-free frozen cocktails.

5. Check out the results.

When you notice that the blender no longer sounds like it is no longer cracking large pieces of ice you should see where the consistency is. Open the lid after the motor has completely stopped and stir it with a bar spoon. If you notice large chunks you will want to repeat steps 3-5 until those are all blended in. If the mix is too thin and watery you will need to add more ice and go through those steps as well.

Tips:

1. Keep carbonated beverages out of the blender unless you want a big mess.
2. Find the right blender for you by reading these blender buying tips.
3. Clean your blender after each use, especially if you are switching to a different flavor of cocktail.
4. Hold the lid of your blender while the motor is running to prevent it from coming off and sending your drink all over the bar.
5. Use fresh fruit whenever possible.

EQUIPMENT REQUIRED:

• Blender
• Ice
• Cocktail Ingredients
• Glassware

(MUDDLING TECHNIQUE)

What is a muddler?

Muddler – Bar Tools

Definition:

To muddle is to combine ingredients, usually in the bottom of a mixing glass, by pressing them with a muddler before adding the majority of the liquid ingredients.

A muddler is a long pestle shaped often shaped like a baseball bat that is commonly made of wood, but modern designs can be found in stainless steel or plastic with teeth on the bottom. One end of this essential bar tool is large and rounded and is used to mash the ingredients. While the other end is skinnier and flat and is used to mix ingredients.

When stocking a bar, it is ideal to have both a traditional wood muddler and a plastic toothed muddler. Use the wood muddler for herbs, such as mint, for Mojitos and Mint Juleps. Use the newer, toothed designs like Shawn Soole’s Viva Stick, for fruits and other thick ingredients.

Compare Prices of Muddlers.

Examples:

• Many times you will muddle a bitter and sugar cube in cocktails such as Sazeracand Old-Fashioned
• Limesare often muddle with sugar syrup or other fruit as in a Caipirnha and Bésame.
• For a Mojitosugar and fresh mint leaves are muddled.

 ROLLING

Definition: Rolling is a seldom used mixing technique that is easy to do, with a little practice. High volume drinks like highballs and lowballs which are served on the rocks benefit the most from rolling. This is a great technique for mixing only a few ingredients (like vodka and orange juice in a Screwdriver) as it gently combines them without melting as much ice or adding as much air as the shaking technique does.

To roll:

1. Fill one glass to the top with ice and add the liquid ingredients.
2. Pour the contents from this glass into a shaker tin or mixing glass.
3. Return the contents to the original glass.

HOW TO FLOAT OR LAYER A DRINK: (LAYERING)

Definition: To carefully pour a small amount of liquid that balances as the top layer of a drink. This is done by using the back of a barspoon to gently disperse (or float) the ingredient on top of the ingredients already in the glass. This technique is often used to to make layered shots and works best when applying the theories of the specific gravity of different liquor, ie. heavier liquor sinks and lighter liquid rises. To keep the layering effect the drink should not be stirred and practice is the best way to get the feel for creating clean layers.

BUILDING:

Definition: To pour ingredients directly into the serving glass on top of the previous ingredient. When Building you usually want to add the ingredients in the order they are given in the recipe.

HOW TO USE A SPEED POURER

Speed Pourer

Anyone in the know knows the beauty of the speed, or bottle, pourer. The main benefits of the speed pourer is that it streamlines the flow of liquid coming out of the bottle (helping to avoid spills and splashes) and gives you greater control over the amount of alcohol that is poured.

Here are a few quick tips to get you on the road to becoming a speed pouring master:

• Place the speed pourer in the bottle so that the pouring hole is facing the bottle’s label. This way you’ll always know which way the hole is pointing.
• To slow down the rate of pour use your finger to block the air hole on top of the pourer.
• Hold the bottle upside down over the glass and count to three to pour 1 1/2 ounces of liquid. Practice with an empty bottle filled with water and fill a shot glass while counting. After a few times of doing this you will have trained yourself to this rhythm and know exactly how much you’ve poured.
• Never store a bottle for a long time with the speed pourer, this will cause air to get into the bottle and cause its shelf life to go down.