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THE BASICS
Cocktails are a gateway for both bartenders and guests.
Bartenders can increase their skills, their tips and careers by researching, practicing and perfecting the craft of cocktail-making and all that comes with it.
With the right tools, techniques and ingredients, the bartender can take inspiration from the history of drinks and classic cocktails and create something special at any given moment.
It all starts with balance…
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GENUS & SPECIES
All cocktails are part of or evolved from a certain ‘family’ of cocktail. These ‘families’ are largely unchanged since their creation and that is primarily due to the fact that the ratios they are mixed in always balance! This makes it easy & fun to adapt recipes with interesting ingredients and twists. Here are some of the key cocktail ‘families’ to research and master:
- Daisy
- Fizz
- Highball
- Punch
- Sour
- Cobbler
- Martini/Manhattan/Negroni
- Old Fashioned
- Aperitivo/Digestif
Cocktail creation is also largely predicated on and necessitated by occasion.
A bartenders function and skill can lie in assessing the guest/s situation & personal tastes, the time of day - even the time of year! – and then suggest the ideal drink for that guest in that particular moment.
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INGREDIENTS TO KNOW AND HAVE
There are a number of core ingredients you will find and need to take you through the range of classic cocktails and mixed drinks, and that will also allow you to experiment and create.
As your knowledge, experience and practice evolves, so too will the ingredients you seek out and work with. There are many brands and variants of all of these ingredients that can be used as you become familiar with them.
These ingredients vary in stability and shelf-life; some can be dry-stored for months while others must be bought & used fresh.
- White sugar / sugar syrup (1:1)
- Sea salt
- Local honey / agave syrup
- Vinegars (raw cider, red/white/rice wine)
- Dry spices (black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg)
- Angostura bitters
- Triple Sec
- Dry & sweet vermouths
- Absinthe
- Campari
- Fino sherry
- Quality bottled mixers (soda, tonic, ginger beer)
- Fresh citrus (lemon, lime, orange)
- Fresh herbs (mint, rosemary, lemon verbena, thyme)
- Berries (raspberry, strawberry)
- Fruits (cucumber, pineapple, plum, apple)
- Juice (tomato, cranberry)
- Tabasco & Worcestershire sauces
- Ginger
- Egg white / aqua faba / emulsifier
- Ice – cubed, crushed, block
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KIT & EQUIPMENT
Like ingredients, there is a core range of bartending kit and equipment required to mix and make cocktails.
Many are multi-purpose and as your proficiency grows you will always be set for service with these at hand.
Let’s get to know them!
- Jiggers – these come in different shapes and sizes and with different measures. Many jiggers carry multiple measurement indicators to maximise capability and efficiency
- Bar spoon – stir, measure, scoop
- Mixing glass
- Shakers – the two-piece metal shaker does it all; the three-piece is often used in high-end bars
- Strainers – Hawthorne for shaker / julep for mixing glass / fine-strainer
- Knives – a serrated knife does everything for prep and service, however many bars are using higher-quality vegetable/chef knives – as long as it’s sharp and clean
- Vegetable peeler – ‘y-shaped’ are most efficient and safe
- Citrus press/squeezer
- Dash-bottles
- Muddling stick
- Atomiser
- Tongs – garnish & ice
- Small grater
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TECHNIQUES TO MASTER
Most cocktail-making techniques have been around for a long time. The real challenge and art is doing them with maximum efficiency and in a stylish way. These four fundamental skills form the foundation of all talented cocktail bartenders:
- Shaking - shaking a cocktail chills, dilutes & aerates the drink. It is usually required for recipes using denser ingredients like juices, purees, syrups or fresh/whole fruit pieces. It is also necessary to create foam in drinks like the Espresso Martini, or drinks containing emulsifiers. Drinks should always be shaken with lots of ice and very hard.
- Stirring - stirring a cocktail chills and dilutes the drink. It is usually required for recipes with more delicate ingredients such as spirits, vermouths and bitters. Drinks should always be stirred cleanly and consistently with lots of ice.
- Building – built drinks are constructed in their serving vessel, usually something tall like a highball but also mixed drinks such as G&Ts.
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TECHNIQUES TO MASTER
- Straining – done to separate liquid from ice when pouring the cocktail into it’s intended serving vessel. Hawthorne & fine strainers ensure small shards of ice and solid ingredients such as pulp remain in the shaker/mixing glass
- Pouring – whether pouring from bottle to jigger, jigger to glass, or shaker/mixing glass to glass, this technique must be mastered for accuracy. This relates directly to accuracy in measurement first to ensure balanced drinks and minimal wastage; speed & efficiency; style & flair; achieving aeration when pouring from a height
The real evolution of technique in cocktail creation is happening back-of-house in the way bartenders are preparing ingredients and extracting/manipulating flavours to serve in incredible ways to their guests.
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INSPIRATION & CREATIVITY
The world of cocktails has never been more diverse in available flavours, styles, innovation, content and information - inspiration is always at your fingertips.
There are many excellent books exploring the history of drinks and also the beverage programs and signature serves from some of the world's leading bars and bartenders.
One vital component of all bars which has benefited greatly from the sharing of inspiration and creativity is menus! Drinks menus are now incredibly varied in design, material & format, and bars invest many hours and significant resources into their development. While a menus base purpose is to grow drink sales by providing inspiration while also allowing customers to make quick and informed decisions, they are also vessels for story-telling and expressing the values and talent of a bar and their staff.
At the end of the day you can’t beat being sat at the bar of an experienced bartender or bar team – observe, chat, taste and learn!
