Long gone are the days when making cocktails was limited to high-end bars. Nowadays, you can craft a delicious cocktail right in the comfort of your home. If you’re a cocktail lover but don’t know how or where to start, we’ve got you covered! Here’s a handy guide to making cocktails at home.
A Beginner’s Guide To Making Cocktails At Home
Understand The Building Blocks Of A Cocktail
You don’t need a whole lot of fancy liquors and pricey equipment to concoct a drink or two. If you just get the basics right, you can make almost any drink quite easily. Every cocktail is made up of three components – the liquor, the non-alcoholic mixer, and the fresh ingredients such as garnishings and herbs.
List some of your favorite Liquors and keep them limited in stock. You might choose vodka, whiskey or rum, or gin or tequila. Most cocktails use these liquors, so having them will prove quite handy.
After this, you must stock up on Non-Alcoholic Mixers that will make your cocktail more palatable. You have tonic water, sparkling water, ginger ale, carbonated water, or classic fruit juices. You can store them in a fridge and use them to make other non-alcoholic drinks as well.
Its good to have Fresh Ingredients like lemons, limes, herbs, etc in your fridge as you might require them in cocktails. Also, you don’t need to stock up on store-brought simple syrup, you can simply make it fresh at home.
Essential Tools To Make Cocktails
Now that you know about the foundational blocks of making a cocktail, it’s time to understand more about the tools required to craft one. You might be thinking that you’ll require a lot of fancy tools to craft a cocktail, but trust us, you don’t need much!
First things first, invest in a good cocktail shaker. The tool is the single most important tool required in making a cocktail, so buying a good shaker will make all the difference. There are two main types of shakers – the Cobbler shaker and the Boston shaker. While the Boston shaker is a two-piece shaker consisting of a large metal tin and a shaking glass, the Cobbler shaker is a three-piece tool with a metal container, a lid with a built-in strainer, and a cap. For making cocktails at home, we recommend buying a Cobbler shaker as it is more beginner-friendly.
Apart from that, you can buy a jigger (measuring tool) and a bar spoon to stir drinks. You can also invest in a good silicone ice tray to make ice for your cocktails. Make sure that you get an ice tray with a lid and keep washing the tray after every use to make good-quality ice.
Also Read: FSSAI In Talks Over Introducing Stronger Health Warnings On Liquor Bottles
Good Quality Glassware
Speaking of tools, one important aspect of any cocktail is the glassware you serve it in. Serving a cocktail in an appropriate glass can elevate the whole drinking experience and make it look more appealing.
Martini Glass: It is quite a common glass used to serve non-iced and strained drinks, such as a martini.
Flute Glass: Typically used to serve champagne, the flute glass is also used to serve a French 75 or Bellini. It helps in making the bubbles last longer.
Rocks Glass: This type of glass is ideal for straight liquors served neat (without ice) or on the rocks (with ice).
Coupe Glass: This kind of glass prevents the heat from our hands from heating up the drink and is used to mostly serve frothier drinks.
There are many other kinds of glasses that you can keep at your home bar, however, you do not need all of them. With just a few kinds of glasses that are used most commonly, you can serve a whole lot of cocktails.
Liqueurs Vs. Liquors
If you’re new to the world of making cocktails, you must’ve often heard of these two terms and wondered if they are any different. Well, yes, they are completely different from each other and you must know the difference between them before making a cocktail.
A liquor is the one you most commonly drink in an alcoholic drink. This includes classics like rum, whiskey, tequila, vodka, gin, brandy, and many others. They have a higher percentage of alcohol by volume (ABV) than liqueurs, usually above 38%. You can have a liquor neat (as it is) or combine it with a non-alcoholic mixer.
Liqueur on the other hand are essentially liquors with added flavorings to make them more palatable. They use plenty of oils, syrups, and flavorings, which makes them sweeter and more delightful to consume. Bailey’s, Cointreau, Curaçao, are some examples of liqueurs.
Also Read: How Alcohol Before Sleep, Can Affect Your Sleep Cycle And Brain Function
Essential Bar Techniques
Shaken Or Stirred
Most drinks are often either shaken or stirred. Generally, you shake cocktails with juices and flavored ingredients and drinks primarily made with liquor are stirred.
Straining Drinks
It is essential to strain drinks before serving them to someone so that you don’t end up serving the used ice, herbs, or other ingredients along with the cocktail. Strain the drink and use different ice in the final drink as the used ice will not look pleasant or last long in the drink.
Muddling Drinks
Many drinks like the Mojito or the Old-Fashioned require ingredients to be muddled up. You can use a simple muddler or use a flat round surface to muddle up the ingredients.
Essential Tips To Making Cocktails At Home
- Begin simple, don’t complicate your very first drink. You can start by creating something as simple as a gin and tonic or an old-fashioned one. Remember that you need not ace bartending from the very first drink.
- Keep experimenting with flavors and liquors. It’s your home bar, so you need not worry about going wrong. Experimenting with different liquors, techniques, and flavors might even bring something completely new to the table!
- Don’t underestimate ice! It can make or break your cocktail. Use good quality ice and remember to never use the same ice you used in the cocktail shaker!
- Remember the common cocktail formula of 2:1:1. 2 parts of liquor, 1 part sour (like citrus juice), and 1 part sweet (like simple syrup). This formula is quite common and will help you create well-balanced cocktails.
- Use good-quality glassware to serve your drinks. Though you need not have a whole array of glassware, serving a martini or an old-fashioned coffee mug doesn’t seem like a great idea either!
Summing Up
Making cocktails at home just got easier. With just a few ingredients, essential techniques, and basics done right, you can craft a decadent cocktail in minutes. No need to go to the bar every weekend, it’s time for the bar to come home!
FAQs
What Is A Good Beginner Cocktail?
Here are a few good beginner cocktails you can make if you’re just starting:
- Mojito
- Gin and Tonic
- Gimlet
- Tequila Sunrise
- Screwdriver
What Is A Jigger?
A jigger is a measuring tool used to measure and pour alcohol and other liquid ingredients. Most jiggers feature two conjoined cups, one smaller and one bigger. The bigger side usually measures 60 ml, while the smaller one is usually 30 ml.
Can We Mix Vodka With Sprite?
Yes, you can mix vodka with Sprite. The combination is a great way of combining a liquor (vodka) with a non-alcoholic mixer (Sprite) and is a common way to consume vodka.
