Bartending Tips That Will Take You From Mixing Simple G&Ts To Acing A Negroni
Do you consider yourself a budding bartender? Do you love hosting house parties or brunch get-togethers for your friends? Or are you simply a cocktail enthusiast looking for any excuse to bring out ‘em shakers?
When you’re dabbling with anything alcohol-related, the only way to ace it is by reading up about it and then putting your research to use!
And while you may have a bunch of cocktail recipes to refer to, there’s a lot more to a recipe that you need to understand first. These bartending tips will help you ace every cocktail recipe out there.
1. Dash V/S Splash
A dash is used for bitters and other ingredients that have a strong flavour and hence used in smaller quantities as compared to a splash. Think of splash as something that’s larger in quantity but still proportionate with the ingredient in question. Like a splash of lime will, of course, be lesser than a splash of soda.
2. Garnish
Unlike what people believe, a garnish isn’t just for presentation. It also adds subtle flavour to different cocktails. That olive on a dry martini or mint leaves and a lime wedge on a mojito, while they look great, think of how much of a difference they make to the overall flavour and experience of that cocktail!
3. Liquor V/S Liqueur
Liquor is an alcoholic spirit that has been distilled, like vodka, gin, whisky, etc. and has a pretty high alcohol content on its own. Liqueurs are also technically distilled spirits (aka liquors), but they are further sweetened with added flavours, oils, extracts etc. that gives the drink an interesting taste.
4. Stirred V/S Shaken
While serving simpler drinks like a Tanqueray gin & tonic, you simply need to stir your drink well after pouring the ingredients directly into the glassware. But a cocktail with mixers and other ingredients is best served after shaking it for a couple of minutes. It takes a while but shaking cocktails with many ingredients allows them to blend better and give you a drink that’s smooth and delicious.
5. Muddle V/S Strain
Sometimes it takes more than shaking or stirring to bring out the flavours of an ingredient in your cocktail. “Muddling” is one such process that’s used to literally smush the fruit, herb or sugar gently to infuse their flavours. Once you’re done muddling, you need to “strain” the drink into your glassware to remove all the broken leaves or fruit pulp left over after the muddling. Now, you don’t want muddled orange pieces while sipping on your smooth old-fashioned, don’t you?
Also Read: Level Up Your Mixing Game With These Amazing Japanese Bar Tools
*Drink Responsibly!
