The phrase “on the rocks” is a common term used in the world of bartending and drink enthusiasts. But what does it really mean? Let’s dive into the origins, usage, and variations of this famous phrase.
The Origins of “On the Rocks”
The phrase “on the rocks” is believed to have originated in the United States during the late 19th or early 20th century. It describes a method of serving a drink, usually a spirit like whiskey or scotch, where you pour the spirit into a glass over ice cubes. The “rocks” are the ice cubes.
But why “rocks”?
The term is thought to have come from an old practice of chilling drinks with river rocks. Before the invention of modern refrigeration, people would gather smooth, flat stones from rivers, clean them, and then chill them in the winter. These chilled stones were then used to cool drinks.
“On the rocks” in Bartending
In the bartending world, “on the rocks” is a specific instruction on how to serve a drink. Customers who order a drink “on the rocks” want their drink served over ice. This is typically done with spirits like whiskey, scotch, or bourbon but can also be requested for other drinks.
Ordering a drink “on the rocks” can change the flavour profile of the beverage. The ice cubes dilute the drink as they melt, softening the harshness of high-alcohol spirits and bringing out different flavours. Of course, whether this is good or not is a matter of personal preference. Some people prefer to take their spirits neat, or without any ice.
Types of Ice for “On the Rocks”
All ice is not created equal, especially when serving drinks “on the rocks”. The size and shape of the ice can significantly affect how quickly it melts and thus how much it dilutes the drink.
The standard ice cubes found in a home freezer are often small and melt quickly, which can lead to a watered-down drink. Many bars and restaurants use larger, specially made ice cubes or even ice spheres for serving drinks “on the rocks”. These larger pieces of ice melt more slowly, providing a gradual dilution that can enhance the flavours of the spirit without watering down the drink.
Ice Spheres vs Ice Cubes
Ice spheres and ice cubes are the two most common types of ice used for serving drinks “on the rocks”. But what’s the difference?
Ice spheres are large, round pieces of ice made using a special mold. Because of their shape, they have a smaller surface area compared to an ice cube of the same volume. This means they melt more slowly and dilute the drink less. Ice spheres are often used for high-end spirits that are best enjoyed with minimal dilution.
Ice cubes, on the other hand, are more common and easier to make. They can range in size from small cubes made in a home freezer to large, perfectly square cubes made in a professional ice machine. The size and quality of the ice cube can affect how quickly it melts and dilutes the drink.
Finishing up
So, the next time you hear someone order a drink “on the rocks”, you’ll know exactly what they mean. Whether you prefer your spirits neat or on the rocks, it’s all about personal preference and enjoying the drink in the way that tastes best to you.
Now that you have the core cocktail making skills you need to make a good drink it’s time to get up to speed on the next important part – the ingredients. Afterall, if you want to make great tasting cocktails of your own it’s essential you understand exactly what you’re playing with.
Start off by brushing up on the fundamentals behind how alcohol is made with an introduction to distillation and fermentation.
Now you can tell the difference between a spirit and a liqueur , how they taste, how they are produced, and also when and why we should use fresh citrus. Great! Let’s put this knowledge to use in the next guide as we breakdown a cocktail into it’s separate components.
With a core knowledge of the key techniques and the ingredients needed to make a decent drink it’s time for you to start experimenting with recipes of your own! Feel free to let me know how you go by leaving a comment below, I’m very interested to see what you can come up with.
To make truly great tasting cocktails it’s important to understand both the reasons and the mechanics behind how they are made. Although it may sometimes seem like it, (good) bartenders do not just reach for the shaker every time they make a drink – they use the right tool for the right job, at the right time.
Start by having a quick look at the different types of bar equipement you’ll be using.
Time for the next post in my series on mixing methods, and today we’re going to take a look at stirring, or stirred, cocktails.
I’ve previously covered shaking, an aggressive action we use when we need to mix ingredients that that differ greatly in consistency (mixing spirits, juices and syrups together for example), but what if we are using simpler ingredients?
If we are simply mixing two types of clear alcohol together (such as gin and vermouth) then the aggressive nature of shaking is really more than we need- it will ruin the appearance of the drink by making it cloudy, and the small chips of ice that break off during the shaking action can also add often unwanted dilution to the drink.
Instead, we’re going to treat this cocktail with respect – be gentle, and stir.
Technique
You will need:
Mixing glass (part of your shaker set)
Bar spoon
Take your (clean) mixing glass and fill it with (clean) ice.
Using a measure for accuracy pour in the ingredients from your cocktail – for example if you are making a Martini, pour in measured amounts of gin and vermouth.
Now you have the ingredients in the ice it’s ready to mix.
It’s time to grab your bar spoon. Ever wondered why it was so long? Well, wonder no more – the extra length lets us get right to the bottom of a mixing glass to the precious, precious alcohol.
Carefully push the ‘spoon’ end of your barspoon down the side of the glass right down bottom, holding the base of the mixing glass steady with one hand. Stir the spoon around in a gentle circular motion making sure that the ice and liquid move around almost silently – we want a smooth mixing action, we’re not trying to smash the spoon through the ice.
Continue stirring until the drink is mixed – you may read ridiculous things in fancy guides like “stir clockwise 27 times” but really the mount you need to stir will depend on how fast you are stirring, and in general it will probably take around 30 seconds. The most important thing to remember is that we are stirring for a reason – we want to make the ingredients mix and the drink temperature nice and cold – so we will be finished when we have accomplished these two goals.
Mixed and cold, it’s time to move the drink into our glass. Grab your Hawthorne strainer (or a Julep strainer if you have one), fit it over the top of your mixing glass and carefully pour your cocktail into it’s new home.
Done. Now be a good bartender – rinse your equipment – then take a seat, relax, and enjoy your beautiful stirred cocktail.
There seems to be some confusion for the newly enthusiastic home bartender as to what exactly is meant by lime juice – do we literally mean onlythe freshly squeezed juice of a lime or could you use one of the green lime bottles littering the shelves at the supermarket?
Why use lime at all?
When we make cocktails we are aiming to take a selection of different ingredients and mix them together, producing something that (hopefully) tastes better than when we started. To get good flavours we need to make balanced use of some of the 5 primary tastes – sour, sweet, salty, bitter, and umami. I’ll go into a detailed explanation of each of these in an upcoming post but for now we are interested in the main taste associated with lime – sourness.
When drinking freshly squeezed lime juice you notice a strong sour taste on your tongue – this is because limes contain a relatively high level of citric acid which our bodies note as being sour. A sour acidic flavour, when balanced with other tastes (such as sweetness from sugar) adds to the overall depth of the cocktail so if we use it correctly we can give our drinks a crisp, refreshing flavour.
Fresh squeezed Lime
Fresh lime is easily the most important lime for us – the vast majority of cocktails that you’ll come across on this blog referring to lime juice are asking for freshly squeezed lime juice. Buy a bunch of limes from your local grocer, wash them, cut them in half and squeeze with a citrus press or reamer to extract all the juicy, natural goodness. Real, fresh limes will provide the acidic bite that we are looking for and provide a more natural flavour in the final drink.
Depending on where you live these can be pretty costly so try and buy a citrus press to make sure you can get as much juice as possible out of each lime. A tip; use the palm of your hand to push on the lime and roll it around on your bench a few times before juicing and you’ll get more out of it. Expect to get around 15ml juice per half lime/ 30ml per lime.
‘Fresh’ Lime bottles
Often found in the soft drink section of your local convenience store or supermarket, these squeezed lime bottles tend to contain concentrated lime juice that has commonly had preservatives and other bits and pieces added. While these bottles may save a few seconds over the hand-squeezing of a real lime, unfortunately they tend to fail on the taste test, generally lacking the true sour or acidic bite as fresh lime juice and are therefore best left on the shelf.
Roses Lime cordial, other brands of Lime cordials
Lime cordials were originally a mix of concentrated lime juice and sugar although the ingredient list on many modern bottles seems to have grown somewhat with a mix of added preservatives and colourings. Hmm. But anyway…
The original and best known is Rose’s lime cordial, invented by a Mr Lauchlin Rose in 1867 in part as a way to help British sailors in their fight against scurvy, a nasty disease bought on by a diet lacking vitamin C.
Sensible medical types had discovered that limes and other citrus fruits were a good natural source of vitamin C and therefore helped in the fight against scurvy and quickly pushed for laws to ensure that all ships carried a ready supply of citrusy goodness for their sailors. While good in theory, problems arose quickly – citrus fruits were not always easy to source, and even when you could find them they were not particularly appetising when they’d been stored in the hold of a ship for a few weeks. Added to this, drinking straight lime juice is not particularly appealing at the best of times and while it could (and was) made more attractive by adding it to the daily rum or gin rations it was still something to be drunk out of necessity rather than choice. Time for Mr Rose.
Lauchlin Rose had a business supplying provisions for ships and after a bit of experimentation discovered that a mix of concentrated lime juice with sugar allowed him to create a cordial which would provide the necessary vitamin C but in a sweetened, more palatable form than simple lime juice. Added to this the lime and sugar combination was stable when bottled and could be stored for lengthy periods without going off. Created just in time for the Merchant Shipping Act of 1868, which made the carrying of citrus a legal requirement, Rose was on to a winner.
Nothing is perfect however. The sugar that helped so much in creating the cordial is often its downfall when used in cocktails. Remembering from earlier, the main reason we use limes in good cocktails is to add an acidic bite from the citric acid contained in the juice. Unfortunately the sugar that is used to help stabilise the cordial weakens this acidity, ultimately giving a kind of sweet general lime flavour but without the acid that we really want. This results in an unbalanced and (often) unpleasant drink when compared to fresh squeezed lime.
Conclusion
Unless specifically stated, use freshly squeezed lime juice for cocktails – your drinks will taste better. Avoid buying pre-squeezed as squeezing by hand will result in better juice and a better drink.
Lesson – Making a Gimlet
A real classic cocktail now, we are going to start by going against what I’ve just been telling you and using Rose’s cordial rather than fresh lime.
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You will need
50ml Gin
20ml Roses Lime Cordial
Method
Stir in glass
Nice and easy, this can be made in the glass or stirred in your mixing glass and strained into a cocktail glass. We are going to do the ‘stir in glass’ method today.
Take a rocks glass, old fashioned glass or similar and fill with ice. Measure in your gin and lime cordial and use your bar spoon to stir the ice and liquid until it is well mixed and cold – this should take around 30-40 seconds. Garnish with a lime slice and drink, feeling happy in the knowledge that you are tackling the fight against scurvy head-on.
Finished Gimlet
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Variations to try
After making a traditional Gimlet, make another but replace the Roses lime cordial with freshly pressed lime juice. Prepare in the same manner and taste the difference. You should notice that the new fresh lime Gimlet is very sour from the citric acid in the lime juice. To improve the taste add a small amount of simple syrup and stir – the sugar should help bring the drink back into balance and improve the overall taste.
There you go – more than you’d expect to read about lime juice on any given day. Try making the drinks and let me know in the comments section how they turned out.
