Are you looking to make great cocktails with friends this New Year’s Eve and you already have a handle on the basics? Head over to shakestrain.com and you’ll find a great list of modern and classic drinks, presented as a handy mobile friendly, bartender stlye spec-sheet.
Latest posts
Understanding Your Ingredients
Get to know what you’re putting in your mouth
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.
The Easy Guide to Alcohol part one – Fermentation, Distillation and Spirits
Next, dive into the sweeter side with a look at how your favourite liqueurs are made.
The Easy Guide to Alcohol part two – Liqueurs
We follow this up with an introduction to that most versatile of citrus fruits, the lime.
Easy Guide to Lime Juice – Fresh Lime, Roses Cordial and the Gimlet
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.
Make some drinks!
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.
/David
Brush Up On Your Core Cocktail Making Skills
Ready to brush up on your skills?
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.
Now that you have an idea about the equipment, it’s time to answer the age old question – shaken or stirred?
Have a look at the different mixing methods and when you should use them.
Mixing Cocktails 101 – The Methods – Overview
And the Individual methods
Mixing Cocktails 101 – The Methods – Build
Mixing Cocktails 101 – How to stir a cocktail
And of course, the all important
Mixing Cocktails 101 – The Methods – Shake and Strain
The Cocktail List for Geeks
Cocktail Recipe List now in Markdown at github
Something a little different (and perhaps showing my geeky side) – I know how popular the downloadable PDF Master Cocktail List is so I’ve decided to offer it in Markdown format on github. What does this mean?
You get the same cocktails as the pdf (for now – I’ll be adding more in the future) but now you can clone them, fork them and write your own recipes – whatever you want!
Check it out at: Cocktails.md @ github
Home for the Holidays? Time for some great cocktail making tips!
Make Great Cocktails these Holidays
Are you looking to mix some cocktails over the Christmas holiday season? Make sure you’re doing it right by checking out some of the resources from the blog:
First things first, you need to make sure you have all the right tools and ingredients for the job –
- Essential Ingredients for Your Home Bar
- Essential Tools for your Home Bar
- Making Sugar Syrup at Home
- The Cheaters Guide to Making Grenadine Syrup
Tools and ingredients – check. Now to make sure you’re mixing your drinks well with ‘Mixing Cocktails 101- The Methods’ –
Choose a great recipe for the occasion –
- Printable Guide for 96 Cocktails – PDF
Happy Mixing and Merry Christmas!
// Dave
