Cocktail Tips & Tricks

If you're planning to host a cocktail party or simply have a few friends round for a drink, the following tips will help to ensure that you'll be able to impress everyone with your perfect cocktail making skills.

Planning a Cocktail Party

• Although there are a wide range of exotic spirits and liqueurs available, you should always make sure that you have at least the basics in stock: gin, rum, vodka, whisky, brandy, tequila and vermouth.
• You should also ensure that you have a good range of mixers available, including soda water, tonic water, dry ginger ale, cola, lemonade, bitter lemon, sparkling mineral water, fresh orange juice, pineapple juice and tomato juice.
• You will need a good supply of ice; an approximate guide is to allow 750 g of ice per person, which can be bought-in or made well in advance at home.
• If you are hosting a morning or midday cocktail party, you may find that many guests will ask for relatively low-alcohol drinks; fruit juice cocktails such as Bucks Fizz or Bellinis are ideal.
• You can make many cocktails up in bulk before the guests arrive; however do not add any ice until they are ready to be served.
• Avoid pre-mixing cocktails containing cream or eggs, as they will soon separate or curdle.

Ingredients

• Although you should always aim to use only high quality branded products, you should avoid using a quality malt Scotch whisky unless a recipe specifies it. A blend will usually suffice in a mixed drink.
• Make sure that all ingredients are in perfect condition, particularly fruit, which should be freshly sliced, or juices, which should be freshly squeezed.
• Store mixers such as soda water, lemonade and juice in the fridge before using to ensure that they are cold before adding into your drinks.
• If you are squeezing lemon or lime juice, make sure that you sieve it to remove any pips. If you are adding to an otherwise transparent cocktail, you may want to sieve it through a fine cloth.

Measuring and Mixing

• Test out your cocktail glasses to check how much they will hold. You can do this by filling them with crushed, broken and then whole ice cubes, and then counting how many units of water they will hold in each case. You will then be able to determine how many measures you will need to make a single cocktail to fit that particular glass.
• Always bear in mind that a successful cocktail usually achieves a balance between sharpness or bitterness (e.g. lemon juice) and sweetness (e.g. fruit liqueur). You should also think about the colour, texture, consistency, aroma, taste and presentation.
• When mixing cocktails, always add the cheapest ingredients first, such as the fruit juice. In this way, if you make a mistake, you will not waste any expensive spirits.
• Always add the ice into the shaker or glass before the alcohol is added; the drink will chill more quickly and evenly this way, and there will be less chance of the alcohol becoming diluted.
• Measure all quantities accurately using a jigger, particularly when using ingredients with strong flavours such as Pernod or Creme de Menthe.
• Never fill a shaker so full of liquid that there is no room for shaking.
• Shaking a teaspoon of egg white together with other ingredients will give clear cocktails a pleasant thin white head and a smooth misty look. Your guests will not be able to taste the egg.
• Never shake fizzy drinks. Add the mixer in at the end and stir gently.
• Always pour your cocktail into a chilled glass; if you do not have a fridge nearby then chill the glass with ice cubes.
• If you make up a cocktail containing cream or egg, always make sure that you wash out the shaker thoroughly using detergent and cloth to remove any traces that may have become stuck to the inside. Not only are these traces unhygienic, but they may also taint the next cocktail.