Many mixers will keep in your bar for a long period of time. Check their freshness periodically and pay attention to expiration dates. Ice is the most important ingredient for cocktails. You will use it in 98 percent of your drinks, either while mixing or in the glass itself. All ice is not created equal, however, and it is important to use clean, fresh ice and know the difference between the various forms of ice.
A little knowledge goes a long way to improving every cocktail you mix up. Juice is easy: pick up a bottle or two during your next trip to the supermarket.
Of course, it's best to use fresh juice whenever possible. However, for everyday drinking, those bottles of ready-to-pour juices are very convenient. There are a few more ingredients that you'll want in your bar. These are ranked in order of importance to help you prioritize. Quite a few mixers can also be made at home, which will save money. Consider stocking a variety of sodas. The list is simple and includes the basics that you are likely to encounter in recipes.
When choosing sodas, try to pick up something other than the most famous brands. Today's craft soda market is impressive and can really upgrade the most basic of mixed drinks. When buying soda for the bar, try to buy small bottles. Individual servings that work for one or two drinks will ensure you're not mixing with flat soda. Liter bottles are good for the sodas you use semi-daily and will use up within the week, though two-liters are best reserved for party service.
Garnishes are the finishing touch that adds visual appeal and a splash of flavor to cocktails. Realistically, you're probably not going to add a garnish to every drink. However, squeezing a lime wedge into a gin and tonic or expressing an orange peel over your martinis can take your beverages from ordinary to spectacular. The three citrus fruits are the most common garnishes, whether as twists, wheels, or wedges.
Have a few of each around the bar, and you can use them as both a garnish and a source of fresh juice. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Use rocks glasses when you want to muddle ingredients in the serving glass, and as a general rule for drinks served over ice balls or cubes.
Aim for 6 to 10 ounces. If you think you need a double, it means you're drinking two cocktails at a time. Ice melts too quickly for that and dilutes the drink beyond what recipes intend, so buy a single and make the second drink when number one is gone.
Cocktails are meant to be enjoyed quickly, after all. Example drinks: Old Fashioned , Negroni , Margarita. The Collins glass is so closely related to the Highball glass, which is slightly wider and squatter, that you only need one or the other. To have both is decidedly expert-level.
Because drinks fit for a Collins or Highball glass are served with lots of ice, these should hold 10 to 12 ounces. Coupes are historically 6 to 8 ounces, and are used for drinks served without ice. After straining the cocktail into the glass, the liquid should settle just below the rim.
These can replace martini glasses, which spill far too easily to be worth buying for your home bar. Example drinks: Daiquiri , Sidecar , Manhattan. At least a half-liter mixing glass is suitable.
A decent glass will be thick enough that a metal bar spoon banging around inside won't shatter it. Just make sure it has a pour spout so that when you serve the drink, you empty it all into a glass and not onto the rug. Sometimes used as a measurement for syrupy ingredients—e. Too short and your sleeve cuffs will be taking alcohol baths. Too long and you'll look like Pee-wee Herman mixing a cocktail. Buy the Boston type, in which you hold together two parts that look like metal pint glasses.
You can make all shaken drinks in these. Skip the cobbler-type with the built-in strainer and cap. It can't do anything better than the Boston shaker, except look a little cooler. The Hawthorne is your go-to tool for separating cocktails from extraneous ice and ingredient remnants as you pour from a mixing glass or shaker.
It fits against the rim of both like a lid. Japanese jiggers weren't originally Japanese, but when Western bartenders rediscovered their Japanese counterparts using them in the s, they fell back in love with the two-sided measuring tools. They have different capacities on each end, so you can buy half as many as you'd otherwise need. First get a 1-ounce x 2-ounce jigger. There's also the option to get all the tools you'll need—and a few that you won't—in one haul. This cocktail set comes with a stand, which is a nice flourish, though the individual tools aren't quite as well-made as those piecemeal options above.
Unless you're using a mallet and ice pick to chip your own cubes, spring for the ice trays. The 1. For serving a cocktail or straight spirit over ice, buy the 2-inch ice ball mold; spheres melt slower than 2-inch cubes, and take longer to dilute your drink.
Get two trays, because unless you're Canadian, you can never have too much ice. Someday, you might even buy a Wintersmiths Phantom ice maker , the Bugatti of ice makers. Get a juicer for fresh lime and lemon juice, which go into many cocktail recipes. Fresh is key; bottled lime and lemon juice does not taste as good. Get a two-part setup that can handle oranges, too.
The more crush, the better. Occasionally you need to filter out certain ingredient debris that slips past an ordinary strainer, like fruit shards and egg. The fine mesh strainer is held over the serving glass, and the ingredients are poured through. You won't use it often, but when you need to, it'll be the only thing that works. Tonic waters flavored with essence of cucumber, elderflower, citrus, or similar botanicals are another option.
Try Fever-Tree , one of the first craft tonic makers to hit it big, and a favorite with bartenders. Pro tip: Tonic water goes flat quickly, so buy individual-serving bottles rather than 1-liter or larger containers, say the mixmasters at Food Network. For more great entertaining and dining tips, please sign up for our free newsletters. Like tonic water, seltzer and club soda give cocktails a bubbly kick while taking the edge off strong liquors. Both are essentially carbonated water and can be used interchangeably, although club soda has been fortified with minerals such as potassium bicarbonate that give it a slightly salty taste.
Club soda is a must for cocktails such as the gin rickey or Aperol spritz, while plain seltzer is used for wine spritzers and sangria. If you like your bubbles big and carbonation bracing, experts recommend Topo Chico mineral water and Schweppes Club Soda.
If you prefer a little less fizz, but a bit more flavor, try Q Club Soda. Pro tip: Avoid flavored and sweetened seltzer water, which can introduce unwanted flavors into your cocktail. Coke and Pepsi are just fine on their own, but there are also a handful of classic cocktails that take cola to the next level: rum and Coke, Cuba libre, and Long Island iced tea, among them. Pro tip: As with tonic water, choose small cans instead of large 1- or 2-liter containers so your mixer is always fresh and fizzy.
If your cocktail cravings lean toward the Moscow mule or a dark 'n' stormy, add ginger beer to your shopping list. This nonalcoholic, carbonated mixer is made with ginger, sugar, and water, then fermented. It's got a stronger ginger taste than ginger ale, which is not fermented, but it's typically less fizzy.
Pro tip: You don't need alcohol to enjoy ginger beer. It can be served on the rocks like any soda for a bracing, refreshingly snappy sipper.
Fruit juices play an important role in mixology, whether it's as an accent a dash of lemon or lime in a tonic-based cocktail or as the main feature aside from the booze, of course in a bloody Mary, pina colada, or seabreeze.
Fresh is best for lemon and lime juice, but canned is just fine for cranberry, pineapple, tomato, and orange juices. If fancy bloody Marys are your thing , stock up on these condiments. Tabasco brand pepper sauce, which can also be used in drinks such as the Michelada, will give your cocktail a touch of spicy heat.
Kick it up a notch with a dash of Worcestershire sauce and horseradish, which add pungency and savory notes. As for the prepared horseradish, look for Woeber's Pure Horseradish.
Pro tip: Don't buy horseradish sauce, which contains mayonnaise; it's not the same as pure horseradish and will ruin a bloody Mary. Ice is a no-brainer, especially during hot weather. Most people are content with the ice from their freezer.
If you're super-serious about your drink, any old ice cube will not do. For on-the-rocks drinks, use cubes that are 1. Cracked ice, the kind you'll find at a grocery store, is a good choice for frozen drinks such as margaritas or daiquiris because it is smaller than ice cubes and less likely to jam a blender. Chips of crushed ice, sometimes called shaved ice, are smaller still and best for slushy drinks such as the Moscow mule.
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