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Build - Pour one on top of the other, allowing them to mix.
Most
highball drinks are made this way. For example, for a Rum and Coke, you would put ice in the glass, add the rum, then
add the coke. The carbonation in the soda allows it to mix naturally. You always add the liquor first, followed
by the mixer.
Another example is a Tequila Sunrise. Fill the glass with ice, add the tequila, fill almost to
the top with orange juice, then top with grenadine. This gives the drink it's "sunrise" appearance. There's no
special pouring technique as there is with layering, but the order is often important.
Blend - Add the ingredients with ice into a blender and blend until smooth. This takes practice to get right.
Too much ice and the drink seems weak, too little and it seems runny. Usually, the liquids should fill about 1/2 to
2/3 of the way up the ice (if the blender is full with ice, then the liquids
should reach to about 1/2 or 2/3)
Pouring - The best way to get some practicewould be to find yourself an empty liquor bottle, say an empty 1 liter Bacardi or
Canadian Club bottle. If you don't have one, ask your friendly neighborhood bartender to put one aside for you. Fill it up
with water, leaving the neck empty. Now pop in one of your new pourers. Lets stand in front of a sink, bottle next to sink.
Now grab the bottle by the neck like a ski pole or like you might choke a chicken, making sure the pourer is aimed in the
general direction of the sink. Lift the bottle off the counter and in a quick wrist-snapping motion turn the bottle upside
down.
When you have this action down you can progress to pouring into a jigger/measurer. Count to yourself as you
pour so you know how many counts are in an ounce (3cl), two ounces (6cl). When you think you have this mastered, set up 5
or 6 differnt kinds of glasses and free pour using your count. Then measure what you poured in each glass for accuracy. When
you have that figured out, then you can touch your booze. You might want to have a little party/gathering when you are at
this stage just because, if you are all the mistakes alone, you are going to hurt yourself.
Shaking - Every drink that needs to be shaken -- and many that don't have to be shaken -- start in a mixing glass (shaker,
Boston shaker, Pint). Before we start, make sure your mixing cup (tin or plastic) fits over your mixing glass. If it does,
great, fill the mixing glass with ice and then water. Take the mixing cup, place it over the filled mixing glass, hold the
glass still with one hand and give the bottom of the mixing cup with a gentle tap. That should be all you need to secure them
together (it creates a little vacum). Now try pulling them apart gently and repeat the process a few times to get the feel
of them together and apart. If they get stuck you need to tap the tin on the side against a sturdy edge like on a bar (do
this with the cup on the bottom and the glass on top).
The Shake - You have your ingredients
in the glass. You have secured the mixing cup to the glass. Now pick them up, one hand on the glass, one hand on the cup,
and let's get a little shaking going on. The trick is getting a little rhythm going. Try up and down like a piston in an engine.
Try horizontally in front of yourself, in and out. Practice and choose whichever you feel better with (your fingers are going
to go numb if you practice with ice)....and always keep in mind, the longer you shake a drink the more diluted from the melting
ice it will become.
Open Cup Shake - This is the proper way to mix a Bloody Mary. You make your cocktail
to specs, by the recipe, and you pour with a little vigor into a large mixing cup and gently pour it back into the mixing
glass. And remember to put your celery in the glass before you empty the mixing cup; if you don't, you'll know why real soon.
Floating, Layering - To make floating drinks, layered drinks, one must pour the heaviest
liqueurs or liquors first, then slowly pour the lighter ones on top over the back of a spoon. If you have time to make drinks
ahead of time you can refrigerate, and the individual ingredientswill seperate themselves in an hour or so.
Frosting and Chilling Glasses - To chill a glass, if time permits simply place glasses in refrigerator for
5 minutes. If you don't have 5 minutes fill the glasses with ice and water, and let sit for 30 seconds. To frost, you are
going to need a freezer. Place glasses in freezer for 5-10 minutes. Leave them in a glass rack if there isample room, and
ask the chef if it is all right before you do it. You don't want anybody tripping over your frosting glasses, especially the
cooks...they have sharp knives. And never, never, never, put glasses in your well ice to chill. One chip and you are screwed.
.
Heating Glasses - Nothing is worse than craving and ordering a hot drink and getting
a lukewarm drink. If it is convenient, you can microwave the glass prior to making the drink in it. I suggest filling the
glass with hot water and letting it sit for 30-40 seconds. You can heat 10 at a time this way if you want.....the reverse
chill.
Stirring - You will not find bartenders in any high traffic restaurant stopping
to stir a drink mid-rush except a traditional Martini or a Manhattan. Drinks that need to be mixed hard are either shaken
or blended. There is little need to do anymore than get the ingredients in the glass for many cocktails. Gin and Tonics, Cape
Codders, Scotch and Soda, Screwdriver, Rum and Cola, none of these type of drinks need to be stirred. You put a straw in it
or a sip stick, the correct garnish, and that is it. Traditional Martinis and Manhattans on the other hand need to be stirred.
Muddling - Muddle means to mash, jumble or mix. A muddler is no more than a wooden handle
with a flat perpendicular end. Let's say you are making an Old Fashioned. Place an empty short glass on a flat surface and
place the cherry, orange, sugar and bitters that need to be muddled into the glass. Grab your muddler and mash the four ingredients
together with 3 to 7 downward movements. In a pinch I have used spoons, little flashlights and a nip bottle.
Straining - Im going to assume you have a strainer in your arsenal. It should fit over your mixing glass snugly.
All there is to it is a steady, sharp twist of the wrist. Practice with water. Your goal is to strain out every last drop
and have it all come to a nice level in your martini glass, not too high, and not too low. Later on you should be able to
strain two drinks at the same time.
Flaming - Any fluid with an alcohol concentration of 87 proof or greater
will ignite if exposed to a direct flame. Many liquors as well as liqueurs of lesser proof will ignite if heated first and
then exposed to direct flame. Caution, people have been maimed drinling flaming shots. A restaurant that I used to go to got
sued because some idiot missed his mouth with a flaming shot and burned himself. I would never recommend serving or drinking
things that are on fire. |
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