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Be Your Own Bartender – The Basics of Cocktails

  • April 26, 2014
  • By Grace
  • 0 Comments
Be Your Own Bartender – The Basics of Cocktails

Being able to make a good drink is a skill that’s sure to impress – with the added bonus that it’s much more inexpensive than ordering that same drink at a bar.  It’s easier than you think – try these basics and you’ll be on your way.

Basics

We won’t insult your intelligence by going on about the obvious – gin and tonic, vodka soda, rum and coke, whiskey and soda – they’re all exactly what they sound like.   However, many drinks just this simple are disguised under complex sounding names.  Add a squeeze of lime to your rum and coke, for example, and you have the very sophisticated sounding Cuba Libre.  Vodka and orange juice sounds much more impressive when called a Screwdriver.  Switch out the orange juice for some cranberry juice, and you’ve got a Cape Codder (and you thought it was just a plain old vodka cranberry.)  Make the very classy Mimosa for a posh feeling brunch favorite- just champagne and orange juice for a very happy breakfast.

Mixing Cocktail

Keepin’ it Classic

Three serious drinks every sophisticated gentleman or lady should know – a Martini, a Manhattan, and an Old Fashioned.  A Martini is actually quite simple; vodka or gin, a splash (or no) dry vermouth, shaken with ice, and served with olives, cocktail onions, or a twist.  Make it dirty (oo la la) by adding a little olive juice to the mix.  You could stir it rather than shaking it, but why not do like James Bond?

The Manhattan combines whiskey, sweet vermouth, and a couple shakes of bitters, shaken or stirred, poured in a cocktail glass, and garnished with a cherry for a sipper that will make you want to pull out your most important-sounding vocabulary words.  For a drink that truly makes the perfect accessory to any suit, try and Old Fashioned.  Muddle a sugar cube with a few shakes of bitters, add bourbon, and garnish with a twist.

cocktail mixing

Fun Favorites

Happy hour gets a little happier with some barstool favorites that are easier to make than you might think.  Take the Cosmopolitan for example.  Throw vodka, triple sec, a splash of cranberry juice (we love it with a very small splash) and a squeeze of lime into a shaker with some ice, mix it up, and voila!  You’re in deliciously pink business.  A fancy-feeling Lemon Drop Martini doesn’t take any fancy tricks to prepare either – vodka, a touch of triple sec, a generous bit of lemon juice, and a spoonful of sugar is all it takes to make this dangerously good concoction.

Feeling a little tropical?  Whip up a Mojito – muddle lime, fresh mint, and a little sugar to taste, add white rum and soda.  Give it a stir and be transported to your own tropical island.  For another vacation reminiscent option, a classic Margarita can’t be beat.  In it’s purest form, a Margarita is simply tequila, triple sec (or other orange flavored liqueur), and lime or lemon juice.  If you like a good salted rim, pour some salt on a plate, wet the edge of the glass, and then dip in the salt.  Is that a Jimmy Buffet song I hear?

Almost any other cocktail you can dream up is just a variation on the basics – so get creative!  Happy mixing!

 

By Grace, April 26, 2014
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