Top 10 tips: how to order a cocktail

Have you ever been at a loss when it comes to ordering a cocktail? Do you ever order “the same old thing” because you don’t know what else to order? That is about to change. Whether you’re seated at the bar, at a table, or standing at a cocktail party, you can use these tips to become a cocktail bon vivant (or at least to enhance the illusion that you are one). Remember that your server, whether a bartender, a cocktail waitress, or a server in a restaurant, is there to serve and to make your visit enjoyable; you should expect that. On the other hand, you owe them respect and courtesy. They have a tough job and may be busy; don’t give them a hard time or be too demanding – you must walk a fine line. At a cocktail party, your server may not be as knowledgeable or experienced and there may not be a menu, so be prepared to go with one of your favorites if these tips don’t seem to get you anywhere.

1. If the bar or restaurant has a cocktail menu, check it out. Is there anything that jumps out at you and says “drink me!”? If yes, give it a try. This is also an opportunity to see what brands they say they are pouring.
2. Ask your server questions: What are the house specialties? What drinks are “hot?” What are people ordering now? If anything sounds interesting or exciting, give it a try. This is also an opportunity to begin assessing the quality and class of the service, always within the context of how busy they are. If they’re not very busy, but can’t make time to talk to you, you have to mark down the service. Use good judgment, though.
3. Know what type of cocktail(s) you like: Sweet or dry? Tiki or blended? Mixed and strained or on the rocks? Weak or strong? Short or tall? Use your preferences 1) to guide your selection, and 2) to answer questions such as “what kind of cocktail do you like?”
4. If you’re at the bar, chat up the bartender (once again assuming he’s not too busy) and see if he enjoys his work. If he does, ask him what new cocktails he’s working on or mixing. Ask what cocktails s/he recommends, and give one of them a try.
5. See what brands of liquor are on display, and try to determine if they are actually used in the drinks. If the liquor is (shall we say) less expensive, stick with tall, dilute drinks that are more mix than booze, or get a mixed drink on the rocks. If you like the brands they’re pouring, you might want to try a Martini, a Manhattan, or even a Sazarac.
6. As you take your first sip, look around and decide if you would come back again or recommend the joint to friends. How is your cocktail? Does it taste as it should (assuming it’s something that you’re familiar with). Does it taste like the advertised brand was used, or was a “lesser brand” substituted. Is it at the correct temperature? Sad to say, many establishments don’t pre-chill their glasses, but you should never get a cocktail in a glass that’s still warm from the dishwasher; that’s a sign that they just don’t care. How do you like the atmosphere and the decor? Are the servers friendly and knowledgeable? How did they answer your questions? What do you think of the clientele? Do you and your friends fit in (and, if not, would you like to)? Or do you feel uncomfortable? If there’s something you don’t like, leave soon and don’t return.
7. Keep a PDA or notebook handy. Note the name and ingredients of any cocktail you like so you can order it again or try to make one at home. (Cocktail menus often list the main ingredients of the cocktails.) You may even discover a new addition to your short list of favorite cocktails.
8. Be on the look-out for new cocktails, or those with ingredients you don’t have at home (e.g. Chartreuse), so you can sample them without having to buy bottles of liquors or liqueurs that you might only use once, or very seldom.
9. Have a short-list of your favorite cocktails to fall back on (your list should change and evolve over time), but don’t go there first unless you recently made a new addition or have a new favorite. If necessary, keep your list in your notebook or PDA for inspiration. Old stand-bys are dependable and may even be reliable, but this is your chance to try something different.
10. Drink responsibly. Your goal is to have fun and feel good, not to get plastered. If you’re driving, don’t drink. If you’re drinking, stop after two or three cocktails and switch to water or soft drinks. Another cocktail won’t make you feel any better tonight, and it certainly won’t make you any smarter. Knowing when to stop will, however, make you feel better tomorrow.

Photograph © iStockphoto.com

Margarita Cooler – go south for your summer cocktail

For my final (and tenth) top summer cooler, I decided to recommend a delicious Margarita Cooler.  Think of it as a Margarita without the salt.  I recommend a Blanco or Plata (Silver) Tequila in this cooler.  If all you have is a Joven or Oro (Gold) Tequila, go ahead and use it; it probably won’t kill you.  These proportions are based on my finely tuned Margarita recipe.  If you have your own Margarita recipe, you may want to alter the proportions to follow your own recipe and better suit your taste.  If you do stick with a high quality Tequila (like a nice Plata), you might want to upgrade the Triple Sec to Cointreau® or Grand Marnier®.

 

Margarita Cooler

2 oz. Blanco or Plata Tequila

Juice of one freshly squeezed lime (about 1 oz.) or lime juice

½ oz. Triple Sec

1 tsp. Simple Syrup, Bar Sugar or sweetener of your choice

Pour the Tequila, lime juice, and Triple Sec into an empty Collins glass.  Add the syrup or sugar and stir (if using sugar, stir until the sugar is dissolved).  Fill the Collins glass about ¾ full of ice, top off with soda water, and stir lightly.  Garnish with a lime wheel, serve with a straw, and enjoy.  Olé!

Gin and Tonic: classic summer cocktail recipe

The Gin and Tonic is another classic cocktail that is great as a summer cooler.  I had my first Gin and Tonic back in my early twenties and thought it was just OK.  That was before I ever had one made with good gin.  Quality gin is the key to a good Gin and Tonic.  I like to use Bombay Sapphire®; sip it slowly and savor the flavor of the ten botanicals.  The Gin and Tonic was invented by the British in eighteenth century India to offset the taste of the quinine they were drinking to combat malaria, but it remains a popular cocktail whenever the weather turns warm.  I always thought that the Gin and Tonic was a low-carb drink until one day I saw a bottle of Diet Tonic Water and said “huh?”  It turns out that Tonic Water is loaded with sugar to offset the bitter taste of the quinine, so if you want to limit your carb intake to the alcohol carbs, be sure to buy Diet Tonic.

 

Gin and Tonic

2 oz Bombay Sapphire® Gin

5-6 oz Tonic Water

Fill a Collins or Highball glass with ice cubes.  Add the gin and fill the glass with Tonic Water and stir lightly.  Garnish with a lime wedge or wheel.  Serve with a straw so you won’t have to over-exert yourself to drink it, put your feet up, and enjoy.

 

cocktail recipe, Gin and Tonic, summer

A cooling summer cocktail: Pomegranate Rum Rickey

The Pomegranate Rum Rickey is a summer cooler that’s hard to beat.  A Rickey is a cocktail made from a liquor, some lime juice, a little sweetener (optional), and soda water.  The Pomegranate Rum Rickey fills the bill and adds a little pomegranate juice to boost the flavor.  I had my first Rickey – a Gin Rickey – ages ago at a favorite campground in Wisconsin.  After a hot day of rock-climbing (and sometimes a cooling swim) we would repair to the campground for a short (well, not always) cocktail hour before dinner.  Ice-cold beer, Rum and Coke, Gin and Tonic, and (of course) Gin Rickeys were regular items on the cocktail hour menu, along with a delicious variety of hors-d’oeuvres destined to ruin our appetite for dinner.

Rickeys are as thirst quenching today as they were back then.  Their simplicity makes them an ideal cocktail for mixing and drinking as you’re running around getting the grill ready for  ribs, or just sitting and listening to the ribs cook, and they’re just as great for relaxing on porch or patio any hot afternoon after work.

 Like all of my cocktail recipes, the Pomegranate Rum Rickey has plenty of room for improvisation.  If you like your Rickeys a little less sweet, you can cut back on the pomegranate syrup or substitute a splash of pomegranate juice.  If you like them a little less tart, decrease the lime juice, and you can always adjust the amount of rum.

 

Pomegranate Rum Rickey

1 ½ oz gold rum (white will do)

½ oz freshly squeezed lime juice (optional)

1 oz pomegranate syrup

4-5 oz soda water

Pour the rum, lime juice, and pomegranate syrup into a cocktail shaker half full of ice.  Shake long enough to hum a few lines of Summertime.  Strain into a Collins glass ¾ full of ice, fill with soda water, and stir lightly.  Garnish with a lime wheel, serve with a straw, and enjoy.    You may also build this drink in the glass, but that will melt more of the ice.

Barware: Gearing Up Your Cocktail Bar

Once you’ve decided to become at amateur Mixologist, you will start thinking about what gear you need for you bar… and how much it will cost. The good news is that you don’t need to spend a lot on money to get started. That is important news in these recessionary times. In this post I will discuss the basic gear you need for your bar and describe the substitutions you can make until you get the “real thing”. Don’t think you have to rush out and spend a lot of money.

One source of gear is holidays and your birthday. Once your family and friends find out about your interest in cocktails, you might receive some of the barware you need as gifts. If you don’t, drop some hints and sign up for wish-lists on sites like Amazon.com to get them moving in the right direction. You can get shakers (and strainers) online from Amazon (see the barware product carousel). You can sometimes find good deals on barware sets (and glassware) at budget stores like T.J. Maxx or Tuesday Morning. If you’re on a tight budget, look for bargains.

Absinthe Spoon – If you’re not into Absinthe, you won’t need an Absinthe spoon. If you are, you may already have one. I list it here for completeness. But don’t run out to buy one…

Blender – To make frozen (or blended) drinks, as opposed to shaken drinks, you need a good quality blender. If you have to buy a new blender, check with Consumer Reports to make sure you’re getting a high quality brand. I have a great KitchenAid ProLine® blender that I got a good deal on several years ago.

Citrus Juice Press – You need a good juice press to get juice without pulp, which is the way you want it for most cocktails. You can get by on the one your kitchen if you strain the juice, but eventually you will want to invest in a good one. I bought a Norpro Stainless-Steel Citrus Juice Press a few years ago and love it. A plastic juice press is like a faithless lover; they will desert you and leave you crying in the middle of a cocktail party (when the handle breaks). Stick with stainless steel. One thing is counter-intuitive about this type of press: the cut face of the lemon or lime goes toward the holes. Squeeze hard and enjoy!

Cutting Board – I always have a small cutting board and a ceramic knife at the bar for slicing lemons and limes and making twists. You can use your kitchen cutting board, but remember that cocktails are all about presentation. If your bar looks sloppy or has a gigantic cutting board that is out of scale, your cocktails won’t seem to taste as good. I have some nice looking, colored-plastic cutting boards that are about 9” by 5” (or use a white one).

Grater – You won’t need a grater for every cocktail, so don’t worry about getting one right away. If you have a small kitchen grater (about 1” by 2”), you can probably get by with using it. If you kitchen one is much larger, you may eventually have to buy one, but don’t buy one until you need it.

Ice Bucket – Fresh ice is important for cocktails, and you will want to have some available on your bar. While you can get by with a large bowl; your ice will melt faster. You will eventually want to get an ice bucket unless you are well-enough off to have an ice maker.

Ice Scoop – To get your ice out of your ice bucket (or bowl), it’s nice to have a perforated ice scoop to drain any water from the ice before you put it in your shaker or glass. Avoid using your hands, which just plain looks tacky.

Knives – Always use a sharp knife when cutting limes – even for juicing; dull knives just aren’t safe and can result in messing looking cuts. You can use your old kitchen paring knife, but remember that cocktails are all about presentation. If your bar looks tacky, your cocktails won’t seem to taste as good. Get a nice looking knife as soon as you can afford one. I use a cool looking, black ceramic knife for slicing limes and lemons.

Mallet – If you need to crush your own ice, you’ll need a mallet and a clean canvas bag to crush it in. The advantage of the canvas bag is that it soaks up any water that is released as you beat on the ice. If you have a high quality blender, you can probably use it to crush ice. I’m lucky enough to have an ice crusher built into my fridge.

Measures – The most basic measure for cocktails is a shot glass. The standard shot glass holds 1.5 ounces and, knowing that, you should be able to eye-ball most measures. Plus you can buy them as vacation souvenirs, so you might have a collection already. I have a couple of smaller, graduated measures that I use. Some measures have a sloping, white surface with the volumes marked so that you can read them from above, which makes them very easy to use.

Muddler – One thing you may need sooner than you think is a muddler. Again, there are possible substitutions floating around your kitchen in case you need one and don’t have one, but you will want to buy one eventually. I use a stainless-steel Muddler I bought several years ago.

Pourers – You don’t need to have pourers, but they will make your pouring look more professional. If you buy some, fill an empty bottle with water and practice using one. Pourers should pour ½ ounce/second. Practice pouring into a graduated container while counting “one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two, one-thousand-three” to pour 1 ½ ounces. Practice until you get the right rhythm to get an accurate pour on a couple of different days, then you will pour like a pro and have to use Measures less.

Shakers – You can probably get by without a shaker for quite a while. You can stir instead, just stir your cocktails with ice in a small pitcher or a large glass, and then strain into the glass you are serving the cocktail in. Shakers do, however, look cool and will impress your friends, so you will want to get one eventually. See my in-depth discussion on shakers here.

Spoons – You will eventually want to get a bartender’s spoon (they’re not very expensive), but you can get by with an iced-tea spoon or any long-handled spoon small enough to fit into your mixing glass, but long enough to reach the bottom.

Strainers – Strainers are almost a requirement for Boston Shakers (the shakers your normally see in bars); there is a way to strain without a strainer by dribbling the cocktail out of the Boston while holding the two pieces almost together, but using a strainer is a lot easier. Don’t substitute any kitchen implement that looks too tacky, and never, ever use your fingers. Strainers are not very expensive, so you may want to get one before you get a shaker.

Zester – A zester is used to cut very thin strips from food; in your bar you would usually use it on lemons and oranges. You might be able to use a kitchen grater, but they usually make larger strips. Zesters may have an extra blade on them that can be used to make twists of citrus peels, but I usually just make them using a knife. I would put this item low on your list of things to buy unless you really need one. On the upside, they’re not very expensive.

Need Barware? Check out my store.

Cool Cocktails for Memorial Day

Summer is almost upon us.  We’ve already had ninety degree temperatures in Salt Lake City.  I wanted to post a short list of summer cocktails in time for the Memorial Day week-end.  I plan to post a longer list of my top ten favorite summer cocktails within the next few weeks.  For now, I have identified three rum-based drinks that will be just what you need for your holiday cook-out.

For my first summer cocktail I selected an old stand-by from the tropics: the Mai Tai. For the second, I chose the more trendy, but still venerable, Mojito.  The third is the under-rated, but ever popular, Rum and Coke.  All are classic cocktails that you’re sure to enjoy.  I first got hooked on Mai Tais years ago, sitting in a semi-private tea room at Kiyo’s Japanese Restaurant on Clark Street in Chicago.  Kiyo’s served their Mai Tais in ceramic crocks filled with crushed ice.  The presentation was exquisite, and garnishes included mandarin orange slices, a pineapple wedge, fresh mint leaves, thin slices of lemon and lime, and a maraschino cherry.  Beautiful and powerful.  My recipe doesn’t take the garnishes nearly that far, but if you decide to become a Mai Tai connoisseur, give them a try.  Do try to use two kinds of fruit juice to add some complexity to the taste.

I had my first Mojito at The Beach House hotel in Miami.  It was expensive, but oh so good.  Fresh mint leaves are an absolute requirement for a good Mojito.  Accept no substitutes.  You should be able to get them in the produce department of your grocery store if you’re not lucky enough to have some growing in your yard.  I once unsuccessfully experimented with using minute amounts of mint extract in a fruitless attempt to make a Mojito without ever coming up with an acceptable result.  Bacardi® has a great video of making a Mojito here.

The experience of my first Rum and Coke, around 40 years ago, is lost in the mist of time.  One thing I do know about this classic cocktail is that whenever I have one on an airplane, I’m surprised by how good it tastes… and that’s mixed with plain old Barcardi Superior® rum, a pinch of lime (if you’re lucky), and not too much care.  When mixed in a tall glass and served with a wedge of lime, Rum and Coke make a great summer cooler.  For me a Rum and Coke with lime is a Rum and Coke, not a Cuba Libre.  Rum and Cokes should always come with lime.  I don’t use my best sipping rum in my Rum and Cokes, but any good mixing rum you have in your bar will make a great one.  As usual, I suggest that you experiment to get just the taste you want.

Mai Tai

1 oz gold Rum (or dark)

1 oz light Rum

½ oz Amaretto almond liqueur

1 oz Cointreau (or Triple Sec)

2 oz Guava juice (you may substitute Orange juice)

3 oz Pineapple juice

½ oz Gosling’s Black Seal® dark rum

1 lime wedge

Combine ingredients with cracked ice in a shaker.  Shake well while thinking about the dancers at the old Intercontinental hotel in Wailea, Maui.  Strain into a Collins glass full of ice.  Garnish with a wedge of pineapple (or orange) and a maraschino cherry.  Float just enough dark rum to cover the top of the glass, finish it with a squeeze of fresh juice from the lime wedge, drop it in, and enjoy. 

 

Mojito

2 oz light Rum

fresh squeezed juice of ½ Lime (½ oz )

1 tsp bar sugar

6-8 mint leaves

soda water

Put the mint leaves and sugar into an Old Fashion glass.  Squeeze the lime juice into the glass.  Muddle well to bring out the smell and flavor of the mint.  Add the rum and stir to dissolve the sugar.  Fill the glass with ice, then top off with soda water and stir.  Garnish with a sprig of mint and serve with a straw.  Vary the mint to suit your taste.

 

Rum and Coke

2 oz Rum of your choice

5-6 oz Coke™ (or Diet Coke™)

1 lime wedge

Fill a Collins or Highball glass ¾ full of ice cubes.  Add the rum.  Cut an angled slit across the lime wedge down to the peel, fit the slit in the wedge onto the lip of the glass, and run the wedge all the way around the rim.  Fill the glass with Coke, drop in a straw, and wonder why you don’t do this more often.

 Mojito Photograph © iStockphoto.com, Photographs © J. Mathews