The 4 Essentials to Making a Great Cocktail

Cocktails are more than just alcohol. They are experiences. So why do we limit ourselves when creating them? The trick to making drinks taste better is to make them far more interesting than the ones they’ve been drinking for years. 

The key to doing this is unlocking the potential of your cocktails. If you look beyond the obvious, you’ll find there are endless possibilities to mix and match ingredients to create cocktails that are unlike any other. Mixology is a creative act. It requires imagination, experimentation, and above all, fun. But unless you’ve perfected your signature drink, start with a proven drink recipe from a trusted source with lots of classic drinks and variations.  

If you’re looking to get better at making the same alcoholic drinks, you need to take a closer look at some of the most common reasons why alcoholic drinks might not taste very good. That way, you can plan ahead of time, avoid making these mistakes, and produce some adult beverages that you can be proud of.

Use Fresh Ingredients

One of the reasons why your adult beverages might not taste very good is that you need to use quality ingredients. For example, if you want to make a delicious martini, you need to use fresh ingredients, like espresso in your espresso martini recipe. The reality is that your drink will only taste good if you use solid ingredients. If you are making a drink that calls for fruit juice, you need to use fresh fruit juice that is not from concentrate. You should also make sure that you store your ingredients in a location where they will not spoil. When you are purchasing alcohol for your drinks, make sure you use good alcohol. You want to avoid using something from the bottom shelf, as there is no way to make that taste good in a cocktail.

Don’t Refrigerate Your Fruit

The best way to avoid having too much pulp is to bring your fruit to room temperature before adding it to your cocktail. This allows the juice to come out easily without being forced out by cold temperatures.

If you find yourself with a surplus of pulp, you could strain the mixture through a bartender’s pulp strainer.

Serve it at the Perfect Temperature

When you are making a cocktail, understand the vast majority of them are meant to be served cold. If the drink is warm when someone consumes it, it will not taste its best. Of course, your drink will probably not be warm when you first make it but realize most people are going to sip cocktails gradually over an extended amount of time. As a result, it will start to warm up so take steps to make sure the drink is cold for longer. For example, you may want to chill the glass before you serve the drink or shake it longer to make it colder.

Use the Exact Proportions

If you go to a bar and watch a bartender make a drink, they might not use a measuring device at all. They will simply eyeball it, put the ingredients together, and serve you your drink. Even though you might be tempted to do this, you should only do so if you have bartending experience. When you are making drinks for your family members and friends, be sure to measure the ingredients before you mix them. If the ingredients are in the right proportions, you have a better chance of making a delicious drink.

Make Better Drinks With These Key Tips

Ultimately, these are a few of the biggest mistakes that people make when they make adult beverages. If you want to impress your family members and friends, or if you want your next party to be a major success, you need to get better at making adult beverages. That means you need to practice regularly, use quality ingredients, and ensure you serve the drink at the right temperature. Keep in mind that this is not necessarily something that you need to work on by yourself. If you really want to get better at making adult beverages, you might even want to take a few classes that are intended for bartenders.

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