Advices for Cocktail Preparation

Most bartenders - amateurs, are prone to experimentation. However, the only way to make a great drink is to literally follow the instructions. Here are some rules:

• Ingredients should always be mixed with defined order. When the cocktail needs sugar, always put sugar first in the cup, and then add a few drops of water and mix until the sugar is dissolved, because the sugar dissolves much more difficult to in the presence of alcohol. Only then add fruit juice, but soda and other ingredients for dilution are added at the end.

• Carefully follow the instructions in the recipe.

• Mixing - clear liquors, gin and vodka, fizzy drinks - like champagne, and drinks whose ingredients have different densities, have to be mixed with ice really good.

• Shaking - if the recipe specifies some ingredients that are not easy to mix, as eggs, cream, fruit juices, you should use a shaker or electric mixer to obtain a balanced, creamy mass. You should shake cocktails briskly but shortly, so the ice wouldn’t dilute the drink to much. You must shake the drink until it get cold enough, that is, until the outer wall of the shaker blurs.

• Percolation - it is desirable to always percolate cocktails so that the crushed pieces of ice do not get in the cup.

• Cool the glasses for all cold drinks, and warm the glasses for hot drinks. You should cool the glass by filling it with ice or immersing it in ice, or, keeping it in the freezer for several minutes.

• Glass is heated by filling it with hot or boiling water, then leaving it like that for a few minutes, and finally draining that water.

• Drinks with ice must always be prepared by pouring the drink on the ice, and never vice versa. Also, additives for dilution, such as soda, tonic, ordinary water, etc. .., are always added at the end of preparation.