- Cocktail Secrets -

Ice Cubes:

	Never shove a glass into a pile of ice cubes: This can cause the the Glass to chip damaging the glass or break the glass in the ice, you would have to replace the ice or worse get slivers of broken glass in your drink. .
	Never put ice cubes into a warm or Hot glass eg. straight out of a dishwasher. The Thermal Shock can cause the Glass to explode. .
	Never put ice cubes into a blender. The small engines cannot take it and it will burn out the engine , only use crushed ice in them. .
	To make crushed ice place ice cubes in a plastic bag and use a small hammer or heavy solid object to pound and crush it or wrap in a clean bar cloth and pound or smash it. If desperate you can even whack it against a solid brick wall. .
	Shaved ice needs a special little machine available from most department stores. They make great alcoholic slurpies and Pina Coladas (my favourite Cocktail). Also a great Black Russian recipe is a Cocktail Highball Glass with two shots of Vodka then filled with shaved ice till it looks like an ice cream cone and Kahlua poured over the top until the glass is full. Great on a hot lazy afternoon. .
	Ice in a Cocktail shaker cools the drink and helps mix, blend and beat the ingredients and also to dilute the mixture. So never put in too much and always shake for a few minutes more than you think is necessary to let the ice do its work and also the anticipation of a good Cocktail while it is being created is a part of their charm and mystique.

Click me for an Enlargement



Different Types of Glasses used.
Types: Left to Right
 Lowball, Cocktail Glass, Shot Glass, Wine glass,
Double Shooter, Cocktail Highball, Highball Glass.

 
Glasses:

	Though many recipes suggest a glass there is no right or wrong glass to use. Some show off a Cocktail in different ways others have become Legend in certain glasses eg. a Harvey Wall Banger in a Highball Glass or a Magara in a Large Cocktail Glass with a Salt frosting around the rim. But experiment and put what you have to good use. .
	Hunt through your old wedding presents and you will usually come up with a good collection of interesting glasses you never knew you had. Put them to use. .
	Glasses should be clean and unusual shapes if possible. A quick polish with a cloth makes them sparkle and shine. 50% of a good Cocktail is in its presentation. .
	Stemmed glasses let you hold it for long periods with out making the contents warm while shooter glasses show off the Colours in the Cocktail. .
	Never "Clink" Glasses together. It chips the glasses, slivers of glass can get into the drink and the structural dynamics of glass means that when a big glass versus a small glass, the small one will eventually shatter. .
	Frosting a glass in salt or sugar means dipping the top of the glass into Lemon juice and then dipping it into Salt or Sugar to create a coating around the rim eg as in a Margarita. Adds a little something different in taste and texture. .

Mixing Cocktails:

	Shooters with many levels of Coloured Liquors look great and take some skill to make. You must get the Liquors in the right order the heavier ones to the bottom. Follow the recipes carefully and the trick to making them NOT blend into each other is to pour the next layer into the glass gently over the back of a small spoon so the surface tension is not broken. .
	Champagne blends well with any Fruit juice or Exotic juice to make a refreshing Cocktail. Do not use in a shaker as it will have the same effect as shaking a can of soft drink. .
	Vodka is an odourless and tasteless liquor and mixes well with Fruit Juices, soft drink and even vegetable juices and is the base of many Cocktails and can be mixed with most things to create interesting drinks and also gives almost no hangover. .
	Cognac is really just brandy so use a cheap substitute in recipes that call for Cognac. .
	Measuring ingredients, there is no set in stone way to make any cocktail, so experiment with the quantities and ingredients. Most recipes are in Fluid ounces, an American Fluid ounce is different to an English Fluid ounce and some recipes just say 2 parts something, one part something else. The amount does not matter only the proportions. If you use thimbles, Coffee mugs or even buckets it will still taste the same as long as they are in the right proportions. So 2 parts X and one part Y means put in twice as much X as Y, using whatever you want as a measure.  Make Cocktails to your taste, the recipe is only a guide. .
	A Blender is the ultimate tool for Cocktail mixing they are fairly cheap and mix quickly, but try to use it only for making Cocktails. Keep it away from your wife when she is making a cake.

Garnishes:

	Swizzle sticks , small umbrellas, fold out paper flowers, anything that makes a Cocktail look good you can use. 50% of a good cocktail is its presentation. These bits and pieces are real cheap, add flare and are available from most grocery stores. .
	Toothpicks especially ones with little coloured ends are good to hold bits of fruit together or poke two through some fruit close together like a skewer, this then gives you the tiny split between them to clip onto the Glass. Also good for fishing out that cherry or olive at the bottom of the glass. .
	Gomme or syrup is called for in some recipes this is just a cup of sugar with a dash of hot water to turn it into a thick, sweet syrup. .
	Grenadine is a non-alcoholic drink which is red. It is usually used in recipes for its colour made from pomegranates. .
	Angostura bitters, very strong spice, herby flavour. Use only a couple of drops. Great on Lemon Squash with a slice of lime especially if you have a non drinker with you. .
	Worcestershire sauce, use only a few drops. Strong, steak meaty taste good in tomato juice with salt and pepper especially if you have a non drinker with you. .
	Tabasco sauce, use only a few drops. Made from chillies I think very HOT. Put one drop on your tongue to see what it can do. Good in Tomato juice or something that needs a little fire. .
	Fruit slices and peels are important both for appearance and for the subtle taste they add. Lemons, Limes, Oranges, kiwi fruit are very popular.  Slice across so you have a circle and then cut to the centre so it can sit on a glass. Or semi circles or quarters. Slice lengthways like a mandarin and put a cut into it on an angle so it can sit on a glass. Or skewer a cherry or a strawberry or a slice of pineapple into a fruit slice with a plastic sword or tooth pick and drop into the dink or use two toothpicks together so you can attach it to the glass. Get a potato peeler and make a twist of Lemon peel or orange peel to drop into a drink. Fruits go well with rum and Olives add a tangy taste to Gin based drinks. A cherry or a sugar cube dropped into a glass of champagne looks and tastes great. .
	Straws are necessary in highball glasses and good to give the drink a little stir. Bendy straws, Novelty straws, straws with spoons on the ends are all available from your local grocery store. For short glasses get a handful of straws and cut them to size with a pair of scissors. Brightly coloured and plain coloured are a good cheap effect and very useful. .
	Flaming drinks, looks spectacular. Warm the Cocktail over a flame for a few seconds before lighting it, as it is the vapour that catches alight not the liquid. Be very careful whenever fire is around and melted plastic such as straws give off a toxic gas.  .
	Anything goes, mint leaves, pineapple leaves, celery, cucumber slices, all berries, plastic things, party things, long sticks, swizzles anything (make sure it is NOT toxic before you use an unknown garnish). I have even seen lit sparklers in a big fruity drink covered in pineapple slices and leaves and colourful umbrellas. If it tasted half as good as it looked it must have been something very exciting. There are no limits except your imagination so have fun and enjoy the World of Cocktails.

	Ounce 1 oz (ounce) equals 3 cl (centilitres) 1 oz (ounce) equals 30 ml (millilitres) 1 oz (ounce) equals 2 tbsp (tablespoons) 1 oz (ounce) equals 3/4 shot
	Shot 1 shot equals 4.5 cl (centilitres) 1 shot equals 45 ml (millilitres) 1 shot equals 3 tbsp (tablespoons) 1 shot equals 1 1/2 oz (ounces)
	Cup 1 cup equals 24 cl (centilitres) 1 cup equals 240 ml (millilitres) 1 cup equals 8 oz (ounces)