Let's look at some bartending basics and mixers and how they are used in drink recipes to create cocktails that great parties are made of!
You want to be the ultimate host; the dilemma is that you think "bitters" and "sour" are descriptive words. Well, all is not lost. Let's look at some bartending basics and mixers and how they are used to create cocktails that great parties are made of! All drinks are meant to be served over ice, unless otherwise specified.
To make a basic drink with a mixer, this will include gin/vodka tonic, rum and coke, vodka cranberry, Malibu and pineapple, whiskey coke, and scotch and soda, use 1 to 1 ½ oz. liquor (based on guest preference) and fill rest of the glass with the mixer of choice.
Fruit Juices
Orange juice is by far the most popular of all juice mixers. It is used in a number of popular drinks like Screwdrivers, Sex-On-The-Beach, Fuzzy Navels, Mimosas, and Hurricanes.
Screwdriver - 1 oz. vodka, fill remainder of glass with orange juice.
Sex-On-The Beach - 1 ½ oz. vodka, 1 ½ oz. peach schnapps, 1 oz. grenadine, fill remainder with orange juice. Some prefer theirs with Malibu rum.
Fuzzy Navel - 1 ½ oz. peach schnapps, orange juice to taste.
Mimosa - 1 oz. champagne, 2 oz. orange juice
Another popular fruit juice is lime, if you are limited in what you can offer your guests, lime and orange juice are must haves! Lime juice is used Margaritas, Daiquiris, Cosmopolitans, Gimlets, and many other common drinks.
Margarita - 1 ½ oz. tequila, ¾ oz. triple sec, 1 oz. lime juice (can also be served blended). Add fruit and mix in a blender with ice for fruit flavors. Before filling glass, dip rim into water, then coarse salt.
Daiquiri - 1 ½ oz. rum, ½ oz. lime juice, add fruit and mix in a blender. Rim glass as with margarita, using powdered sugar instead of salt.
Cosmopolitan - 1 oz. vodka, ½ oz. triple sec, ½ oz. lime juice, ½ oz. cranberry juice. Shake hard with ice in a shaker and strain into martini glass without ice.
Gimlet - 2 oz. vodka or gin, ½ oz. lime juice.
Carbonated Mixers
There are many popular drinks using carbonated beverages as mixers: Long Island Iced Tea, Colorado Bulldog, and Tom Collins are standard fare.
Long Island Iced Tea - ½ oz. each of vodka, tequila, rum, and gin. Add a splash of cola.
Colorado Bulldog - 1 oz. vodka, 1 oz. kahlua, milk, splash of cola.
Tom/Vodka Collins - 2 oz. gin or Vodka, 1 oz. lemon juice, 1 tsp. sugar, 3 oz. club soda. Shake all but soda in a shaker with ice. Strain over ice and top with club soda.
Less often requested mixers include half and half or milk, for White Russians, Bailey's Irish Coffee, and Mudslides; and Bitters, for those Old Fashioneds and Manhattans.
White Russian - 2 oz. vodka, 1 oz. Kahlua, milk or half and half.
Bailey's Irish Coffee - 2 oz. Bailey's or other Irish cream, 2 oz. half and half, 8 oz. coffee.
Old Fashioned - 1 tsp. sugar, 1 dash bitters, and 1 tsp. water or club soda. Muddle well. Add 2 oz. whiskey or bourbon and ice. Some people prefer to also muddle an orange slice and a cherry before adding the whiskey.
Manhattan - 1 ½ oz. whiskey or bourbon, ¾ oz. vermouth (sweet for standard, dry for a dry Manhattan), dash of bitters. Can be served up also (shaken and strained into martini glass).
And for a traditional classic, there's the martini - Rinse glass with dry vermouth and pour out. Add 1 ½ oz. vodka or gin to shaker full of ice. Shake extremely well. Serve up or on the rocks.
The variety of mixers and drinks can leave one feeling a little intimidated. There is no need for this. By covering the basics, you'll look like you've been making a career out of cocktails. After all, a well-prepared bartender can create a party from which legends are born, perhaps because the guests don't remember"¦
