Bartender Mechanics

Drink Making Techniques

All of our drinks are made using one of the following techniques. The correct procedure will be specified in the recipe.

• Build

• Layer

• Stir & Strain

• Float

• Shake & Strain

• Top

• Mix

• Muddle

• Blend

Measuring Jiggers

The most important thing about jiggers is reaching the meniscus. There is no reason to use jiggers if you don’t use them correctly. Pouring slowly will help your accuracy and it will improve your pouring speed as you get the feel for it.

Make sure the jigger is completely level. Rest your jigger hand against the tin or the mixing glass to assist your balance and leveling. Having the jigger close to the mixing vessel will also limit the amount of waste that spills over the side from moving the jigger to the vessel.

Measuring/Dashing

Dashes can be inconsistent but are a necessary measurement for recipes. It is key for us to maintain a consistent “dashing” movement.

Tip the dasher until it is upside down, give a nice flick of the wrist pushing it down and immediately flip it back up.

Build

When building a drink, the ingredients are poured directly into the glass in which it is served (with or without ice). Building is the easiest drink-making technique (used for highballs, juice drinks, nails, and hot drinks).

Stir & Strain

This technique is used to chill a clear liquor/liqueur or combination of liquors/liqueurs when they are served straight up.

Stirring mixed ingredients, assures proper dilution, and chills liquor to the proper serving temperature. Clear liquors are stirred and strained, instead of shaken and strained, to maintain the crystal clarity of the liquid. If a clear liquid is shaken or mixed, it becomes mixed with air and looks cloudy.

To stir and strain a drink:

1.  Fill a mixing glass with ice.

2.  Pour ingredients into the mixing glass.

3.  Stir quickly 8 to 10 times with a bar spoon until condensation forms on the outside of the glass. DO NOT CHURN.

4.  Fit a bar strainer over the mouth of the mixing glass and strain the liquid into the proper glass. Never use your fingers to strain a cocktail.

5.  Wash the mixing glass, strainer, and bar spoon.

Shake & Strain

This technique is used with opaque ingredients (juices, sweet & sour mix, cream).

Shaking and straining accomplishes the same result as stirring and straining, but also produces a froth from the mixture and provides a good show for the guest.

We only use metal on metal. Glass on metal only has one benefit and that is the ability to see into the vessel as you pour into it. Metal tins are lighter, won’t break glass in your well, and are way easier to open.

We measure our ingredients into the small tin, and add ice after all ingredients are in. The big tin can be a little top heavy and is easier to knock over and spill everything. The beauty of tin on tin is that most of the time you can just gently squeeze the big tin and softly twist and pull the small tin out.

The Hawthorne Strainer/Cocktail Strainer

Looks like a paddle with a spring wound around it. Its main purpose is to strain all of the big chunks out of the cocktail (mostly just the spent ice)

To shake and strain a drink:

1.   Fill a mixing glass with ice.

2.   Pour ingredients into the mixing glass.

3.   Fit the mouth of a mixing tin over the mouth of the mixing glass at an angle.

4.   Rap mixing tin firmly downward onto the mixing glass to create a seal.

5.   Hold the base of the mixing glass in one hand and the base of the mixing tin in the other hand. Vigorously shake until a frost appears on the mixing tin.

6.   While holding the mixing tin and glass, as in Step #5, gently tap the protruding edge of the mixing tin against the shot rail to break the seal between the tin and the glass. Lift the tin off.

7.   Fit a bar strainer over the mouth of the mixing glass and strain the mixture into the proper glass.

8.   Wash the mixing glass, tin, and strainer.

Blend

A blending technique is used to liquefy solids. Frozen and ice cream drinks are blended to a slushy or creamy consistency. There should be fluid enough to pour, yet thick enough to hold a straw upright.

To blend a drink, follow these instructions:

1.   Place ingredients into the blender cup, and then add ice.

2.   Firmly set blender cup on base/motor. Place the top on the blender.

3.   Set speed to "low" (draws ingredients down into blades and extends the life of the blades, clutch and motor). Turn motor "on."

4.   To produce a fully blended drink, after ingredients are incorporated, switch speed to "high" until the blending is smooth.

5.   Switch speed back to "low", turn off motor, allow blender to slow, and remove blender cup (this extends the life of the blades, clutch and motor).

6.   Pour the mixture into the proper glassware.

7.   Wash the blender.

Layer

Layering is used to produce distinct "layers" of ingredients with clear and sharp separation of one layer from another. Each ingredient is poured so that it "sits" atop the preceding ingredient, with no mixing of the two.

To achieve this effect, follow the ingredient order listed in the recipe.

1.  Pour first ingredient into the glass.

2.  Place bar spoon atop first "layer" so that the bowl of the spoon rests on the surface of first "layer."

3.  Slowly and carefully pour the desired amount of the next ingredient "layer" into the bowl of the spoon (technically, the downward force becomes an outward force, moving the second ingredient across instead of through the first.)

4.  Carefully angle the spoon out of the layer.

Float/Top

This technique produces an effect similar to layering. When floating or topping, however, the "bleeding" of one ingredient into another is desired vs. the sharp distinction between ingredients achieved by layering.

To float an ingredient, pour it slowly from closely above the rim of the glass while moving the bottle or pitcher in a circle over the top of the drink.

Muddling

Muddling accomplishes:

• Extraction of juices or flavors from solids (example: cherry and orange for an Old Fashioned), or

• Dissolving of solids into liquid (example: sugar cubes for Irish Coffee).

A muddler is a non-porous wooden tool used to press the ingredients, not beat them. To muddle an ingredient, hold muddler firmly and press it into the ingredient while turning it a quarter of a turn. Continue this action until the solid is dissolved or the juice is released.