Ever wanted to make your own cocktails? Well, you’re not alone.
First and foremost, making cocktails at home can save you from driving to a bar and paying a bartender to make your favorite drink. In fact, the average American spends over $449 on alcoholic beverages annually. And, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, people who earn $150,000 or more a year spend more than $1,204 on alcohol. (This number may increase when you take into account dining out and entertainment, besides drinking.)
In addition, making cocktails at home can make you the star and bartender of your own house party, impressing your friends and family with your signature drinks. Or, you can be your own bartender whenever you’re relaxing at home after a hard-day’s work.
However, while making cocktails at home may sound like fun, you might be doing it all wrong. Seriously, you might be doing it wrong!
But how?
Don’t panic! We got you covered! Today, we’ll show you the five common mistakes that you might be doing, which can ruin your homemade cocktails.
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Cutting Corners
“Whether using substitutions, or simply skipping ingredients, cutting corners is never a good idea when making your own cocktail,” says Andrew Bage, a lifestyle writer at Lia Help and Paper fellows. “You’ll need to figure out how your favorite bartender makes your favorite cocktail, and then replicate it on your own. Find out what spirits they use, and stick with those particular spirits. Also, you’ll need fresh citrus juice – not the bottled stuff, the small plastic lemon, or the lime bottles; it has to be the real and fresh stuff.”
Also, it’s not okay to settle for cheap versions of ingredients, because you’ll get a discounted and tasteless version of the drink that you had fallen in love with at the bar. In addition, using leftover ingredients can make the cocktail not taste as well as you had anticipated.
So, your best bet is to stay clear of cheaper ingredients and leftovers.
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Not Measuring Correctly
Properly measuring isn’t just for cooking and baking; it’s also for cocktail-making. Many expert bartenders will measure to perfection, whenever they would make drinks – it’s part of the artistry of making a cocktail.
However, people at home may be more focused on the ingredients than on the measurements. Experts will tell you that disregarding measurements is a big no-no, because without proper measuring, the drink will have an unbalanced taste, with one ingredient overpowering the other ingredients. So, please please please… take care to measure the ingredients. For example, if the recipe calls for 5 milliliters of lemon, then you measure 5 ml to put in the mixture. No exceptions.
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Not Focusing On Technique
Technique is crucial, when it comes to making cocktails. Even bartenders will tell you that there are certain techniques to perform when making such drinks. And, with every technique comes a set of instructions to follow to make it work.
For example, with cocktails like the Old Fashioned or Negroni, there’s a certain way to stir them. Another example is knowing how to shake mixtures for a Daiquiri or Tom Collins. Either way, you need to follow instructions on techniques, or else your mixed drinks won’t taste good. The worst-case scenario would be skipping important steps like muddling or straining, which give drinks their authenticity.
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Not Following The Recipe
“Like any other cooking project, cocktails have their own recipe that you need to follow,” says Bella Beaumont, a content writer at Oxessays and State of writing. “Although you might be thinking that you can ‘reinvent’ the cocktail by adding your own twist to it, you would still need to play it safe. For example, if the recipe tells you to add the ice last, then leave the ice for last, or else you’ll ruin the recipe.”
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Using The Wrong Ice
Considered the weirdest mistake in cocktail-making, using the wrong ice can affect your alcoholic creations. Regular freezer ice cubes tend to melt too fast, and can over-dilute the drink (making it watery).
Instead, bartenders recommend that you use flexible silicon molds that produce king-size cubes. You can also boil the water before filling it in the molds for better prep, so that it can freeze harder and not melt too fast.
Therefore, ensuring that you’re using the best ice can affect the quality of your cocktail.
Conclusion
Although saving money by not going to bars is a good thing, it’s still important to make sure that you’re not cheating yourself out of having a good-tasting and well-prepared cocktail at home. So, be sure to follow the recipe, use the right stuff, and have fun!
Kristin Herman is a lifestyle editor and writer at UK Writings and Academized. She also offers editing advice at Do my assignment for me.
