What better way to impress friends and guests than serving a cocktail worthy of the fanciest bar in the city? It’s always a compliment when my friends take out their phones to snap a photo of a drink I made for them while hanging out on my porch or chatting on the couch. Here, I’ll be sharing some home bartending tips so you can experience this joy when you host the next gathering.
Believe it or not, I don’t sit at home every night making fancy cocktails. My husband, Michael, rarely drinks, so if I’m enjoying a nightcap it’s usually just whiskey neat. But when friends come over, I bring out the big guns. Here are 10 ways you can play with to really elevate your cocktails at home.
If you want to start simple, focus on these three upgrades first:
- Fresh juice
- Large ice cubes
- Better cherries
1. Glassware
Where to even start with glassware? There are so many different vessels you can choose to serve your drinks in from high ball glasses and whiskey glasses to fish tanks, treasure chests, and coffee mugs that look like chickens (I do not serve my friends fish tanks of drinks, btw). But there are some basics and “recommended” uses for them. In the end, it’s whatever you fancy and makes you feel happy.
I’m not going to go too in-depth on the hundreds of different glassware out there, but if you are interested in learning more, stay tuned for a new post that breaks it down.
Glassware doesn’t have to cost a fortune and you can even find some neat glasses at thrift stores, garage sales, or in your parents’ basement. I usually just buy 2 when I see a neat glass so I can be creative and serve different drinks in different glasses. Generally, think about getting a tall skinny glass, a short fat glass, a martini glass, something fancy looking like a hurricane or coupe glass, and something small for tastings or liqueurs.
2. Smoke
Smoked cocktails have exploded in popularity in recent years. It seems to be all the rage at upscale restaurants and cocktails lounges. A wide variety of at-home solutions have resulted in this new craze. Every time I smoke a cocktail for some friends, the cameras start clicking. Sometimes I don’t even know if people like the smoked flavor and smell, but it sure makes a pretty picture.
At the first bar I worked at, we used a cloche with a smoke gun to surround the drink in a smoky world. At home, I have a SmokeTop smoker that allows smoke to drop into the drink. You can also hotbox your drink by literally putting your drink in a box and lighting a little wood chip inside and closing the box, you can take a torch and sear a board of wood and place your glass over it upside down, you can light a piece of rosemary or sage on fire and place an upside glass on top of it, or you can even smoke some water in a smoker, freeze that water into ice cubes, and use “smoked ice” in your cocktail. I’ve also played around with liquid smoke, but it’s not the same.
No matter which technique you use, you’ll most likely need a butane kitchen torch and something to burn (like apple wood, cherry wood, rosemary, dried orange peel, etc.).
3. Garnishes
Garnishes can take a simple looking cocktail and turn it into the fanciest looking drink you’ve ever seen. It’s the makeup for cocktails and can be huge for aesthetics. In most cases though, garnishes can also add a depth of flavor and scent to the drink. Fruit, vegetables, and herbs can be used fresh, dried, canned, or frozen. Bitters, powders, and syrups can add an artistic flair. But it doesn’t stop there! You can think outside the box. Mini Reese’s cup on a peanut butter whiskey drink? Cotton candy on top of a vodka drink? Pineapple fronds, edible flowers, popcorn, cinnamon sticks, cocoa powder, edible gold, sprinkles, a hot pepper…literally anything can be a garnish! Okay, not everything – don’t poison your friends, but feel free to get creative. Word to the wise….there is such a thing as too much garnish.
3a. Cherries
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention cherries. If you use bright red, maraschino cherries, please stop. Throw those out and it’s time to upgrade your life. Do yourself a favor and get some Amarena cherries or Luxardo cherries. You won’t ever go back. They are what a grape hi-chew is to a grape jolly rancher. Not even on the same level. Warning: they can be a bit pricey. Another economical (and even better) option is to make your own brandy-soaked cherries. Take a bag of frozen (or fresh!) cherries, and soak them in equal parts brandy and sugar. I also add in a little cinnamon and orange peel to be a little extra. Use the leftover syrups for cooking, cocktails, desserts…or spoonfuls when you want some cherry love on the inside.
4. Ice
So there’s actually some cool history around ice and cocktails. Before ice was available for the general public, wine, beer, and grain alcohol was popular, but without ice, it was usually watered down. One could say that the beginning of cocktails started once ice became readily available.
Ice serves many purposes besides cooling down a drink. The dilution is actually vital for most drinks and can really open up the flavors when used correctly. Generally speaking, cocktails that require aeration and dilution are usually shaken with ice. Whiskey sours, margaritas, mojitos, espresso martinis, all require the dilution and aeration. Logically, if you add in something that is carbonated, you wouldn’t shake it or else all of the carbonation will disappear. So don’t do it.
If your cocktail requires cooling and dilution, but not aeration, then you would opt to stir or mix a drink in a mixing glass. This limits agitation and a good bartender will be able to lower the temperature of your drink without sloshing around the ice or adding air into your drink. This is ideal for cocktails like old fashioneds, martinis, and manhattans. “What about shaken martinis?!” Some people prefer to have their martinis shaken, not stirred. Some dude made this very popular, just to irk the traditional bartenders. Try it yourself. Take your favorite spirit and shake it with ice and strain it. Then stir it with ice and strain it. Taste how different they are. It’s crazy how much this can change a drink.
Anyways, I went on a little tangent there. If you really want to impress your friends, get ice molds. Large ice cubes are ideal for keeping a drink cold without diluting it too quickly. Little ice cubes (or nuggies) are great for tropical drinks or something that requires a lot of dilution. My favorite ice molds look like a rose and I always have some large cubes in my freezer in case someone wants an old fashioned. You can also make large ice cubes with garnishes inside. It’s pretty, but it does nothing for the flavor or smell of the drink.
5. Bubbles
Who doesn’t love bubbles?! The first cocktail bar I worked at had a bubble gun. These babies aren’t cheap and they take a minute to learn how to use. However, every single person who received a bubble drink looks so excited and it really creates a unique look. You can even flavor the smoke inside the bubble and it really adds an element to the drink.
My favorite story is from when I worked in a higher end speakeasy in a small town in Virginia. It’s an interesting town with a highly progressive, liberal, and earth-conscious group and an equally large conservative, farming, pro-gun and pro-meat group. These are generalizations of course.
For a while over a summer, a man would come in by himself. He wore a ripped leather jacket with an emblem on the back, had a beard, wore boots, usually jeans, and paid in cash. He would sit at our 20’s themed speakeasy bar and not talk to anyone. The first time he came in, he looked at the menu and ordered the Pink Lady drink (gin, lemon juice, limoncello, and strawberry infused Campari). This lovely little drink came in a coupe glass with a big ole bubblegum flavored bubble on top. He’d pop it with his finger, sip the cocktail, order some food, and leave a $20 tip. That’s my type of customer!
Anyways, if you have some cash to spare, get a bubble gun and play around with these cool looking drinks!
6. Egg White
I used to hate whiskey sours in my 20’s. My friend would order them when we went to bars and they were always terrible. Flash forward to my early 30’s, a different friend takes me out to a craft cocktail lounge. She recommended the whiskey sour and I adamantly refused. I ended up getting something boring like a vodka soda. Her beautiful whiskey sour arrives with the white foam on top. She offered a sip and my entire opinion of whiskey sours changed from that day forward.
What was the difference, you ask? The dive bar version of a whiskey sour includes whiskey and a sweet and sour mix (usually lemon, lime, and sugar). The “correct” way to make a whiskey sour is 2 oz. of whiskey, 1 oz. of fresh squeezed lemon juice, 1 oz. of simple syrup, and 1 oz. of EGG WHITES. The egg whites completely change the texture and mouthfeel (yes, that’s a real thing) of the drink. It is silky, smooth, and nummy in my tummy. The fresh juice also help (see #8), but the biggest difference was the use of egg whites.
Some people may recoil at the thought of using raw egg in a cocktail. I’ve heard a dozen different reasons why this is safe – the citrus “cooks” the egg whites, the alcohol kills the bacteria, the shaking changes the structure of the egg white so it’s safe, etc.. I own chickens and I am now a self-proclaimed egg expert. Pasteurized and refrigerated eggs are very unlikely to cause sickness and most commercial chickens are vaccinated against salmonella. Fresh, unwashed, unrefrigerated eggs are also safe to eat. With this logic, I’m comfortable using egg whites (or a whole egg) in a cocktail.
The key to a silky textured cocktail with egg whites is to aerate the poop out of it. Most bartenders will shake the cocktail with all of the ingredients in a shaker tin with ice (wet shake), strain the ice out, and shake it again without the ice (dry shake). Then you can strain it out into a smooth cocktail with a layer of foam on top. If you use egg whites by cracking an egg and separating the yolk, use a mesh strainer in the end to make sure you don’t accidentally get any egg shells in your cocktail. Pasteurized egg whites in a carton work just as well.
I actually experimented with fresh eggs, older eggs, and pasteurized eggs. Fresh egg whites do not foam up very much and they are harder to aerate (they are also flatter when you crack one open and don’t hold their shape as much as an older egg). Always make sure your eggs sink in a bowl of water, but older eggs do better for cocktails!
7. Edible Glitter
Not sure what I can say more about getting some edible glitter, adding it to your cocktail, and impressing your friends. It’s pretty easy. You should do it.
8. Fresh Juice
Hands down, this is the biggest difference maker when it comes to how a cocktail tastes (besides the spirit itself). I dare you to go buy one of those plastic limes with lime juice in it and compare it to fresh squeezed lime juice. They do not taste the same. Does it take more time, work, and probably money to make fresh squeezed juice? Yes, probably, unless you live somewhere warm and have access to citrus fruit. But it is worth it.
Fresh squeezed juice doesn’t stay fresh squeezed forever. I give it about a week before it starts to taste funky. If it’s just you and a couple friends, I recommend using a hand juicer to juice your lemons and limes as you go. If you plan on making a decent amount of cocktails or batches of margaritas or lemon drops, go ahead and buy a citrus juicer and make some ahead of time. I always strain the juice and put it into bottles in the fridge. It also makes it easier to add some lemon or lime juice to my water throughout the day.
This same concept can be applied to fresh grapefruits, oranges, and other citrus. Using fresh strawberries, blueberries, dragonfruit, peaches, apples, etc. also make a huge difference for muddling or infusing. Leftover rinds can be dehydrated for garnishes or used to make bitters, potpourri, or zest (I freeze zest to use in my cooking once in a while). I like to keep a fresh orange, 2 lemons, and 3 limes in my fridge at all times. After a week, if I haven’t used them, I make some juice and then replenish my fresh fruit. This is great for making twists, orange peels, zest, wedges, or fresh juice in a pinch.
9. Aging Barrels
Having a miniature oak barrel at home to age your own cocktail is definitely extra. It takes time, money, and just a dab of pretentiousness to do this. In saying this, I do have one. And I love it.
Whiskey and bourbon are all barrel-aged. The wood from the barrel is what gives it the brown color. The grain alcohol that originally goes in the barrel is clear. This is where we get the flavors and tasting notes from whiskey. So if you’ve ever seen “double oaked” or “double barrel” on a label, it means that the whiskey was then put in a second barrel to pick up even more flavors. That’s essentially what we’re doing in a miniature way.
I originally used a standard whiskey (like Old Forester or Bulleit) into a barrel for 6 months and then tried it compared to some non-aged Old Forester. There was definitely a difference and a much smoother flavor and more complex notes. I then aged a batched Negroni (gin, Campari, sweet vermouth). It was hands-down the best Negroni I’ve ever tasted. Then I did a Black Manhattan, and the game keeps going.
It is quite the crowd pleaser, but it takes time, testing, patience, and about $100/barrel. I’ve seen other ways to “oak” your liquor as well and there’s a bit of a learning curve. If anything, it sure looks cool on a bar shelf.
10. Bar Tools
To be clear, you do not need every single bar tool that exists in order to make cocktails. I highly recommend these basics that will enable you to make almost every cocktail:
- Shaker tin (Cobbler or Boston – I prefer Boston)
- Jigger
- Hawthorne strainer
- Mixing spoon
- Mesh strainer
It is nice to have a mixing glass and julep strainer, but it is not absolutely necessary. Peelers, muddlers, swizzle sticks, ice tongs, different types of jiggers, mallets, precision tongs, zesters, etc. are all optional and serve a purpose. You should also probably have a bottle opener, wine corkscrew, knife, and cutting board available.
*Keep an eye out for a new post that breaks down bartending equipment for the at-home bartender.
Conclusion
Hopefully this gave you some inspiration and ideas to add to your at-home bar. Whether you prefer to just pour some bourbon in a red plastic cup or you decide to serve a smoky, sparkly, glow-in-the-dark cocktail with a bubble on top, it’s totally up to you and neither one is wrong.
At the end of the day, cocktails are meant to be fun. Whether you’re pouring bourbon into a red Solo cup or serving a smoked old fashioned with a rose-shaped ice cube, the best drink is the one shared with good friends.
There’s so much more out there, too. Leave a comment and let us know what you do to create a craft cocktail experience for your friends and guests! We look forward to hearing your thoughts below.