Tips on making tasty drinks

Most drinks with one alcohol call for 1.25oz of liquor, which is equivalent to the line near the top of most shot glasses. The "free-pour" method used by experience tarbenders without stingy management is also known as the 3 second rule (3 quick seconds = roughly 1.25oz).

When making drinks that are alcohol/soda based, always put the ice in first, add the alcohol next, and fill with your soda of choice.

"Up" means straight alcohol."Chilled" is from a cooler or freezer, while "Double Chilled" is shaking the alcohol over ice in a shaker, and pouring strained. "On the rocks" means over ice.

For mixed and fruity drinks, add the straight alcohol first followed by any flavored liquers, then add your juices/mixes before blending.

For fruity drinks and anything with a lot of flavor or juices its best to use a flash blender, or blender to evenly mix the drink, and give it that frothy effect. Putting the ingredients in a shaker is a decent alternative. Bartenders that mix drinks one ingredient at a time right into the glass with ice and stick a straw in it and call it done are sloppy, and the drink will not taste right.

Need to tone down a fruity drink a bit? Give it a splash of Sprite/7up on top to take off the edge, and add some bubbles.

If anything needs to be sweeter, you can usually add Grenadine and blend it some more. Blending the Grenadine into the drink will add a pinkish color to it. If you pour a light amount of Grenadine over the top of a finished drink instead and let it settle, it will give it the "Sunset/Sunrise" affect (ex: Tequila Sunrise, Bahama Sunset, Alabama Sunset).

When making Frozen drinks it really helps to have a good blender. Start with a solid, flavorful base of ingredients and add ice till its a few inches above the liquid in the blender. Keep adding ice as you blend after shaking up the mixture to add thickness until the consistency is to your liking.

"Muddling" a mixture is to take a "muddle" (wooden stick with a wider, flat bottom) and crush ingredients together to open their flavor. A true "Old Fashioned" is made by first muddling an orange 1/4, cherry, packet of sugar, (3 drops of bitters if reg, or without for sweet) in the bottom of the glass before adding ice for example.

SHOTS:

When making shots, its easy to figure out how much of each to make if you just have the ingredients. If its two liquors, go half and half. If theres one liquor and one flavor, always add the liquor first (ex: Kamikaze is Vodka and Lime juice with a dash of triple sec. Add the vodka, the lime juice, then the triple sec last. Or you can chill it on the rocks in a shaker for a few seconds and strain it to tone it down).

Anything sweet, red, or fruity should be put in a shaker with 5 or so ice cubes, shaken and strained into the shot glass. Anything mixed to make a flavor like chocolate coconut should be shaken as well.

If a shot is listed as "layered", you want to carefully (using a pour spout) pour in each ingredient one at a time on the side of the glass so they float on top of each other and stay "layered". Generally put the clear stuff in first, cause your flavored stuff will float on top.

FRUIT:

Fruit helps add a hint of flavor to many drinks, and gives it a finished appearance when serving. Add limes to cola drinks and anything with tequila, or sweet & sour. Fruity, citrus, and red-colored drinks usually get a "flag" (take a 1/4 orange slice, fold it around a cherry and hold it together with a pick or toothpick).

When cutting fruit, don't make it into tiny wedges unless you are sticking them into a Corona. Cut the two ends off the fruit about 1/2 inch into the inside. Then cut your Lime/Lemon/Orange in half, then flip it upside down so the inside is facing up. Turn it so that the natural line down its center is sideways, then lightly run a knife down that line about 1/4 inch deep. Then flip it back over so the skin is up, and slice 1/4 inch-thick slices evenly through the half. This will give you nice slices that can be made into a flag, or slid onto the rim of your glass.