GLASSES
Highball: also known as a Collins glass, the Highball is designed to be filled to the top with ice to ensure your drink stays cold and undiluted – the classic vessel for long drinks such as the gin and tonic.
Rocks: a short tumbler-style glass designed to hold spirits with ice; often also used for neat spirits.
Martini: the quintessential cocktail glass – long-stemmed with a triangular shape.
Coupe: an elegant stemmed bowl glass, originally designed for Champagne. Also used as a vintage alternative to the classic Martini glass.
Coupette: similar to a coupe, but smaller.
Champagne flute: a tall, slim, stemmed glass.
Sling: long, slim glass with a squat stem and base, similar to a traditional Pilsner glass.
Metal Martini glass: not often found off the shelf – look in vintage markets.
Old Fashioned: a large rocks glass, often with a heavy base.
Goblet: an ornate wine glass
Tumbler: a short glass with rounded edges.
EQUIPMENT
Cocktail shaker: generally comes in three parts: a tin into which ingredients are measured, a strainer to fit on top of the tin and a small lid.
Mixing glass: this tall, thick-edged glass usually comes with a small spout. It is used for mixing and stirring ingredients with ice in order to cool and dilute the drink. Once the desired temperature/dilution is reached, the drink must be strained into a glass to prevent any of the wet ice going into the cocktail.
Bar spoon: used to stir a cocktail in a mixing glass, and to measure ingredients (a standard spoon is equivalent to one teaspoon). The flat disc that traditionally appears at the other end of the bar spoon can be used to muddle or agitate drinks to release the flavour of herbs and leaves. Many bar spoons also have a spiral stem which can be used to slow a pour and is particularly helpful when layering drinks.
Jigger/measuring spoons: precise quantities are very important when it comes to making cocktails. Jiggers can be used for both imperial and metric measurements. One teaspoon is equivalent to 5ml, and one tablespoon is equivalent to 15ml.
Strainer: used when pouring a drink to remove ice, these come in many forms – the Hawthorne strainer is the most common. Fine strainers are like miniature sieves, and are used to remove chips of ice, fruit pulp and other debris.
TECHNIQUES
Shaking: traditionally used to mix, dilute and chill cocktails containing fruit juice or egg white. Shaking helps to ensure that ingredients with a tendency to separate (such as juices) are throroughly integrated into the drink, and rapidly chills and dilutes by bringing the liquid into constant, aggressive contact with ice. However, vigorous shaking can break up the ice, leaving small chips which will further dilute the drink and can compromise appearance. This is why many shaken drinks are “double strained” using a sieve-like fine strainer.
Stirring: a gentler method of chilling and diluting. The longer the stir, the more chilled and diluted the cocktail.
Straining: a way of pouring the drink and removing the old ice at the same time. Without exception, the ice that is used in shaking or stirring should be discarded (it will have already given the best it has got in mixing the cocktail).
Frosting a glass: pre-chilling a glass by keeping it in the refrigerator (or preferably the freezer) to prevent the glass warming your drink. As a general rule, a cocktail should be consumed at as low a temperature as possible.
INGREDIENTS
Ice: the temperature and quality of the ice is important – the colder and chunkier the ice, the colder and less diluted the drink will be.
Ice cubes: as a general rule, when it comes to ice cubes, the larger the better, as they will melt and dilute more slowly.
Crushed ice: tends to chill and dilute drinks quickly. It can be bought from supermarkets, but you can also invest in an ice crusher which should suffice for small amounts.
Simple syrup: mix equal quantities by volume of water and white caster sugar and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Rich demerara syrup: place 2 parts of demerara sugar to 1 part of water, by volume, in a small saucepan. Heat gently, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool.
Honey syrup: place 2 parts of honey to 1 part of water, by volume, in a small saucepan. Heat gently, stirring, until the honey has dissolved. Allow to cool.
Lemon, lime or mandarin sherbet: place the peel of 8 fruits in a bowl with 250g (9oz) white caster sugar, rub together and set aside for 45–60 minutes. Add 250ml (9fl oz) of juice from the fruits and stir well until the sugar has dissolved, transferring to a saucepan and applying gentle heat if necessary. Strain through a fine strainer and allow to cool.
Orange or blood orange sherbet: place the peel of 6 fruits in a bowl with 250g (9oz) white caster sugar. Set aside for 1 hour, then add 250ml (9fl oz) of juice from the fruits. Dissolve the sugar and strain as above.
Pineapple sherbet: place the peel of 8 lemons in a bowl with 250g (9oz) white caster sugar, rub together and set aside for 45 minutes. Add 50ml (2fl oz) of fresh lemon juice and 250ml (9fl oz) of fresh pineapple juice. Dissolve the sugar and strain as above.
GARNISHES
Making a twist: cut the peel from a citrus fruit, taking care to avoid the pith, but ensure it retains some surface tension. When spritzing, the aim is to express the essential oils from the peel. To do this, squeeze the peel by its edges between finger and thumb. You should see a tiny spray of oils coming from the pores of the peel.
Wedge: cut a citrus fruit in half. Then cut each half lengthways into 3 or 4 wedges.
Slice: cut a lemon or orange in half, then cut into several semicircular slices crosswise.
Ribbon: use a julienne peeler to cut long, thin strips of peel from the citrus fruit. For a nice spiral spring, stretch them with a scissor blade.
SERVINGS
All recipes in this book serve one, unless otherwise stated.