THE TOOLS, TECHNIQUES, AND GARNISHES OF THE COCKTAIL
Any craftsperson, whether a carpenter, a chef, or a bartender, needs tools. Having the correct tool to do a particular job and the skill to use it are equally important. In the last twenty years, the craft of the cocktail as an integral part of the larger culinary arts world has reemerged, along with a generation of talented young bartenders. A support community of designers has supplied the tools to do the job. Let’s take a look at the extraordinary array of tools, some harkening back to the first golden age of the craft, and some cutting-edge technology.
The shaker & other tools
The cocktail shaker and accompanying tools evolved slowly with the addition of ice, fruits, and citrus juices to simple cocktail and punch recipes over a hundred years. The earliest patent for a cocktail shaking apparatus I have been able to find was in 1872, documented in Vintage Bar Ware, by Stephen Visakay (1997).
Since that first patent, the cocktail shaker has inspired hundreds of inventors to patent their unusual and unique versions, from penguin-shaped shakers to bell shapes that utilize the handle of the bell for shaking. In the 1870s, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office was flooded with shaker designs from hopeful inventors. The designs broke down into two basic styles: the cobbler shaker and the Boston shaker.
Microplane grater
TAG barspoon
Hand-turned muddler
Swiss peeler
Koriko Hawthorne strainer
Spanish twisted bar spoon
Mini bar strainer
Teardrop barspoon
OXO Hawthorne strainer
TAG julep strainer
Custom chef’s knife
Japanese bar knife
Paring knife
Cocktail Kingdom julep strainer
Caviar strainer
The Cobbler Shaker
The glamorous three-piece cobbler-style shaker is the one we associate with all those madcap cocktail drinkers in 1930s movies. They are usually all metal (often stainless steel, sometimes silver, rarely glass), with a top that has a smaller cap, which unscrews to reveal a strainer. The shaker is simplicity itself to use: add ingredients, secure the top and cap, shake, unscrew cap, and strain. The cobbler has been executed in hundreds of shapes and designs.
The Boston Shaker Set
The more mundane Boston shaker set takes a little more practice but offers more versatility than the cobbler style. It’s also more fun to use, and it is the choice of most professional bartenders these days. The Boston shaker consists of two parts: the larger is twenty-six to thirty ounces and usually made from stainless steel; the smaller is usually about sixteen ounces and can be glass or stainless steel. The craft bartending community has embraced the metal-on-metal Boston shaker, often with one in each hand while they execute a series of very skilled moves to seal, shake, and unseal; then strain both simultaneously into two prepared glasses. Assemble the cocktail in the smaller part of the set. Combine the two parts and create a seal. Always shake with the smaller side on top.
Look for glass with a T on the bottom if you’re choosing the metal over glass shaker; this means it’s tempered to avoid cracking when first chilled to freezing and then plunged into hot water. Buy a fitted set rather than separate pieces to insure a good fit. The two parts should create a tight seal. If they don’t, it is not a good tool. See this page for more on purchasing a proper tool.
Making drinks is a bit of a show, so always prepare the drinks in front of your guests, whether at home or working behind a bar. Free-pouring ingredients without using calibrated measuring jiggers is a risk, especially for the home bartender. That type of drink-making is executed by professionals after years of experience and requires significant hand-eye coordination. My rule in adding ingredients follows a strict order: sour first followed by sweet, then flavor modifiers and dashes, and finally the base ingredient. Ice is added last, just before shaking. The exceptions to this rule are strong stirred drinks like Manhattans and martinis, and in those cases add the ice first, then follow the rule of base ingredient last, just before stirring.
Shaking a Drink
Place the larger half of the Boston shaker over the smaller half while it is resting on the bar. Strike the upturned end of the large half twice with the heel of your free hand to create the seal. The shaker should seal so tightly that the whole assembly can be picked up as a single unit. If the metal and glass halves fail to seal properly, try again, and if they don’t seal, then there is a problem with one of the parts, and it should be replaced.
After creating the seal, turn the whole assemblage over so the smaller half is now on top and the metal half rests on the bar. Strike the upturned smaller side one more time with the heel of your palm to ensure a seal. Now grasp the unit with the large half resting securely in the palm of one hand and the fingers of the other hand wrapped securely over the top of the smaller half, giving you complete control of the unit. Shake hard; even if the seal were to break, the liquid would be mostly contained within the larger metal half, and there’s less danger of splashing cocktail ingredients all over your guests. The shaking should sound like a machine gun; I shake most cocktails vigorously but with style to a slow count of ten. Shake drinks that contain eggs longer and harder to emulsify the egg. A limp shake is a bad show, so have fun. Shaking with style takes some practice.
After shaking, grasp the unit firmly in one hand with two fingers wrapped around each portion of the shaker to control both halves. Using the heel of your other hand, hit the top rim of the larger half sharply. This will break the seal. Keep in mind that pressure has built up inside the cold shaker, so breaking the seal can be difficult. If it doesn’t work the first time, turn the whole unit slightly and try again until it works.
Rolling a Drink
When making Bloody Marys and other drinks containing tomato juice, always shake them lightly or roll them. Rolling means pouring the drink back and forth between the two parts of a cocktail shaker. Vigorously shaking drinks containing tomato juice creates an unpleasant foamy consistency.
Strainers
The final step in the preparation of a stirred or shaken cocktail is pouring and straining the drink into a proper glass with style and flourish. There are two popular types of strainers used for cocktail service: the Hawthorne strainer (the one with the spring) and the julep strainer (the one with the holes), both of which are perfect companions for the Boston shaker set. The smaller julep strainer works efficiently with the smaller half of the shaker; and the Hawthorne, with its metal tabs around the edge designed to rest on the rim, works well with the metal larger half of the shaker. Hawthorne strainers come in many styles and designs today. Oxo has a neat, ergonomically designed version. Don Lee of Cocktail Kingdom (see Tools & Books, this page) designed my favorite, the Koriko Hawthorne strainer, which works well with martini beakers and the Boston shaker glass.
Straining the liquid from the shaker into the glass is a one-handed affair. After breaking the seal of the Boston shaker, place the Hawthorne strainer on top of the larger half of the shaker. The index finger and sometimes the middle finger keep the strainer in place. The thumb, little finger, and ring finger hold the body of the shaker (see photo on the title page). Hold the metal shaker tightly and strain slowly at first to avoid splashing. When straining into a martini or cocktail glass, pour the liquid in a circular motion, delicately swirling around the insides of the glass (this will also help avoid spillage). The graceful circular motion slows down as you empty the glass shaker. For the last ounce, draw your hand up high over the middle of the cocktail glass, emptying the last of the liquid. When the liquid is drained from the shaker, the final motion should be a sharp snap of the wrist to punctuate the ceremony and draw attention to the drink.
Jiggers
Get a set of two jiggers, both of which should be stainless steel and feature two different cup sizes—one calibrated by quarter ounces up to one ounce and the second calibrated by half ounces up to two ounces. Today you can source a single jigger with all the calibrations up to three ounces, the standard pour for fortified wines.
Long-Handled Cocktail Spoon
The standard cocktail spoon is a long spoon with a twisted stem; a simple tool that, when properly used, is at the heart of the most elegant of the bartender customer interactions, stirring a proper Martini or Manhattan. Making a martini without the ceremony is a lost opportunity for one of those special ceremonies in life. When I was stirring martinis behind the busy bar at the Rainbow Room, I had Zen moments when I could see the whole room almost in slow motion while I took my time stirring. It simply can’t be rushed. I stir to a slow thirty count unless otherwise indicated in the recipe.
When making stirred drinks, add dashes and small amounts first. The in-and-out martini is an example of this in action. The bartender dashes the vermouth over the ice, swirls the mixing glass to season the ice, then tosses out the extra vermouth before adding the gin or vodka.
Swizzles
The original nineteenth-century swizzle from Jamaica and other islands in the Greater and Lesser Antilles was a much more important tool than the ones we use here in America today. In fact, the swizzle was so distinguished that its name was given to an entire category of drinks. The Swizzle is attributed to the Georgetown Club in British Guiana, where the plantation owners gathered at the end of their day to “tell the government what to do next.”
Knives & Cutting Board
I have a selection of knives in my kit, but I travel with a four-inch paring knife, a chef’s knife, a channel knife. Wooden cutting boards are prohibited in commercial establishments by health department guidelines but are fine in the home. Kitchen-safety studies show the rubber-composition boards made by companies are easier to clean and less likely to harbor bacteria. Separate the boards used for raw meat or chicken, and do not use them for any other purpose.
stirring Versus shaking
There are long-standing guidelines regarding stirring versus shaking: Drinks that contain spirits only—such as martinis, Manhattans, and Rob Roys—should be stirred. Drinks that also contain fruit or citrus juice and sweet ingredients should be shaken. The difference between stirring and shaking is most noticeable in the look of the drink and the texture on your tongue. Shaking adds millions of tiny air bubbles to a cocktail, which is fine for a cocktail like a daiquiri or a margarita; those concoctions should be effervescent and alive in the glass when you drink them. As Harry Craddock said in The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930), a cocktail should be consumed “quickly while it’s laughing at you.” Conversely, martinis and Manhattans should have a cold, heavy, silky texture, not light and frothy. I always stir them. Mind you, shaking doesn’t permanently change the flavor of gin or vodka; it temporarily fills the solution with air bubbles that change the texture on the tongue. After a minute, the bubbles will disperse and the drink will taste the same as if you had stirred it. But don’t let me dissuade you. Enjoy your martinis well shaken, if that’s your pleasure.
Corkscrew
A corkscrew, cork extractor, or wine key should be chosen on the basis of ease of handling. Two other types are widely available: the winged corkscrew that you crank from the top, and the waiter’s corkscrew that looks sort of like a switchblade knife. Screwpull is one of the leading manufacturers of cork extractors for the home, and they are simple and easy to use and priced for all budgets. I highly recommend them.
Piano Whip & French Whip or Whisk
The piano whip is a must if you are a fan of coffee drinks; it has the thinnest-gauge wire of all the whips, and it can whip up a pint of heavy cream to the right consistency for Irish coffee in two minutes. I like to use a thick-wire French-style whisk to extract juice from watermelons. The heavy-gauge wire is stiff enough to break down the melon and release its juice. Dice the melon to smaller pieces and place them in a large china cap strainer over a big bowl, then break the melon down with the whisk to release the juice.
Funnel
Talk about follow-up: you will need a funnel when it comes time to fill that decorative bottle with simple syrup or lemon and lime juices. Bonus points: try to find a funnel with a built-in strainer to help remove seeds and pulp from citrus.
Channel Knife
The channel knife cuts a thin strip of peel from a lemon, lime, or orange to make a wonderfully decorative garnish. This is really an optional tool for the bartender who wants to get creative with spirals of citrus, but it is a must to re-create the Horse’s Neck cocktail. Buy one that has a fat, ergonomically designed handle at a good kitchenware store; I recommend OXO brand.
juicers & juicing
Citrus Juicer Extractor
All of my recipes require lots of fresh juices, so if you don’t yet have one, get a serviceable citrus juice extractor. There are many shapes and sizes on the market, but I recommend one that is large enough to juice a grapefruit. Inexpensive electric citrus juice extractors are not powerful enough for commercial use but fine for household use. Power juicer extractors like those made by Hamilton Beach and KitchenAid are pricey and really not necessary unless you make lots of juice. A vegetable and fruit juicer is an extra indulgence if you enjoy exotic tropical or vegetable-based smoothies.
Hints for Juicing
The first rule of thumb is always choosing fruit that is intended for juicing. They are fruits with the thinnest skin; if you have doubts, ask a good grocer for help. There are other points to remember as well:
• Be sure to remove all agricultural stamps and stickers with the knife, either pulling them off or scraping them away.
• Always wash fruits.
• Never refrigerate lemons, limes, or oranges that are meant for juicing, because cold fruit is stingy with juice. If the fruit is cold warm the fruit in the sink in warm water. Roll fruit under the palm of your hand across a cutting board to break down the cells and release more of the juice. Follow these simple steps and you can almost double the amount of juice you extract.
• Strain fruit juice through a fine strainer to remove seeds as well as pulp. Some people like fruit juice with lots of pulp, but it can present some problems with glassware, especially those washed in a dishwasher. The pulp becomes baked on the inside of the glass and, even though the glass is sterile, it looks dirty and is unusable. Always store juices in the refrigerator to safeguard against bacteria growth. Remember that fresh-squeezed juices are not pasteurized like some commercial juices, and they will spoil a lot faster. Fresh-squeeze juices as needed. Orange, lemon, and grapefruit will store in the fridge but lime should be squeezed fresh.
Fruit for Daiquiris
Fresh-fruit daiquiris are usually prepared as frozen drinks, but they can also be prepared as “up” drinks—served without ice. Strawberries, bananas, papayas, and mangos make wonderful frozen drinks. They can be prepared ahead of time for a party and stored in simple syrup. Most fresh fruit will hold in the syrup for a couple days, but ideally they should be used the same day. Note: Frozen fresh fruit purées, once available only for commercial use, are now offered online for household use. One source is the Perfect Purée of Napa Valley, which has a marvelous range of flavors.
GARNISHES
I’ve always been amused by the definition of garnish in the dictionary as “something on or around food to add color or flavor.” Beverage garnishes, I guess, don’t make the cut. That’s fine with me, because my definition of a cocktail garnish is something that adds both color and flavor. That thin sliver of dried lemon peel or the half wedge of oxidized lime that bobs to the surface of your drink is not a proper garnish.
For me, there are three words that are paramount to garniture presentation: decorative, bountiful, and fresh. A garnish should be chosen for size, beauty, and freshness. And when I say size, I am not implying bigger is better. A juice orange is not acceptable for garnish because its skin is too thin. Then again, the large, thick-skinned navels that make wonderful garnishes are very stingy in the juice department—not to mention expensive. The orange must be just right. Preparation is important, too. That big, beautiful navel is often butchered down to little chunks that retain nothing of the original shape and beauty of the whole fruit.
The first cocktail books in the mid-nineteenth century took a simple approach to the question of garnish. In his 1862 book How to Mix Drinks, or The Bon-Vivant’s Companion, Jerry Thomas instructs us to “dress” or “ornament the top with fresh fruits in season.”
Lemon and Lime Wedges
Wedges should be cut in the following way:
• Begin by cutting the ends, or poles, off of the fruit; cut about ⅛-inch nub off each end, being careful not to cut into the fruit.
• Cut the fruit in half lengthwise (through the poles) and lay the halves facedown on the cutting board.
• Holding 1 half at a time, make 2 cuts lengthwise at a 45-degree angle, creating 3 wedges; then do the same with the other half. With larger fruit it’s possible to get 4 wedges (instead of 3) out of each half.
• Cut lemons will remain fresh for 2 days if covered with a damp cloth and refrigerated. Cut limes, however, oxidize quickly, turning the edges brown and unusable for garnishing after 1 day. (Use the day-old lime wedges for muddling in drinks such as the Caipirinha.)
• Depending on the time of year and the source, some lemons may have more seeds than at other times, and if so, one more step is necessary: After the final cut, you’ll notice that the seeds are generally gathered along the center line of the wedge. With a quick cut, remove that quarter-inch of seed-filled gutter.
Pineapple Wedges
For garnishing, cut off both ends of the pineapple, then cut 1-inch-thick slices crosswise (through the equator, not pole to pole). Cut each slice into 8 wedges, leaving the skin on.
Flamed orange & Lemon zest coins
The aroma and flavor in citrus fruits is concentrated in the oil cells of the peel. Chefs and bartenders often extract this oil along with the juice to add the essence of the fruit to various dishes and drinks. In cocktails, the oil in the citrus peel provides an additional advantage because it can be flamed.
• Always use firm, fresh fruit: the skin will have a higher oil content.
• Use thick-skinned navel oranges and large lemons; ask your grocer for 95-count (a grocer term to indicate approximate number of pieces in the case) lemons as opposed to juice lemons (which are 165 count).
• Cut thin, uniformly sized oval or round peels, about an inch across. These are called coins by bartenders. If you are just developing confidence and skill with kitchen knives, begin with this easier technique: First cut a ½-inch nub off each end as described on this page for the wedges. Place the fruit on the cutting board with one of the cut poles resting on the board. Hold it down firmly on the cutting board and, using the paring knife, cut thin oval-shaped twists about 1 inch by 1½ inches long, slicing down toward the cutting board and away from your hand. The peel should be thin enough that the yellow shows all around the circumference, with just a small amount of white pith visible in the center. This type of peel will maximize the amount of oil expressed into the drink and minimize the amount of bitter white pith on the twist. Cut twists in a downward motion from the middle of the fruit to the bottom, following the curve of the fruit and turning the fruit after each cut until you have circled the fruit completely. Then turn the fruit over and perform the same operation on the other half. Navel oranges should yield 12 twists. If the large, fancy lemons are not available, choose the largest lemons available and be sure the skin is fresh, firm, and full of oil (as the fruit dries out, the skin will feel softer and have much less oil).
Now that you have the peels, you can create festive pyrotechnical displays for your guests with the oil present in the skins. Here’s how to flame the oil:
• Hold a lit match in one hand and very carefully pick up a twist in the other hand, as if holding an eggshell; if you squeeze the twist prematurely, the oil will be expelled.
• Hold the twist gingerly by the side, not the ends, between thumb and forefinger, skin-side facing down, about 4 inches above the drink.
• Hold the match between the drink and the twist, closer to the twist. Snap the twist sharply, propelling the oil through the lit match and onto the surface of the drink. (Be sure to hold the twist far enough from the drink to avoid getting a smoky film on the surface of the drink.
Lemon/Orange Peel Spiral Garnish
Here’s a fun and extravagant garnish used for drinks that are served in a tall chimney-style glass, like the Horse’s Neck and Gin Sling. You will need a channel knife to cut a small groove in the skin of the fruit, creating a long spiral of lemon peel. Begin the same way as you would make peels above:
• Remove the small nubs at each end.
• Grasping the lemon in one hand and the channel knife in the other, begin cutting at the pole farthest from you, cutting in a spiral around the fruit until you reach the other pole. Maintain steady downward pressure so the blade will cut into the skin.
• The half-inch-wide spiral peel left on the lemon is the garnish for the Horse’s Neck cocktail, and it has to be carefully cut from the lemon using a paring knife. Take the paring knife and cut the thicker spiral peel from the lemon, keeping the knife tilted slightly inward toward the fruit to avoid cutting through the peel.
• Store the peels in ice water and the spirals will tighten up and become springy. The thicker spiral peel for the Horse’s Neck garnish has to be placed in the serving glass before the ice and ingredients. Hook the curved end of the peel over the rim of the glass and drape the remaining length of peel in a spiral down inside the glass until it reaches the bottom. Hold the portion of the peel curled over the rim of the glass so it doesn’t fall into the glass. Put the ice cubes in the center with the peel around the outside. The ice will hold the spiral garnish in place.
The thinner spiral peel can be cut into shorter lengths and used on the rim of a glass, like a champagne flute, as a garnish for Champagne cocktails.
Orange/Lemon Slice Garnish
• Choose fresh thick-skinned navel oranges or thick-skinned fancy lemons.
• Cut both ends off the fruit; note that some navel oranges have skin up to an inch thick at the poles that has to be cut away before you reach the flesh of the fruit.
• Next, cut the fruit in half lengthwise, through the poles, then place both halves facedown on a cutting board and cut ½-inch slices crosswise, following the line of the equator, not from pole to pole. (If your glassware is small, halve the slices of orange into quarter-round pieces.) When you combine an orange slice with a maraschino cherry, you have the famous “flag,” a popular garnish for collins and sour drinks.
Mint and Other Herbs
A mint garnish has been a part of the American beverage since colonial times, when it appeared in the first brandy and peach-brandy juleps that were signature early American drinks. When choosing mint for beverage applications, look for springy young spearmint. Some varieties are more suited to garnish and beverage application. Avoid what I call the elephant-ear mint, with large floppy leaves; the leaves look wilted on top of a drink. A mint garnish should look generous and bushy. Drinks garnished with mint should be served with straws.
After muddling gently or shaking mint in a drink, strain the drink through the julep strainer to remove the bits of mint that are floating in the drink. It is not necessary to shred the mint when muddling, only to bruise the leaves to extract flavor. The action of shaking with ice will do the rest of the job. With mint leaves, I don’t want to tear them into tiny pieces because the tannins are bitter.
FROSTING THE RIM OF THE GLASS
I sometimes shudder while sitting at a bar and watching the bartender take the glass from which I will be drinking, turn it upside down, dunk the rim into a container with some wet spongy material in it, and then dip the rim into salt. The rim of the glass is coated inside and outside with salt, not to mention the mysterious wet spongy stuff. Yuck.
Here’s the right way to do it: Take a small widemouthed bowl and fill it with kosher or margarita salt, granulated sugar, or whatever you are frosting the glass with; never use iodized salt for frosting glasses. Using a fresh lemon, lime, or orange slice, carefully moisten only the outside rim of the glass in the desired width. Then, holding the glass sideways with the stem or bottom tipped slightly upward, dab the rim into the salt while turning the glass slowly, until the whole moistened rim is covered with the coating. Hold the glass over the sink or the trash container and tap the bowl of the glass gently to knock off the excess salt or sugar. The effect is a delicately salted rim that looks almost frosted. Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant, a San Francisco restaurant that is famous for its margaritas, has a clever tradition: they salt only half the rim of the glass so the drinker can go back and forth between the salted and the unsalted parts of the rim.
MUDDLE THIS OVeR
Muddling is a constant theme running through the recipes in this book. The standard muddler available at cocktail websites or in retail stores is not the same as the natural, hardwood muddler that I’m accustomed to using behind the bar; mine is made of hard fruitwood. Muddle herbs more gently than fruits.
Other useful muddling herbs include pineapple sage, which has a wonderful aroma that would enhance lots of drinks, like my Pineapple Julep, or even tropical drinks with pineapple as an ingredient. Black peppermint, besides adding a dramatic visual to a drink with its dark maroon stem veins, packs the most concentrated peppermint aroma of any in the category. Shiso leaf is the green or red-tinged leaf you find on the plate under sashimi. It has a strong, distinctive flavor and aroma. Bartenders are including more Asian spirits in cocktails, and shiso brings authentic flavor notes as both an ingredient and a garnish in these drinks. Verbena and lemon verbena have dark green leaves that add a refreshing lemony note as a garnish or muddled into citrus-based vodka, gin, and rum drinks. Simple syrup (this page) can also be flavored by macerating or heating it with different spices like cinnamon. Try your own flavored syrup with spices of your choice.
Fruits Cut for Muddling
• Lemons and Limes: Quarters work better for muddling than the wedges used for garnish. Wash the fruit and cut the nubs from both poles, then cut the fruit in half through the equator. Place both halves facedown on the cutting board and cut each into 4 equal quarters. The quarters are more compact than wedges and are easier to muddle and mash in the bottom of a mixing glass. One lemon make 2 sets of 4 quarters for muddling.
• Oranges: Because of their size, I muddle oranges cut into slices.
• Pineapple: Cut off both ends and the rind. Remove the hard core. Cut 1-inch-thick slices crosswise (through the equator, not the pole). Cut the slices into 8 wedges, and use the pieces for muddling.
There are two types of actions I perform with the muddler: bruising and muddling. I will bruise herbs by muddling them gently for a short time just to release some flavor without pulverizing them. I will aggressively muddle fruit like lemon, orange, and lime, or topical fruit like pineapple, kiwi, and mango, among others.
Spiral orange peel and lemon garnish for Horse’s Neck
Scored lime and lemon wedges
Jalapeño skin garnish
Nutmeg grater and berries
Bordeaux cherries
Lemon/lime half wedges for muddling or garnish
Wide orange peel spiral for Café Brûlot (this page)
Pineapple leaf garnishes and pineapple wedges
glassware
Glassware needs today are far simpler than they were in the nineteenth century. In his 1888 book, Harry Johnson’s New and Improved Illustrated Bartender’s Manual or How to Mix Drinks of the Present Style, Harry Johnson recommends six different wineglasses, five different beer glasses, and thirteen different drink glasses.
A good rule when choosing glassware is the old-fashioned idea of closely matching the glass size to portion size. Sure, there are times when an oversize glass is appropriate: An oversize Burgundy or Bordeaux glass adds elegance to wine service, and a scotch on the rocks looks and feels better in a double old-fashioned glass with some heft. However, there is little to no advantage to a ten- or eleven-ounce cocktail glass. Although they may appear to be crowd-pleasers, they are a losing proposition; filling them is bad for the bottom line and will end the party quickly, and not filling them looks stingy. The cocktail is intended to be a door opener at a cocktail party, a before-dinner appetite stimulant, not an evening ender.
Purchase a cocktail glass with size, balance, and style as your guide. Keep in mind that many classic cocktail recipes are 3 to 3½ ounces total before dilution and are designed for 5- to 7-ounce cocktail glasses that are never filled to the brim. Many glasses on the market are simply too big. At the Rainbow Room, I eventually switched to a 6-ounce cocktail glass, which at first garnered negative customer reactions. Eventually, though, check averages increased, as people felt free to enjoy more than one drink; this was not my intention, but it was an unexpected benefit on the bottom line. I think a smaller glass is perceived as not only manageable but also elegant and classic, like the drinks served in them. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t do the same at home.
PONY, LONDON DOCK & POUSSE-CAFÉ GLASSES
• The pony looks like a miniature port glass, usually only one ounce.
• The London dock is used for Spanish sherry, and dessert wines, about five ounces.
• The pousse-café glass stands slightly taller than a copita, has straighter sides, and flares out at the top instead of inward to accommodate the layered pour.
Irish Coffee & Hot Drink Glasses
If you’re a big fan of hot coffee drinks, a classic Irish coffee glass with a tulip shape and medallion in the stem would be a good investment for aesthetic as well as practical reasons. The classic Irish coffee glass is only eight ounces, so after the whiskey and the brown-sugar syrup are poured in, there is room left in the glass for the exact amount of coffee (four ounces), then a nice, generous one-inch thick float of cream.
Pitchers, Bowls & Cups
Group drinks served in pitchers, fancy punch bowls, or any large container are a big part of home entertaining. I serve a rum punch at my Super Bowl party in a big plastic cooler, just like the one the winning team dumps over the head of the coach at the end of the game. And a premade cocktail by the pitcher can solve the problem of getting a drink into the hand of each guest upon arrival. I like to keep a couple of nice glass pitchers, between thirty-two and forty-six ounces, on hand for parties.
Prepping Glassware
Always assume that your glassware is at least in need of polishing and probably in need of washing before use. That doesn’t mean your day-to-day dinner glassware; we’re talking about those special cocktail glasses and wineglasses that have probably been shelved for some time. Holding a glass up to the light can reveal streaks and cloudiness that will not enhance the look of a martini or a glass of Champagne. Polish glassware with a lint-free cloth (in a pinch, use paper towels—Viva is the choice of food stylists). Chill martini and cocktail glasses by placing them in the freezer before a party. If your freezer can’t accommodate several glasses, fill the glasses with ice cubes and water before use, and they will chill up nicely.
Which Glass for Which Drink?
Below are must-haves for cocktail bars, but in the home, a wide range of glassware is really unnecessary.
• NICK & NORA: Retro “up” cocktails
• V-SHAPED COCKTAIL: All “up” cocktails
• COUPE: All “up” cocktails
• FIZZ OR DELMONICO: Fizz drinks with egg and sometimes cream were served without ice in a highball-style glass (six to eight ounces)
• Highball: Soda and beer (colloquially called a tumbler)
• Rocks or old-fashioned: Spirits over ice, cocktails over ice (six to ten ounces)
• DOUBLE OLD-FASHIONED: Mai Tai, Negroni (twelve to sixteen ounces)
• All-purpose wineglass: Red and white wine, frozen drinks (eight to twelve ounces, but do not fill more than halfway)
• Champagne flute: Champagne and Champagne cocktails
Optional Glassware
• Specialty, Copa Grande, hurricane: Frozen drinks and tropical rum drinks
• Pilsner, pint, or stein: A must-have for the beer-drinking household, Pilsner twelve to fourteen ounces, pint or stein sixteen ounces
• Brandy snifter: London dock glass is a fine substitute, though not as good aesthetically
• Shot: For the crowd that enjoys shooters. Shot glasses are an extra, unless, of course, you are a fan of shooters or of los tres cuates (“the three chums”): salt, tequila shot, and lime
• Collins or chimney: Zombie, collins (twelve to fourteen ounces). Note: Zombie can also be served in an oversize specialty glass.
• Punch bowl and cups: Traditional shrub-based or holiday punches