Mixing 101: Getting the proportions right

When it comes to drink mixing, make-or-break secrets are never found in recipe books. Beginning bartenders who merely memorize 101 recipes are always thrown for a loop when asked to prepare a drink batch that deviates from standard measurements. Regardless of the math level completed, a novice mixer will stumble through the conversion of a recipe typically made for two - now requested for six or seven - and end up with either too much or too little.

Patrons at local watering holes often fail to notice a bartender's ability to portion drinks properly and evenly. Because many drinks have identical ingredients but different measurements, an error can completely change the experience of a drink. Wasted spirits are bad for business, and show a general lack of respect for the quality and effort that goes in to creating a cocktail.

While working at a local Houlihan's, I was training a bartender named Thomas Southwell, who had been schooled during the early days of TGIFs. Despite his work at an establishment better known for its milkshakes, Mr. Southwell had painstakingly learned the correct way to serve any drink, no matter how ridiculous the preparation.

Before meeting Mr. Southwell and seeing him operate, I had always carelessly thrown together frozen concoctions. Whatever didn't fit into the glass went down the drain or into a small glass that one of the waitrons would sip greedily. Although the extra milkshake that a soda jerk serves up might be a bonus, the leftover of a frozen drink like the Daiquiri or the Margarita reveals a slipshod job. Unlike a milkshake, a frozen cocktail that sits too long will separate and dilute without retaining any of its original taste.

Mr. Southwell taught me that ice scoops come in sizes just like glasses. If you're making a 12-ounce frozen Daiquiri, use a full 12-ounce scoop of ice and add spirits and mixers until only peaks of ice remain. When you're done blending [569KBytes .mov] the drink, you'll have the ideal consistency without wasting any ingredient.

But frozen drinks are child's play when compared to portioning cocktails. When stirring or shaking cocktails, you must consider the amount of water that will be added by the chilling process. Because temperature is a physical property, you must know the relative ambient temperature, as well as the temperature of the tools and ingredients used. Chilling a Martini on a 60-degree evening will obviously require less ice than a Margarita on a 90-degree day.

You may be thinking that none of this sounds particularly difficult, and in theory it isn't. But once you're surrounded by a thirsty crowd, the task of pouring a round of drinks with just the right amount of liquid isn't easy - it's an art.

How you decant a series of cocktails - freshly shaken and all the same - affects the taste. When pouring a round, fill the first glass halfway and continue down the line, gently filling each glass with equal amounts, and agitating the potion with a quick flick of the wrist as you go. By the time you get to the last glass, each vessel should have the same amount of liquid, with none remaining in the tin. Pouring this way ensures that all the drinks will have a consistent flavor.

A great bartender will be able to perform this just as I have described; a good bartender will probably pour back down the line of glasses, adding just a drop or two and possibly getting too close to the rim for serving; and a lazy bartender will not have made enough, requiring topping off with a half-batch (bearing no resemblance to the original cocktail) for the last couple of glasses.

The same method is not required for cocktails that are stirred when chilled. For instance, Martinis and Manhattans do not contain ingredients that are difficult to mix or that will readily separate, so you should fill each glass as you go, avoiding any repeat pours into a glass. For me, this is the more difficult way to portion cocktails for large rounds.

I still remember the day when some schmuck wandered into Enrico's and snootily ordered six dry Sapphire Martinis, all with a twist [1M .mov]. It was apparent to me that the place, recently under new management, no longer had the same charm for this guy, and to him I was no Ward Dunham, the city's exalted mixologist. I was being tested. The only vessel available for preparing large drink batches was a stainless-steel shaking tin. This complicated matters, as I couldn't visually gauge the amount of gin needed to pour a round. Fortunately, I had been mixing long enough to know instinctively how much gin to add. The gentleman stood in amazement as I let the last drop of gin even out the sixth Martini.

Some bartenders think they are doing you a favor by leaving the overpoured cocktail in a mixing glass next to your drink, but all this serves to do is dilute the last half of a perfectly good cocktail. The only occasion that I'd offer any remaining mix to a guest is if I'm out of 6-ounce glasses and using 4 1/2-ounce substitutes. Then I'd only top off guests' glasses if they showed proper etiquette and enjoyed a large, initial sip upon being served - otherwise, it's only good intention gone to waste.