Bartending Techniques
1) The Pour
Two pouring methods are used by bartenders behind the bar when making cocktails. The first uses a jigger, a bartender’s measuring tool. The second pours directly into the shaker or glass. Both techniques have their own solid reasons for being used.
Free pouring is generally considered to be the fastest way to prepare drinks, as you can pour multiple bottles with both hands. Free pouring, however, is considered less accurate.
You should be aware that even small errors can add up to a cocktail’s flavor profile. Depending on your job, it may be important to accurately measure liquor.
Pouring with a Jigger is a great way to do this. It’s easy to measure with a jigger. Even though it takes longer, you can be sure that your drinks will be accurate.
There are bartenders who have been trained to accurately measure pours. They can do this down to the millimeter. It takes time and rigorous training to reach that level.
Bartenders who have managed bars should be able to perform both tasks. You can start by using a jigger, which is required in most bars. Then you can move on to free-pouring when you feel more comfortable with measurements.
It doesn’t matter how you hold the bottle as long as it is held by the neck. You can also place a thumb or finger on the top of the speed-pourer to keep it from falling.
2) Frosting glassware
Frosting glassware doesn’t require any special technique. It is more of a good practice. You don’t need any special skills, just a basic understanding of why and how you should do it.
We chill our glassware to keep cocktails cool and crisp for longer. This is important, especially for drinks that are served without ice like Martinis or Manhattans.
Two main methods exist to chill glasses for cocktail making.
- Keep your glasses in the fridge or freezer. It will keep them cool but there may not be enough room in a bar fridge/freezer for a lot of glassware.
- Before you begin making your cocktail, fill the glass with water and ice. Your glass will be sufficiently cooled by the time you finish shaking or stirring. After you’ve finished shaking or stirring, throw out the ice and water. Your glass is ready.
3) Muddling
When you want to extract the juices and flavors from an ingredient, muddling is used. This technique is commonly used with ingredients such as citrus wedges and softer fruits. It can also be used for spices, like ginger.
Bartenders use a tool called a “muddler” (a long, thin stick) to mix ingredients. You can also use the backside of a barspoon (usually used to mix ingredients such as ginger).
This technique is easy to use. Grab your muddler and push down on the ingredients to extract their juices.
Muddling is a common technique for making cocktails like the Mojito and Caprioska.
4) Building
You can’t call building a bartending method, just like you cannot call frosting glassware a technique. It’s a more methodical approach than a mixing technique. The building method is to pour the entire drink into the glass that will be served, rather than preparing it in a shaker or mixing glasses beforehand.
simply stack ingredients on top of one another.
It’s a simple and quick way to make cocktails. Tequila Sunrise and Negroni cocktails are examples of using the building method.
5) Shaking
Shaking is required for the majority of cocktails that you will make in your bartending career. Shaking cocktails is one of the fastest and most efficient ways to mix the ingredients, while also cooling down the drink.
Some bartenders believe that the way you shake your cocktail is important. But, in reality, it does not matter. You can make a great cocktail as long as you shake it vigorously for 10-15 seconds, and mix the drinks correctly.
This is how you should mix your drinks correctly:
- Pour all ingredients into the shaker
- Shaker full of ice
- Seal the shaker with the lid (if you are using a Boston Shaker) or the tin.
- Hold the shaker firmly and point the end away from the customer. (You never know what could happen, so you don’t wish to accidentally shoot the cocktail into the customer).
- Shake HARSHLY for 10 to 15 seconds
- The tin can be removed by tapping gently the top of the shaker using your palm.
- Strain your cocktail (see below) into a frosted (see above).
Also, you should be familiar with dry shake. When you use ingredients such as egg whites or creamy, you can use a dry shake to create a thicker mousse. You shake the mixture first, before adding the ice. This helps aerate it and produces a thicker mousse.
6) Stirring
Bartenders love and use the technique of stirring cocktails. When I think of a cocktail that requires stirring, the infamous Martini comes to my mind.
Stirring is similar to shaking in that it mixes ingredients and cools the drink. Stirring and shaking are different in that they’re done at a slower pace, and the cocktails aren’t as heavily dilute as shaken ones.
Fill your glass with ice and then grab your metal rod or bar spoon, insert it in the glass, and stir! You can master the art of stirring by holding the stem between your middle two fingertips and rotating your wrist instead of your arm (see below video).
Stir until you feel the ‘bite in your throat’ from the alcohol. This usually takes about 30 seconds.
7) Rolling
The rolling technique is used to mix ingredients between stirring and shaking. Rolling is a technique that mixes ingredients more thoroughly but still in a gentler way than shaking. When you want to mix the ingredients well but not over-dilute your drink, this is an excellent technique.
Rolling a drink is simply pouring the mixture from one vessel to another (usually, a shaker tin). Your cocktail is ready after you have repeated this process 6-10 times.
Rolling is a common technique used to make the Bloody Mary cocktail.
The Path to Mastery
You can improve your bartending skills by combining these techniques in your cocktails. You can shake two cocktails simultaneously, or shake one while stirring another (a display of physical dexterity!) Shake while you garnish etc.
You can be creative :-).
The path to mastery then moves beyond the technique. To master the art of making cocktails, you must have a thorough understanding of your ingredients and their mixing.
Only hard work, study and practice will get you to this level. It’s worth it.
Best of luck! Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions.