 |
|
|
|
Measured Advice: Bartending Trade Secrets
- by Paul Harrington
Just as serious collectors struggle to verify the authenticity of a work of art, cocktail, bar, and barware equipment enthusiasts often tax themselves in search of a legitimate guide to bar classics. Although there is no definitive home barware and bartending guide with specific rules of engagement, some guidelines for glassware, home bar supplies, equipment, and general bar aesthetics exist, including the comforting default that if a drink truly tastes good, it might as well be enjoyed whether or not it has a verifiable bartending pedigree.
In bars, and especially home bars, people have always used glassware, barware, and other bartending supplies of varying quality to mix, shake, and stir to their own taste, but there are certain levels - or degrees - in defining classic cocktails and mixed drinks. Some truly rare drinks, such as the Ward 8, are still mixed as they were originally intended.
Drinks such as the Cuba Libre or the Martini Cocktail are considered bartending classics despite a few recipe, glassware, and equipment changes along the way. The Margarita and the Daiquiri are classic cocktails often made from recipes so bastardized that the resulting concoctions are no longer classics and vary greatly in supplies required. Modern-day bar classics, such as the Jasmine and the Mauri, are drinks created after 1940 that uphold the traditions of great cocktails, including preparation and glassware presentation.
Unless you're especially knowledgeable about a drink's history, possessing at least a passing knowledge of the glassware, equipment, and other supplies used to create the concoction through the years, you'll be hard-pressed to determine whether a particular drink recipe found in a typical bartending guide is authentic. For instance, we all accept that a martini is a classic cocktail, but is it the same classic drink when mixed with particularly different portions of gin or dry vermouth, or when served from atypical glassware?
Well, that depends... a dedicated mixologist or a bartending guide -- especially a pre-1950 cocktail publication -- is your best source for this kind of authoritative barware information. But for those bar-centered occasions when you need to size up a concoction quickly, take a close look at -- or listen to -- the drink's recipe, which should include the following elements to be considered a true classic.
Read More...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
