Bartending - Measuring Alcoholic Mixed Drinks in Cocktail Recipes from Bar.TV

Measured Advice: Measuring

Measuring: A Precision Art

Cocktail mixology is a science, completely unrelated to the acrobatic gesticulations glorified in some Hollywood bartending flicks. Once the scientific method of bartending is mastered, it becomes an art, never a side show. In following cocktail recipes and blending mixed drinks, great bartending motions are as subtle as the edge of a cocktail, only forceful when appropriate. Compare bartending - the creation and presentation of mixed and other alcoholic drinks - to ballroom dancing: Every dancer follows the same steps; it's the subtle execution of these steps that makes a particular dancer - and bartending expert - more graceful and elegant.

The most important step in following cocktail recipes and presenting alcoholic mixed drinks is measuring. Before you attempt to impress your friends or woo lovers, make sure you have mastered precise measurement for alcoholic recipes. Cocktails and mixed drinks have their own unique recipes, and each recipe should be followed precisely.

Measurements for each cocktail and alcoholic mixed drink are exacting and should be respected as such. A little extra here and a little less there does make a difference. Until you have mastered concise cocktail measurement, recommend your guests' mixed drinks derive from one large batch instead of having unique servings of a different cocktail. A slight misstep will go undetected when multiple alcoholic drinks are being prepared in one cocktail shaker.