The Humble Gourmand

When I first landed a bartending job at Rain, a pan-Asian restaurant on New York’s Upper West Side, I was thrown head first into high-volume bartending, tossing around a sea of sweet and exotic cocktails that eager diners wanted to pair with spicy Thai-themed cuisine. The importance of immediate service expected by the bar managers taught me to fly through the steps of making cocktails, even when the ingredient list topped out at five.

You don’t have to be a professional drink-slinger to make delicious cocktails at home. Plus, the learning process is great taste-testing fun, and in the sipping with friends, excellent dinner-conversation fodder.

Over the course of this summer, I’ll be serving you myriad cocktail recipes from the traditional — sangria, cosmopolitan — to the lesser-known — pepperoncini martini and litchi cosmo (just wait!). Along the way, the HG would love to hear your comments or favorite versions of these tasty creations.

Cocktailing 101
I prefer a simple method for the simple cocktail. Whether it is a gin and tonic, a vodka and soda, a rum and coke, go in this order: fill the glass with ice, pour two to three ounces of alcohol over the ice, and top it off with your soda or juice mixer. The order really does make a difference.

For mixed cocktails and martinis, having a metal shaker at home is key. It allows you to fully mix drinks and get the right consistency in sweet drinks. Haven’t we all been victims of the strawful of only one ingredient from the bottom of a poorly mixed cocktail?

One important thing to note: if a drink calls for a splash of soda or any other carbonated beverage, add the bubbles after you shake the drink, or you’ll lose them!

Ingredients
There are a few items great to have handy for a variety of summer cocktails. Of course, you need bottles of alcohol – vodka, rum, tequila and gin are good to have around — but I’ll assume that’s understood:

• Simple syrup (recipe below)
  
• Limes
  
• Lemons
  
• Cranberry juice
  
• Cointreau or other orange-flavored liqueur. De Kuyper Triple Sec is a good alternative
  
• Margarita salt (kosher salt will do)
  
• Olives
  

Tools
Keep these on hand:

• Cocktail shaker
  
• A muddler
  
• Shot glass (purely for measuring purposes, of course)
  
• Proper glassware, such as rocks glasses and highball glasses, though this is not imperative

Many cocktails call for simple syrup. Don’t be afraid. It’s just equal parts sugar and water. It’s that simple.

I’d suggest starting with two cups. Boil the water and add the two cups of sugar, stirring until it completely dissolves. Take it off the heat and allow it to cool. Put it into a plastic squeeze bottle for easy pouring, and keep it in the refrigerator for when cocktail time calls.

Fresh sour mix is also another great concoction to have readily available. Sour mix is equal parts lime juice and simple syrup — and worlds better than the store-bought kind. In general, cocktails using fresh juices are just plain better.

Now that you’ve got the ingredient and tools down, let’s try two traditional cocktails that use the delicious, fresh flavors of lime and simple syrup.

Mojito
3 ounces white rum
3 ounces sour mix, as prepared above
8 to 10 spearmint leaves
Splash club soda
Small lime wedge
Sprig of mint

Put the mint leaves and the lime wedge in a shaker. Muddle until the mint is nicely broken up and the lime wedge’s juices are smashed into the bottom of the shaker.

Fill the glass you plan to serve the mojito in with ice as a measuring device. Pour the ice into the shaker. Add the rum and sour mix. Shake vigorously.

Pour into your serving glass and top with a splash of soda. Add the sprig of mint for garnish.

Margarita
3 ounces tequila
1 ounce Cointreau or any triple sec
3 ounces sour mix
Margarita salt
Lime wedge

Measure out your ice in the glass you’ll serve the margarita in, and put the ice in a shaker. Pour out all the ingredients into the shaker and then, well, shake it.

If you prefer salt, put a little bit of sour mix on a plate and dip the rim of your glass in the mix, then dip the rim into a plate of margarita or kosher salt. Carefully pour the contents of the margarita into the salted-rim glass. You’re done!

1. Drewbuddy

   June 6 1:11 p.m. 1

   Those drinks look delicious. I wonder who helped make them.

2. Alison

   June 20 12:58 p.m. 2

   Hey Drew, sorry to burden you, but we've got some more cocktails to test next week.

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