A Beginner’s Guide To Making Whisky Cocktails At Your Home Bar
As mixology beginners, learning how to make cocktails can be slightly daunting, especially with whisky cocktails. The complex and deep flavours of this spirit might seem tricky to work with. So, here’s a handy guide for a beginner mixologist that would tell you how to make cocktails with whisky, along with a couple of easy cocktail recipes that can be fashioned using this liquor as the base.
Start With The Basics: Know Your Whisky
First things first, familiarise yourself with different whisky tasting notes. This will enable deciding what kind of whisky to add to certain cocktails. From the mint julep to the classic highball, different whiskies can be used to concoct versatile renditions of a whisky mix. So, learn about –
– light, grain-forward blended Scotches which are excellent bases for highballs.
– the richer and deeply flavoured peaty single malts which can be used to put a twist on the old fashioned recipe.
– the sweeter bourbons, ryes and fruity whiskies that go well in classic mixes like the Manhattan or the Boulevardier.
And, when in doubt about which whisky to go for, use a versatile, lightly peaty blended Scotch, especially to fashion the more innovative blends.
Master Simple Classics First
The building blocks of your whisky cocktail journey lie in understanding flavour balance. This is because the spirit is intricately flavoured and what makes these cocktails shine is optimising flavours to bring out a similar depth from the blends too. This will become a smooth process when you start with the classics; try to blend simple highballs and old fashioneds first, to understand flavours, textures and proportion.
Follow this simple recipe to make a highball:
Ingredients [Serves 1]
- 30 ml blended Scotch whisky
- 90 ml club soda or carbonated water
- Ice, as required
- Orange slice, for garnish
Method:
– Fill a tall highball glass with ice and pour in the blended Scotch whisky and club soda or carbonated water. Stir gently and garnish with an orange slice.
Go for something slightly complex like the old fashioned to find out how bitter, sweet and sour ingredient proportions come together in a deeply flavoured mixture.
Ingredients [Serves 1]
- 30 ml good quality bourbon
- 2-3 dashes of citrus bitters
- 1 sugar cube
- Ice as required
- Maraschino cherry, for garnish
Method:
– Place a sugar cube in a rocks glass and add 2-3 dashes of citrus bitters to it; muddle until the sugar dissolves.
– Next, add good quality bourbon and ice as required, stir gently for about 20-30 seconds and garnish with a maraschino cherry before serving.
Also Read: Home Bar Essentials: How To Organise Bar Carts For Ease And Style
Practice Basic Techniques
With these simple cocktail recipes, what you would inadvertently also work on are several basic blending techniques essential to master whisky cocktails.
– Stirring: Whiskies carry very deep and robust flavours so bringing them forth is a skilful process which involves gently stirring the cocktail, in a way that the spirit’s flavours open up without too much disruption. Stirring chills and dilutes a cocktail without making it cloudy.
– Building: Another essential technique involved in making a good whisky cocktail is building all ingredients—including the spirit, flavour accents and the mixers in precise order. Simple and quick, building layers the whisky and its complementary flavours in a tall glass.
– Muddling: Especially useful while making cocktails like the mint julep or the old fashioned, muddling ensures that sharp, sweet flavours of herbs, sugars and fruits integrate well with the whisky. Other ingredients can then be layered on top of this mix to craft fresh and deep cocktails.
– Shaking: This is especially useful while making cocktails like the whisky sour. Ingredients with different densities such as whisky, egg whites and lime juice come together rather well when they are shaken. A frothy aeration also arises on top of the drink after a thorough shake.
Presentation And Garnishing
Master these two elements right at the beginning of your mixology journey because these will help distinguish drinks from simply being ‘good’ to becoming sophisticated, bar-quality blends with a wow factor. The spectacle effect in whisky cocktails definitely comes from the right glassware such as rocks glasses for sour drinks and highballs for fizzy ones—each of which accentuate the textures of the blend.
Purposeful garnishing will also add a touch of drama to simple whisky cocktails. Citrus peels expressed over highballs or edible flowers adorning whisky sours can thoroughly alter the look and effect of your whisky drinks to lend them an artistic flair.
Key Takeaways:
– Mastering the art of making whisky cocktails can seem like a daunting affair because of the slightly complex flavours of the spirit. This handy guide can make the process slightly easier.
– First, master simple classics like the whisky highball or the old fashioned in order to understand the knack of proportions and flavour balance in whisky-based cocktails.
– Garnishing and presentation are essential elements to turn your whisky cocktails from well-made drinks to an actual dramatic spectacle, complete with a lot of flair.
FAQs:
Why is it important to understand different whisky flavours while building cocktails using this spirit?
Knowing about the different whisky flavours will ensure that an amateur mixologist can decide which whisky variation is the best addition to certain cocktails. While mint juleps are classically made using bourbon, highballs are better built using a rich, smoky, peaty whisky.
Which are some of the simple blending techniques that one can master while making whisky cocktails?
Techniques such as stirring, muddling, shaking and building are among some of the simple blending hacks that can be mastered while learning the basics of making whisky cocktails.
Why is it essential to pay attention to presentation and garnishing in the making of whisky cocktails?
Simple and straightforward, beginner-friendly whisky drinks will acquire a sophisticated, bar quality look and a dramatic flair when they are garnished and presented right. That’s why these two elements are essential to master while learning the art of making whisky cocktails.
*Drink Responsibly. This communication is for audiences above the age of 25.
