Rules and tradition

Mixing cocktails is an art. Depending on your viewpoint, it’s either a newcomer or something of the past.

Compared to art forms like sculpture, music and painting, the humble cocktail is just a rookie. The world of high cuisine hasn’t paid much attention to this niche either.

On the other hand, the heyday of the cocktail is far behind us. Where I live, cocktails have never had a solid foothold. Apart from that, more often than not, the bartender is just a temp. Not a skilled professional who knows his or her way around all categories of drinks and knows how to handle a shaker. Premixed drinks don’t help out exactly either.

So cocktails tend to conjure up an image of forgotten times, of men in suits and stylish dames. If it weren’t for the Cosmos in Sex in the City and Mojitos (both already out of vogue), they would be a rare sight in the regular bar scene.

But still, the cocktail has a rich history (and hopefully, a brighter future). With history comes tradition.

I’m not one to take tradition lightly. There’s something gratifying in doing things the way they are supposed to be done. More importantly, some of these traditions have a function. They came into being because they contribute to the best possible result.

Having said that, I must point out that the subtitle of this blog is: ‘Cocktail mixing, the practical way’. It’s not about mixing cocktails in the perfect way. Sure, the point should be to provide a great experience with what’s on hand. But I will accept the limits of a regular home bar and I’ll be taking some shortcuts here and there.

In short, I won’t abide to any rule. Most rules I did find did not hold in all situations anyway.

  

My first cocktail book^* held some rules. Like this one:

·        Don’t mix grain based liquor with wine based liquor.

Right. That even makes the Dry Martini a forbidden combination. Weird.

Or this one:

·        Both a short drink and a long drink should not contain more than 7 cl of strong liquor.

Sometimes this is a useful guideline. But usually the glass size or the recipe should determine the precise volumes.

A lot of sources will point out that you should use quality ingredients: the weakest link in your cocktail can spoil the whole result. While true, this does not mean you should mix with the wickedest quality stuff out there. Some subtleties to a drink will get lost in the mixing. Only upgrade if you really feel it makes a difference.

^*  The Dutch translation of ‘L’Univers des Cocktails’ by Gilbert Delos