The ingredients
for the best cocktails

How to classify cocktails

Cocktail generally means a drink obtained by mixing at least three ingredients, one of which is alcoholic.

A first classification can be made according to the volume and the glass where they are served: the shot or shooter in the shot glass (3 - 6 cl), better known in Italy as cicchetto; the short drinks in the cocktail glass (9 - 30 cl) or Martini glass; the medium drinks in low tumblers (18 - 30 cl) such as the Old Fashioned; the long drinks in high tumblers (25 - 40 cl).

Then comes the classification by structure. The first cocktails, now codified as Ancestral, appeared in the early nineteenth century. These drinks consisted of a base liquor sweetened with a little bit of sugar or a dash of a liquor such as Maraschino and Curaçao, bitters and water or ice. Examples of this category are the Old Fashioned and the Sazerac.

Towards the end of the 19th century, vermouth and other fortified wines were added to the Ancestral to dampen alcohol and add complexity and aromas. These cocktails are now classified as Spirit-Forward or French-Italian Drinks. The ingredients are always mixed and never shaken. French vermouths, white and dry, are generally mixed with gin and vodka; while the Italian ones, red and sweet, go well with aged spirits, such as whiskey and rum. They are served smooth or with ice. The fruit makes its appearance only in the form of syrup or garnish: a slice of lemon, orange or a cherry in alcohol. This family includes Martini, Negroni, Americano and Manhattan.

A cocktail that contains only an alcohol base spirit and a non-alcoholic mixer is also called Highball. One of the most commonly used is soda, so that Whiskey & Soda was probably one of the first Highballs, while the most famous are Gin & Tonic and Cuba Libre. Highballs that include ginger ale, ginger beer and lemon or lime juice are called Buck. The most famous of the category, once known as Vodka Buck, is Moscow Mule. Another Highball subcategory includes cocktails prepared with vodka and cranberry juice, which are called Cape Codder, from the region of the United States famous for the cultivation of this fruit. Sea Breeze, Madras, Sex on the Beach and Cosmopolitan belong to this group. Even the cocktails Exotic, Tropical or Tiki, can fall into the Highball category. They evoke exotic atmospheres (Caribbean, Hawaiian, Polynesian, etc.) and their main characteristic is the presence of syrup or fruit juice. Finally, Bloody, whose mixer is tomato juice and of which the Bloody Mary is the progenitor, can also be placed at the extreme of the category.

The Sour cocktails contain an alcoholic base, lime or lemon juice and a third sweetening ingredient, such as sugar, grenadine, triple sec or pineapple juice, to balance its acidity. Daiquiri, Caipirinha, Sidecar and Margarita are classic examples of Sour. This category may include Fizz and Collins, both of which use soda as a filler. The difference between the two is that the Collins, served with ice in the glass from which they take their name, are mixed, while the Fizz are shaken. John Collins and Gin Fizz, which include the same ingredients, differ in the way they are prepared.

According to the definition of Gary Reagan, author of The Joy of Mixology, when a cocktail contains a distillate and a liqueur, it is called Duo, while a Trio involves the addition of another ingredient such as sugar, honey, milk, cream or aromatic herbs. Some of the most famous duo are Black Russian, Godfather and Rusty Nail, while Alexander is the most famous of the Trio. In this category we also find the so-called Dark Drink, whose main ingredient is coffee, and the Gangster, whose base is whiskey, amaretto or cognac.

Julep and crushed are a family of cocktails whose main ingredient is mint leaves, often crushed in the glass with a pestle together with sugar and lime. This category includes Mojito, whose base is the white rum, and Mint Julep, prepared with the barboun.

For Hard Drink we mean cocktails characterized by a paramount presence of distillates, as in the Long Island Iced Tea, which gave rise to a subgroup of Iced Tea, where the various ingredients are replaced with other distillates, liqueurs or mixer. Hard Drinks also include Pousse-coffees or Layered Drinks, where the different densities of the various liqueurs are used to create a multi-layered drink, ranging from two to seven. The B52, consisting of three layers of coffee liqueur, whiskey cream and Grand Marnier is the best known example.

The Champagne Cocktails are those that contain Champagne or sparkling wine, as the French 75, Mimosa, Bellini, Kir Royale.

Flip and Nog are instead characterized by the presence of an egg, shaked with the other ingredients. While egg white can also be found in some Fizz, in this category the egg is whole. The only cocktail of this category recognized by the IBA (International Bartenders Association) is the Port Flip, but the most popular is undoubtedly the Eggnog, an alcoholic drink made from milk, egg, nutmeg, typical of the Christmas period in the Anglo-Saxon world.

Another category of cocktails is the Punch. This term refers to alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, to be served cold or hot, containing fruit or fruit juice. What really differentiates Punch from other cocktails is also the fact that it is served in a large cup (punch bowl), which makes it the ideal cocktail party. Originating in India, its name seems to derive from the Sanskrit word pañca, which means five and which indicates the ingredients necessary for the preparation: alcohol, sugar, lemon, tea and spices.

Mixing techniques

Depending on the structure, each cocktail has its own specific mixing technique to blend the ingredients together.

Shaking consists of stirring the ingredients vigorously for 10-20 seconds in a shaker full of ice. It is used when the cocktail is made up of ingredients which, having different consistencies, need to be better mixed together, such as fruit juices, syrups, cream liqueurs, milk, eggs. The mixture thus obtained can be served straight up, meaning in a cup without ice, or on the rocks, in a low tumbler with new ice. Shaking can be followed by straining, or the filtering of ice and other residues: in this case one speaks of shake and strain; if instead the cocktail is served with shaken ice, it is called shake and pour.

The technique of pouring the ingredients into the glass and mixing them with a stirrer or bar spoon is called stirring. More delicate than shaking, it is used when the cocktail is composed of two or more spirits of similar consistency that must be mixed together and diluted with a small amount of ice.

If the ingredients are poured one on the other in the glass we speak of building. It is used for Layered Drinks, where the ingredients must be served in layers. This technique allows the preparation of flaming cocktails, whose last layer, composed of distillates with high alcohol content, are burned.

Muddling consists of crushing ingredients such as mint leaves, lime and sugar in a mortar in order to release their essences. It is used for Julep and muddled cocktails.

Finally, a ultimate mixing technique is that of blending, used for the preparation of frozen cocktails, which consists in merging the ingredients in a blender to obtain a soft granita.