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.

Afirst 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 drinksin the cocktail glass (9 - 30 cl) or Martini glass; the medium drinksin low tumblers (18 - 30 cl) such as the Old Fashioned;the long drinksin high tumblers (25 - 40 cl).

Then comes the classification by structure.The first cocktails,now codified as Ancestral, appeared in the early nineteenthcentury. These drinks consisted of a base liquor sweetened with a little bit of sugar or a dash of a liquor such as Maraschinoand 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 complexityand aromas. These cocktails are now classifiedas 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 appearanceonly 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.

Acocktail 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.\

Mixing techniques

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