Did you ever look at a bartender at a party whipping up inventive drinks with the strangest names at a moment’s notice and wonder if you could do it just as well? Making cocktails doesn’t have to be something you are born with the skill for. All you need to have is a real love of how they taste, well enough to have a real feel for how these things actually come together. Put that taste for cocktail quality together with your knowledge of a few cocktail recipes, and you should be about ready to wow yourself when you’re tired and in need of a little pick-me-up and when anyone chooses to drop in at home. The best cocktails of course are the traditional recipes – the ones everyone’s loved forever.
Let’s start with an all-time favorite, the Long Island Ice Tea. You’ll need a tall glass half-filled with crushed ice for this. Drop in half-ounce measures of vodka, rum, gin, tequila and triple sec, and fill up whatever space is left over with your favorite cola. As you can see, this really is mixing your alcohol, and it can be pretty strong, to say the least. Better sample it sitting down.
Next on our list of cocktail recipes is another all-time crowd pleaser, the Cosmopolitan. You’ll need a martini shaker for this. Fill one up about halfway with ice cubes; throw in half ounce measures of Cointreau, Triple sec, cranberry juice and a full ounce measure of vodka. Shake it up pretty well, strain the ice out, and decorate the glass with a cute little wedge of lime. The Cosmopolitan is particularly fashionable these days.
Here’s another all-time favorite, the Margarita. This isn’t just about throwing in the ingredients and shaking it all up. You need to start with a glass, and prepare the glass first. Pick up a slice of lemon, and wet the rim of the glass with it all over. Now spread out a bit of salt on a plate and roll the rim of the glass about in the salt so that it sticks to the rim. You can now squirt in an ounce each of tequila, triple sec and lime juice, throw in some ice and mix it all up. If you have the time for it, you could decorate the glass with a slice of lime. It’ll be pretty.
And finally, let’s end with the all-time James Bond favorite, the martini (and no, you don’t have to serve it just the way he likes it). You start with a couple of ounces of gin thrown into a martini shaker, add a little splash of extra dry vermouth, and throw in some crushed ice. You can shake away for just a couple of seconds to get everything nicely mixed up without allowing the ice to melt and get the drink all watery. You can pour it out into a glass and serve with olives stuffed with pimento.
Now to make some of these special drinks you need the perfect blender. The one that everyone is talking about is the ninja blender. This is a top-of-the-line product. It includes the ninja 1100 blender which is a chef’s dream. You might want to practice a little bit before you’re ready for prime time. Just make sure that you don’t practice too long – you could end up really drunk.