Active evening relaxation is always dancing, fun and alcohol. A trip to a bar or a nightclub is accompanied by a tasting of new ones or drinking your favorite cocktails. But you don’t have to go somewhere for this: you can decorate a home party or a meeting with friends by yourself making alcoholic cocktails at home.
Cocktails Feature
Why are alcoholic cocktails so attractive to night lovers? The fact is that they have a number of features that distinguish these drinks from other alcohol products.
An alcoholic cocktail is a mixture of two or more ingredients, one of which necessarily contains alcohol. They can be completely simple in composition and preparation, and can be multicomponent with complex phased preparation. The correct combination of cocktail components provides a pleasant taste and a light dizzying effect, which is more akin not to intoxication, but to relaxation and fun.
Alcoholic cocktails at home can also be prepared, but for this you need some skill and knowledge of proportions. Therefore, most often for these drinks and turn to bars and nightclubs.
Types of cocktails
The best bartenders annually compete in the skill of creating cocktails, so keeping up with the latest is pretty hard. If you decide to make alcoholic cocktails at home, then you need to know the main things about them:
- Distinguish between "long" and "short" cocktails. They are also called the English words “long” and “shot”, respectively.
- Long cocktails usually contain more than three ingredients, served in a tall glass with enough ice. Drinking this type of cocktail is usually offered through a tube.
- Shot cocktails are drunk in one gulp. They are served in a glass or a small special glass. They usually contain more alcohol than longs.
- There are classic cocktails, recipes which have stood for decades. They have the same name and have the same composition in any bar in the world.
- Bartenders can make designer cocktails based on classic ones, slightly modifying the recipe or completely inventing a new composition.
Making an alcoholic cocktail at home is a snap. The main thing is to know what exactly you want to receive.
What are good classic recipes
You can always find these names in the cocktail card of any bar. You do not expect anything new from them and are one hundred percent sure of the taste. Classic recipes for alcoholic cocktails are a taste ratio that has been proven over the years.
If you decide to make alcoholic cocktails at home, then pay your attention, first of all, to classic compositions.
"Mojito", "Margarita", "Cosmopolitan", B-52 - this list can be continued for a long time and every connoisseur of the taste of good alcohol will be able to find a recipe for everyone.
Before you start cooking, you need to decide: on what occasion there will be a cocktail, for which audience and what preferences it has. And having studied the theoretical basis, to prepare alcoholic cocktails at home: simple and complex, strong and not very - a matter of technique and inspiration.
Cocktails for any occasion
A universal taste that will please almost everyone has a few simple cocktails. They are suitable for parties or gatherings with friends.
- Whiskey cola. To prepare it, you need to mix whiskey with chilled highly carbonated cola in a proportion of one to one. Before serving, you need to add a large amount of ice to the glass.
- Vodka with Sprite. In a tall glass, pour 50 ml of vodka and 150 ml of chilled sprite. Add a few slices of lime or juice from it. Accompany with a lot of ice.
- Mojito. At the bottom of a tall glass, pour two teaspoons of sugar (preferably brown) and squeeze the juice out of half the lime. After that, you need to put a lot of mint leaves, crushed ice in a glass and pour 60 ml of rum and 150 ml of carbonated mineral water or sprite. Garnish the glass with lime slices.
From these recipes it can be seen that you can make an alcoholic cocktail at home without the use of complex ingredients and special devices.
Female option
Surprising the fair sex is usually more difficult. They are demanding on the taste and design of drinks. But nothing is impossible - delicious alcoholic cocktails at home - a task quite feasible for everyone!
- "Cosmopolitan." In a shaker or large glass, mix 20 ml of Cointreau liqueur and the same amount of vodka, 10 ml of cranberry juice and the same amount of lemon juice. Add crushed ice and mix thoroughly. Served in a martini glass.
- "Sea breeze". In a shaker or blender you need to mix 50 ml of vodka and the same amount of grapefruit juice with 100 ml of cranberry juice. Mix thoroughly with crushed ice, serve in a tall glass, garnishing with cranberries.
- Mulled wine. A bottle of red wine (dry or sweet) in an enameled bowl should be brought to a boil. Add spices to the wine: cinnamon, honey, cloves, coriander and simmer for several minutes. Cool the cocktail to the desired temperature, serve in a mulled wine glass with lemon slices.
Fine floors are preferred by not too strong drinks with a pleasant taste. A beautifully designed glass with a cocktail will only increase the degree of appetite.
Best shots
To prepare alcoholic cocktails at home, which are drunk in one gulp, is also not a problem. The most simple and delicious are the following cocktails.
- B-52. To prepare this classic cocktail, you need to mix coffee, cream and orange liquor in equal proportions. In a small glass, you need to pour the components in the same sequence, while you need to be extremely careful so as not to mix the layers. To do this, it is best to pour liquor on the tip of the knife. The contents of the glass must be set on fire and served quickly through a straw.
- "Kamikaze". In a small glass, 100 ml of vodka are mixed with 25 ml of orange liquor. Add a few drops of lime juice.
- The Green Monkey. Mix banana and mint liquor in a small glass . Pour in layers - first a yellow layer, green liquor gently pours on top.
Most often men prefer short cocktails: they are stronger and have a pronounced alcoholic taste.
Men's cocktails
Vodka is an alcoholic drink that is very popular among the strong half of humanity. Women like to try different cocktails that have original tastes, but for men, they like more strong drinks: cognac, whiskey, vodka, brandy and others. But not so strong alcohol is appropriate. In some situations, it’s more relevant to offer guests a cocktail, but which one is most suitable for a male company? Consider the most popular options:
- Energy vodka. The preparation of such a cocktail is very simple. To do this, you need a narrow glass with ice. Pour in vodka (50 ml), and 150 ml of energy drink. Both ingredients are carefully mixed with a spoon, and a couple of lemon slices are caught on the edge of the glass. You can add grenadine, it will give the cocktail a beautiful color.
- Cape Coder. This drink is made from cranberry juice and vodka. This will require 50 ml of alcohol and 150 ml of fruit drink. In a glass with ice, both ingredients are mixed. You can decorate the cocktail with cranberries.
- "IQ." A simple recipe for a tasty, strong cocktail. A tall glass should be filled with ice and add to it all the ingredients: vodka (50 ml), honey syrup (20 ml), grapefruit juice (150 ml). The components of the drink, you need to gently mix with a spoon. For decoration use orange zest.
Such drinks are easy to prepare and will not take much time.
Be careful!
Making alcoholic cocktails at home, the recipes of which are simple and mouth-watering, is easy. But before that, it is worth recalling some of the features of these drinks that require special care and caution.
Alcoholic cocktails are very deceptive - their taste makes you think that alcohol is not drunk at all, and forget about the amount. Nevertheless, each glass of a cocktail is an increased load on the liver and cardiovascular system. It is by combining various types of strong alcoholic drinks that one can achieve the fact that they strengthen and enhance the toxic effect of each other. And in combination with a pleasant taste and atmosphere of general fun, alcoholic cocktails can be very insidious for the body.
But this does not mean that they need to be abandoned! You just need to remember moderation and not abuse it, be able to stop in time, no matter how fun the company may be.
A few alcoholic cocktails, provided you feel good, will only add a twist to the party with friends.
Making alcoholic cocktails at home is not only an occasion to surprise your friends and acquaintances, it can also be a great element of entertainment at a party: jointly prepared cocktails are much more interesting to taste together.