COCKTAIL CONDIMENTS

Making cocktails entail using a broad spectrum of ingredients to achieve specific tastes, characters, and looks for the drinks. By integrating different elements, professional bartenders and mixologists can add flavors and aromas to any spirit, creating more enjoyable and delectable beverages.

Having adequate cocktail supplies is essential to every bar, pub, or restaurant. It allows them to deliver their signature drinks with efficiency and consistency. Keeping their cabinets and shelves stacked guarantees excellent service and happy customers.

Essential Cocktail Supplies

• Drink Mixers. Drink mixers are non-alcoholic ingredients that mixologists use to dilute the liquor and lower its alcohol content. They also help enhance the flavors of the drink or even add new ones. While some mixers can change the beverage’s appearance, color, or texture, others simply increase its volume to enable drinkers to enjoy it longer. Typically used mixers for cocktails include club soda, cola, tonic water, ginger ale, or ginger beer. Bartenders also blend fruit juices, fresh or otherwise, with their concoctions such as orange, lemon, lime, pomegranate, cranberry, and many others.

• Syrups. Another way to improve your cocktails is by adding syrups. Cocktail syrups act as sweeteners. From the simple syrup, you can now choose from a wide range of variations like demerara, honey, or agave syrup.  There are also varieties with flavors, which can help enhance the taste and aroma of any liquor. You can always make your very own syrup and get creative with the ingredients you use. However, most cocktails require specific syrups, which you can easily find in the market.

• Bitters. Bitters are alcohol-based ingredients that bartenders and mixologists use to create a more complex flavor profile for their concoctions. They are infusions of botanicals, including fruits, spices, herbs, bark, leaves, and roots, designed to balance out the primary tastes (sweet and sour) of a cocktail by providing an additional layer of flavors, as the name suggests, bitterness. There are different types of cocktail bitters—aromatic, citrus, herbal, and nut—and they are available in a wide array of flavors. Some brands even have unique variants such as celery, coffee, and chocolate. Bartenders use droppers when adding bitters into their cocktails and measure them in dashes or drops.

• Garnishes. Bartenders finish their cocktails by embellishing them with some garnishes. They can be as creative as they can be. A garnish is an ingredient used primarily as a decorative piece to add visual appeal to the drink. It can be edible or not and may also contribute to the cocktail’s aromatics and flavors.Common garnishes you can find in most bars and restaurants include fruits, leaves, flowers, different types of food, and even objects. Some bartenders also use citrus peels and twists to add oils from the fruit to the beverage, enhancing its aesthetics while boosting its flavors and aroma. Another easy and flavorful way of garnishing your favorite drink is by rimming the cocktail glass with sugar or salt.

Advanced Mixology carries a wide selection of cocktail supplies to meet all your drinking needs. Shop now!