BY: JANZELL PALBACAL, MIHM

USING COCKTAIL SHAKER

BOSTON SHAKER COBBLER SHAKER
 SHAKE METHOD USING BOSTON
SHAKER
• The majority of cocktails you’ll
be making throughout your
bartending career will require
shaking. The reason why we
shake cocktails is because it’s
one of the fastest ways to mix
ingredients together, whilst
simultaneously cooling &
diluting the drink down.
 SHAKE METHOD USING COBBLER
SHAKER
• Some bartenders think that how you
shake a cocktail matters and there
are even different shaking
techniques because of this.

• But the truth is, it doesn’t really

matter how you shake a cocktail, as
long as you shake it vigorously for
around 10-15 seconds and follow
the correct drink-mixing procedures.
• Pour the ingredients into the cocktail shaker
• Fill the shaker to the brim with ice
• Seal the shaker either with the lid or tin (if using a
Boston shaker)
• Firmly hold the shaker, point the end AWAY from the
customer – You never know what might happen and
you don’t want to accidentally shoot the cocktail
shaker onto the customer…
• Shake HARD for 10 – 15 seconds
• Remove the tin by gently tapping the top of the
shaker with the palm of your hand
• Strain (see below) your cocktail into a frosted glass
(see above)
• Building means that you pour all
of the ingredients into the glass
you’ll be serving it in as opposed
to preparing the drink in a
cocktail shaker or mixing glass
beforehand.

• You simply ‘build’ the

ingredients on top of each other.
• Building is a quick & easy
method for making cocktails and
it’s usually used with simple
drinks that only have a few
ingredients. The tequila sunrise
and Negroni are good examples
of cocktails where the building
method is used.
• The only tool needed for this
method is JIGGER.

• Unlike other methods you need

tin can, shaker, strainer etc.,
USING MIXING GLASS, BAR SPOON AND BAR STRAINER
 HAWTHORNE STRAINER, MIXING
GLASS AND BAR SPOON
• Stirring cocktails is another
common cocktail mixing method
that bartenders use & love. The
infamous Martini immediately
comes to mind when I think of a
drink that requires stirring.
• Similarly to shaking, stirring is
used to mix ingredients together
& cool the drink down, but it’s
done at a much more gentle
pace. Stirred cocktails aren’t as
heavily diluted as shaken
cocktails either.
• To stir, fill your mixing glass with
ice, grab your bar spoon/metal
rod, insert it into the glass and
STIR! Holding the stem in-
between your middle two
fingers and circling with your
wrist (as opposed to your arm)
will help you achieve mastery
• Despite the on-going debates, there are
general practices that most bartenders
follow:
You shake cocktails when they contain fruit
juices, dairy, or egg.

You stir cocktails when there’s nothing but

alcohol and you don’t want to over dilute
or over chill the drink so that its
ingredients’ flavours really shine.
USING MUDDLING STICK
• Muddling is a cocktail making
technique that’s used when you
want to crush an ingredient to
extract its juices & flavors. It’s
commonly used for ingredients
like citrus wedges, softer fruits,
and certain spices like ginger.
• The tool bartenders use to
muddle ingredients is
appropriately called a muddler
(a long stick). But you could also
use the back of a bar spoon
(commonly used for ingredients
like ginger).
• Performing this method is
simple. Place the ingredient you
want to muddle in the bottom of
your mixing glass, grab your
muddler, push down & crush the
ingredients until you’ve
extracted its juices.
• The Mojito, Caprioska, and
Caprinha/Caipirina are all
cocktails that muddling is
commonly used for.
USING BLENDER
• Blending simply means mixing
drinks by throwing the
ingredients into an electronic
blender and pressing GO!
• It’s used when you want to mix
heavier ingredients (fruits, ice-
cream, etc) and you to achieve a
thicker/fuller texture. Clearly, it
doesn’t require any skill so it’s
an easy one to get right!
 FROZEN COCKTAILS
• Blending is also used to make
frozen cocktails (e.g. frozen
margarita) by adding crushed ice
to the mix.
• The aim of making a layered
cocktail is to create a drink with
a rainbow of colours where each
individual ingredient is visible as
a distinct layer and separate
layer without any mixing of
colours or ingredients.