Most people of a certain age have probably seen or at least heard of the Tom Cruise film Cocktail where he plays a young man learning the trade of a cocktail professional bar tender. Cocktail making always seems like an incredible art form and there are many cocktail making masterclasses that you can enjoy throughout the country and they are very popular with work parties and hen dos. You will have a lot of fun learning to make a variety of cocktails but it is always best to leave the large office or family parties up to the professionals and look into hiring a Mobile Bar Hire Gloucestershire from a firm like www.wearethemoversandshakers.com/mobile-bar-hire-gloucestershire/

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Bartending and cocktail making takes a lot of skill and knowledge. Here are some of the snippets of information that trainees need to be aware of:

Is it really a cocktail?

One of the first things that want to be bartenders learn after making themselves at home behind the bar and familiarising themselves with where everything is and accustoming themselves to the space, is whether or not the drink they are making is truly a cocktail or in fact simply a mixed drink. No this is one of those funny phrases where all cocktails are in fact mixed drinks, but not all mixed drinks are cocktails. Here is a n explanation of the two. A mixed drink is essentially any drink that combines two or more different ingredients and then they are often poured over ice in a glass. Examples of this include rum and coke or vodka and orange juice. Mocktails (non-alcoholic cocktails) also fall into this category. A true cocktail is made up of a combination of liquor or liquors, bitters, a sweetener and water or diluted ice. Examples of this include a Martini (although these don’t contain a sweetener) and a Pina Colada.

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Learn the lingo

There are a number of phrases that bartenders will learn but some of the key ones relating to cocktails include:

• Mixer – these are drinks that are not generally alcoholic in their own right but are added to liquors to create a cocktail and include syrups, fruit juices, sodas and much more.
• Garnish – this refers to an addition to the glass or the drink that adds a little flourish to its look such as a lime or orange slice or perhaps a cherry or an olive.
• A dash and a splash – these are the smallest measurements used in mixing drinks and although a dash is technically a measurement of 1/32 of an ounce, these are never measure out exactly. They may include a dash of lemon juice or a splash of tonic and are used for ingredients that add a slight accent to the drink overall but are not a main ingredient.