Guests do not order obscure drinks. Over a season you will make the same twelve cocktails a thousand times, and the difference between a good bar and a bad one is whether the tenth Negroni is as good as the first. Learn these specs cold, and you can improvise around them.
The Core Repertoire
| Cocktail | Spec | Method | Glass / garnish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Negroni | 30ml gin, 30ml Campari, 30ml sweet vermouth | Stir over ice | Rocks, large cube; orange twist |
| Old Fashioned | 60ml bourbon/rye, 5ml sugar syrup, 2–3 dashes Angostura | Stir | Rocks, large cube; orange twist |
| Daiquiri | 60ml white rum, 25ml lime, 15–20ml sugar syrup | Shake, double-strain | Coupe, up; lime twist (optional) |
| Margarita | 50ml 100% agave tequila, 25ml lime, 20ml triple sec | Shake | Rocks or coupe; salt rim optional, lime |
| Dry Martini | 60ml gin (or vodka), 10–20ml dry vermouth | Stir | Coupe/Nick & Nora; lemon twist or olive |
| Espresso Martini | 50ml vodka, 30ml fresh espresso, 20ml coffee liqueur, ~5ml syrup to taste | Shake hard | Coupe; 3 coffee beans |
| Mojito | 50ml white rum, 25ml lime, 20ml syrup, 8–10 mint leaves, soda | Build; gently press mint | Highball, crushed ice; mint sprig |
| Aperol Spritz | 3 parts Prosecco : 2 parts Aperol : 1 splash soda | Build over ice | Wine glass; orange slice |
| Bloody Mary | 50ml vodka, ~100ml tomato juice, 15ml lemon, Worcestershire, Tabasco, salt, pepper | Throw or roll — do not shake hard | Highball; celery, lemon |
| Whisky Sour | 60ml bourbon, 25ml lemon, 20ml syrup, (15ml egg white) | Dry shake, then shake with ice | Rocks/coupe; Angostura dash |
The Templates Behind Them
Once you see the templates, you can build almost anything a guest asks for:
- The Sour — spirit + citrus + sweet (2:1:1). Swap the spirit: rum → Daiquiri, tequila → Margarita, whisky → Whisky Sour, gin + soda → Tom Collins.
- The Old Fashioned — spirit + sugar + bitters + ice. Swap: rum, tequila, cognac.
- The Highball — spirit + long mixer over ice. G&T, Dark 'n' Stormy, Paloma, Whisky Highball.
- The Martini family — spirit + aromatised wine, stirred. Swap the ratio and modifier: Manhattan (rye + sweet vermouth + bitters), Negroni, Martinez.
- The Tiki family — rum(s) + citrus + sweetener + spice/exotic syrups, crushed ice, generous garnish.
Getting It Right Every Time
- Fresh citrus, always. Bottled lime juice is the fastest way to ruin every sour on the list.
- Sugar syrup is 1:1 sugar to water (or 2:1 "rich", which is sweeter — halve the quantity). Make it, date it, refrigerate it.
- Chill the glass for anything served up.
- Make the drink the guest asked for, not the one you prefer. If they want their Martini with vodka, shaken, and three olives, that is the correct Martini.
Onboard Notes
- Learn the owner's and principal's drinks by heart, and their exact preferences — brand, ice, garnish, glass. Write them into the preference profile.
- Batch nothing spirit-forward with citrus in it more than a couple of hours ahead — citrus oxidises and goes dull.
- Keep a written spec card for anything a guest invents and loves. They will ask for it again next season and expect you to remember.