Top 10 iced cocktails you can make at home in the kitchen

I have been working as a bartender for 8 years and my cocktails have always been in great demand among visitors. One day a tipsy client came up to me and said that anyone could decorate a cocktail in a professional bar, but at home I definitely wouldn’t be able to.

Word for word, argued. He called Alexei, that was the name of a new acquaintance, to his place to prove that at least 10 alcoholic cocktails with ice can be prepared in an ordinary kitchen.

This story was shared by my subscriber Dmitry.

ice making

I started demonstrating my skills to Alexei by making ice. At the bar, I make it in an icemaker, and at home I do it well with a regular refrigerator.

The most important step in the preparation of ice is the preparation of water. If you freeze ordinary tap water, the ice will turn cloudy. This is due to the presence of impurities and air in the water.

To make the ice perfectly clear, I filtered the water and boiled it twice. Let the water sit for 30 minutes.

After the water had cooled and settled, I carefully poured the water into a plastic mold so that particles of the remaining sediment did not rise from the bottom of the container.

Everything was learned the way I wanted – perfect crystal clearness.

Cocktail glasses and their preparation

An equally important point when serving a cocktail, I consider the dishes in which they are served. Some may say that at home it does not matter. I object. If you pour a cocktail into a mug, it will be compote. In addition, I wanted to show Alexei that I always do my job with high quality.

For cocktails, you can use several types of glasses, among which the most popular are:

• Collins;
• Sauer;
• Tumbler;
• Old Fashioned;
• Pousse Cafe for layered cocktails (Pousse Cafe);
• Highball, similar to Collins;
• Margarita cocktail glass (Coupette Glass);
• Харрикейн (Hurricane).

You can talk about each of these glasses for a long time, and the choice depends on what kind of cocktail is being prepared for serving.

Since I don’t have a professional bar at home, I can get by with three types of glasses: Old Fashioned, Collins and a Margarita glass.

Glass preparation

A beautifully designed glass gives a special chic to cocktails and gives an additional chance to hear a compliment in your address.

I put the glasses in the fridge ahead of time to chill. Before pouring the cocktail, you can fill the glasses with crushed ice and let stand for about five minutes.

To decorate the glass, I rub the rim with lemon or lime and dip it in a saucer with powdered sugar, coarse brown sugar, or salt. For children’s cocktails, I often make a colored border, which is obtained by dipping a glass in colored syrup before applying sugar.

After the glasses were prepared literally in front of the astonished guest, I proceeded to the cocktails.

5 light cocktails with ice

Low-alcohol cocktails are drinks whose strength does not exceed 15 °. There are 5 such recipes in my home arsenal.

Mojito

I started winning the argument with my favorite drink. For one serving of the cocktail you need 40 ml of light rum, 2 teaspoons of sugar, one lime, several sprigs of mint, soda and 100 g of ice.

Most often, a regular Sprite is mistaken for a soda, which, in fact, I took advantage of. At home, it is not shameful to simplify the recipe a little.

After the first cocktail, it was the Mai Tai’s turn.

My Thai

For this cocktail, I took 20 ml of dark rum and 40 ml of light. Added 15 ml of Orange Curacao liqueur. In addition, you need 15 ml of almond syrup, one third of a lime and, of course, ice cubes. The glass was garnished with mint and a piece of pineapple.

Redler

This is the simplest cocktail that I make most often at home. It is made from equal proportions of cold beer and lemonade. You can decorate the glass with lemon. Which is what I did.

Clover Club

Its ingredients: 25 ml of raspberry and lime juice syrup, 50 ml of gin and one egg white, whipped into a thick foam.

Mimosa

In 75 ml of champagne, I carefully poured the same amount of fresh orange juice. Then he stirred, added ice and garnished the glass with a mint leaf.

5 strong cocktails with ice

In continuation of the argument, I made 5 more strong cocktails with ice, which my new friend liked much more.

Yes, yes, while I was conjuring over glasses and shots, Alexei and I talked “for life”, and it turned out that we have a lot in common in our views.

Ruff

I drank this cocktail as a student, because I did not like vodka, and cheap beer did not give the desired effect. Now I often recommend it to my friends. For a half-liter serving in 375 ml of beer, I poured 125 ml of vodka. Added ice. The glass was garnished with salt and lemon.

Robert’s aunt

Alexei liked this drink the most, since it contains nothing but alcoholic drinks.

For a serving of a cocktail I took:

• one part brandy and blackberry liqueur;
• one and a half parts of gin;
• two parts absinthe;
• three parts vodka.

All mixed and poured into a glass with crushed ice. Nothing complicated.

Bond cocktail

In this cocktail, I mixed 40 ml of martini and 80 ml of vodka. Two olives and ice completed the classic composition.

Bloody Mary

Classics of the genre. In 135 ml of tomato juice, I poured 50 ml of vodka over the blade of a huge knife, put ice, celery, Worcester sauce.

Zombie

The most complex liquor that I prepare on special occasions. This time around, that’s exactly what happened. At stake is the professional honor and skill of the bartender.

To prepare it, you need three types of rum: 30 ml of gold, 15 ml of dark and 75 ml of light, as well as 30 ml of vodka, orange juice, pineapple and mango juice.

For garnish, I used mint, lime, cane sugar, and cherries.

Aleksei lost the argument, but he was only able to admit it in the morning.

Do you make cocktails at home? What exactly do you like in hot summer?