Admittedly, watching Jax will only make you want to master your bartending skills more. He’s cool AF, wildly knowledgeable, and makes one hell of a drink. But hearing his bartending tips will also make you realize just how much time and energy goes into creating one cocktail. Basically, those high bar tabs will start to look a lot more reasonable. MORE: How to infuse tequila & make 3 awesome cocktails You can’t just dump a bunch of stuff into a highball glass, give it a quick shake, and hope for the best. Making better cocktails is about ratios and rules, chemistry and, above all, nailing the fundamentals. To work your way toward DIY cocktail mastery, you’ll need a few basic categories of ingredients:
Bitters: liquor-based flavoring agents Citrus: lemons, line, orange, grapefruit — your preference! Sugar: examples include demerara syrup, turbinado syrup, cane syrup, agave nectar, and sorghum syrup Modifier: a fortified wine or liqueur used to soften the base spirit and add flavor Base spirit: the main alcohol in the cocktail, such as amaretto or vermouth
MORE: These 2-ingredient cocktails are easy and party-worthy So, see? It’s a little more complicated than just grabbing a bottle of vodka, tossing in a lime wedge and calling yourself a cocktail master. In fact, as you’ll be able to tell from the video, creating a well-balanced cocktail is an art form. Start here, with the essentials. Before you know it, you could be turning out Jax-class cocktails from the comfort of your own home.
