Cocktails: become your own bartender

There is a power in being able to make your favorite drink, exactly how you like it, in the comfort of your home.

Imagine being able to unwind slowly any night of the week. No pressure to order a second drink, no unwanted small talk with a stranger or a bill to pay at the end of the night. Just your drink, song, company and environment of choice.

The Cocktail Codex is written for anyone who wants to understand the principles of how to make a good drink no matter their experience behind a bar.

The book is divided into sections based on the root cocktail.

1. The Old Fashioned

2. The Martini

3. The Daiquiri

4. The Sidecar

5. The Whisky Highball

6. The Flip

Each section talks about the lore of the root cocktail, the spirits used and how other cocktails are built off the base of these classics. If you understand the template of a cocktail and the fundamentals of how different flavor pair together, then you will be able to build a drink at home with ingredients you already have on hand.

In cooking we have what chefs know as the 5 mother sauces; bechamel, veloute, espagnole, hollandaise and tomato. We have derived many sauces from the five mother sauces just like we have derived many different drinks from the root cocktails

1. Mornay aka Mac & Cheese Sauce — Derived from the mother sauce Bechamel aka cream sauce

2. Sauce Supreme aka the sauce in chicken pot pie — Derived from the mother sauce Veloute aka roux thickened sauce such as gravy

3. Demi-glace aka rich brown sauce served with steak at a restaurant — Derived from the mother sauce Espagnole aka brown sauce

4. Bolognese aka meat sauce — Derived from the mother sauce Tomato sauce

5. Bearnaise aka herby hollandaise— Derived from the mother sauce Hollandaise (That sauce served with eggs benedict)

Just like how cooking has a mother sauce, cocktails have a root. Experimenting with the balance and seasoning of a root recipe aka the mother, allows for a new creation to be formed just as in cooking.

1. The Old Fashioned: bourbon + sugar + bitters + twist

2. The Martini: gin + vermouth + orange bitters + twist/olive

3. The Daiquiri: rum, lime juice, simple syrup

4. The Sidecar: cognac + cointreau + lemon juice + orange twist

5. The Whisky Highball: whiskey + seltzer

6. The Flip: spirit or fortified wine + demerara sugar + whole egg

1. Hot Toddy, Mint Julep. Sazerac — Derived from the Old Fashioned

2. Negroni, Manhattan — Derived from the Martini

3. Tom Collins, Gimlet, Moscow Mule — Derived from the Daiquiri

4. Cosmopolitan, Margarita — Derived from the Sidecar

5. Aperol Spritz, Gin & Tonic, Mimosa — Derived from the Whisky Highball

6. White Russian, Eggnog, Pina Colada, Irish Coffee — Derived from The Flip

Did you know that the mint julep is considered to be a spin off of an old fashion?

The bitters replaced with mint, crushed ice in place of a cube and a switch up of glasses. The same cocktail? Not at all. But one could say a mint julep is a very refreshing version of an old fashion.

Did you know that the whisky highball (whiskey and seltzer) is the base of many of the most popular drinks you’ll find out at brunch or dinner?

For example a bellini is based off a mimosa, which stems from the whisky highball. As does the gin and tonic, tequila sunrise, aperol spritz, and bloody mary.

I’ll never forget the time I was out at a dive bar with a group and a friend ordered a whisky highball. The bartender proclaimed they did not know what my friend was asking for and that a highball was in fact a type of glass not a drink.

This whole conversation was unsettling. It left my friend confused and a little embarrassed given they had been ordering this classic for years and had to proceed to let the bartender know they wanted them to mix whiskey with seltzer over ice.

The bartender at the dive was probably new to the industry and like myself at the time did not understand the true lore of a drink. It wasn’t until I read in the Cocktail Codex years later that I became even more astonished by this experience. Learning that a whisky highball is not only a real cocktail but is the foundation of which many beloved drinks were built upon.

The whisky highball can be credited to the creations of the Paloma, Screwdriver, Mimosa, slew of Wine Spritz’, Gin and Tonic and even the Bloody Mary. All of which stem from the base concept of 2 oz whiskey + 4 oz cold setzer

Anytime I need to look up how to make a drink I know I’ll be able to find it in the codex. With a detailed index, the searchability of the book is quick. Drinks can be searched by name or by the type of alcohol you wish to use.

Just by searching a drink such as how to make a cosmopolitan you will learn that a what the mother cocktail is by being directed to the Sidecar section of the book.

In each section there are tips and techniques to inspire you to elevate your bartending game at home. In the sidecar section you’ll find a section on how to rim a glass, when it. may be appropriate and ways to get creative with a salt or sugar rim so it may benefit but not over power the drink.

The Cocktail Codex is a work of art. The attention to detail, the photography and the way each section builds upon another while effortlessly including tips, tricks and recipes on how to elevate your drinks.

The book is about cocktails, but there is no shortage of recipes for homemade syrups, infusions, cordials, bitters, drink mixes and non alcoholic beverages alike.

Before the codex I was mostly a gin and tonic gal, but now I mix it up all the time.

In the cooler months I often turn to a martini, manhattan, or negroni and in the warmer months I love a good spritz. Now that I am more familiar with the principles of my favorite drinks I’ve been especially into exploring amaros, vermouths and bitter spirits.

In the season of endless hosting and gatherings we all deserve a good drink in hand.

Cheers,

Mikaela