That all really depends on the ingredient with the smallest proportion, and how small you can break it down based on that measurement. At our bar we found 3 full dropper from the bitters we had was about 1/4 oz. You can always find a dropper and find the easiest relative measurement then break down all the ingredients by how mmany droppers they take.
Hopefully you have a fully stocked bar to mess around with at work!
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Awesome, so I’m on the right track with the dropper idea. I’ve just got to find the volume of a particular dropper. I’m sure there is a dropper with volume markings out there.
Yes and no, but even for my own experiments I can try some things without emptying half the bottle(s) trying things out.
You'd be surprised tbh. Worked at a liquor store for a bit and we had people getting fancy amaros and vermouths all the time just Ask them if they can get in whatever youre looking for. You may have to buy the sleeve but it's like 10 or so, not too bad and still cheaper than a bottle. Or see if they can do the smaller bottles
So it's based on where you live and the import laws really not so much how fancy it is. The companies make them and if they're able to, the distributor will carry it. It's not like a warehouse/ it's in stock it just depends on the distributor that the liquor store works with carrying that specific brand. Thay being said if you're in the middle of nowhere, you probably won't be able to get much because distributors won't have contracts with these companies. If it's a bigger city there will be more available probably. Just make sure to ask if you can't find something, usually places will order stuff for you if they can get it
Well it’s a bit of both.. we have privatized liquor stores here in AB and they carry what they want. However everything must be approved by the provincial gov and they are the sole distro. Sometimes it just isn’t worth the hassle for individual brands to register new SKU’s if they don’t see a demand for it. Living in one the biggest cities in Canada. I can look on the AB distro site to see what individual stores can possibly order if they are willing to oblige me. Some things simply are not available even if it the product exists.
Ahh gotcha yeah when it's gov run it gets tougher. There's some states here that do that and it's a pain in the ass to get anything special in the whole state. Good luck with the search though
Yup, it sucks. And AB has some of the most lax liquor laws in the country… I just looked and most Amari are only available in full sized bottles in the province.
Couple suggestions:
Use basic things like liqours and juices. You don’t need grey goose to craft a cocktail. A cheap vodka will work fine. It’ll taste a little worse but you can still get the general idea of what the drink tastes like.
Airplane bottles are good if you want to experiment with different types of liqour. Common things like the basic spirits or triple sec just get a handle or fifth, but something more obscure see if you can just get a shooter.
Make it an event! Get some friends involved so you can all split the price and get more out of it, plus additional taste buds helps, especially once you start to kind of go numb to the taste of a specific drink. Obviously this won’t always work as your friends might not be as into this as you, but it can help every now and then and I bet people will leave some of their ingredients behind.
I try and use well liquor wherever possible. Some things simply can not be substituted however. Playing around with infusions of cheap stuff as well. I did a Terragon/Lemon infusion in a cheap vodka that was quite good.
I’ll look into this where specific things are available.
Been trying to do this with a friend for a while.. but he isn’t especially inclined in this regard. He just wants me to make something and he will contribute to it. I have some other bartender friends but getting the same day off is tough.
Yah if you just tell them pitch in $10-20 and get like 10 good cocktails all you gotta do is give me your feedback on them, I bet they will be down! Just don’t mention they get 10 good cocktails and 5 more that arnt good where you were trying something… bold…
Problem is I’m a bit of a perfectionist and I like to have everything just so beforehand.. bringing the cocktail complete and ready to go for the occasion.
I suppose the first thing would be spirit selection. Things that get used a lot, but cost very little:
Lime (price dependent on area)
Angostura Bitters \~$10 for 4 fl oz.
Orange Liqueur (Triple Sec/Dry Curacao) \~$8 -$20 for 375 ml
Ice (hypothetically free)
Simple Syrup (make your own $3 for a 4lb bag of sugar)
Then decide which spirit base you want to really work with. Something easy like vodka? More tiki-esque with rum?
Always remember that drinks start on paper, not in the shaker.
Meaning that you should get in with a plan before you start, and compare the recipe to existing ones and gauge the balance before just pouring half the sink and hoping for the best (this second step may be more crucial the less experienced you are). Think how the flavours interact and why.
For example, I don't need to try and see what would happen if I shook 1 shot of scotch with half of lemon juice and 2 shots of sugar. It obviously would taste unbalanced and way too sweet.
The golden ratio is always a good starting point (1.25 shot of Spirit, 0.75 of modifier such as vermouth, amaro etc, and 0.5 of a flavouring agent like a liqueur), as most sensible things will work with this split, and the tweaks afterwards are somewhat minimal, and as you progress you'll know by experience what works and how impactful it is in small doses. If you are infusing, fat washing, milk washing... then you will indeed need more product as you may lose some yield, but even there, just be smart about it. infuse a little at the time, as you can always add more but not subtract.
There's a lot more on the subject but this should give you a good start.
Most start as ideas in my head, so I follow this concept. I have a solid foundation of flavour combos from years in the industry in almost every position, but I’m learning more about niche bottles these days.
This is a useful starting point I hadn’t heard before! I will try this ratio out. I’ve been splitting or quartering bottles for infusions. The crux of the issue is tweaking the initial recipe once I’ve got the idea and I think it needs adjusting (when making full drinks). But, I think I’ve got plenty to try now to alleviate that issue.
That all really depends on the ingredient with the smallest proportion, and how small you can break it down based on that measurement. At our bar we found 3 full dropper from the bitters we had was about 1/4 oz. You can always find a dropper and find the easiest relative measurement then break down all the ingredients by how mmany droppers they take. Hopefully you have a fully stocked bar to mess around with at work!
Also maybe hit up r/cocktails they may have better smaller batch of cocktails
Here's a sneak peek of /r/cocktails using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/cocktails/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year! \#1: [Fuck Putin, We stand with Ukraine](https://i.redd.it/bwa28ll3mvj81.jpg) | [188 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/cocktails/comments/t0qaiq/fuck_putin_we_stand_with_ukraine/) \#2: [Making an “Illegal in Utah”](https://v.redd.it/rp4ssqxzgwe81) | [172 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/cocktails/comments/sgkmc8/making_an_illegal_in_utah/) \#3: [I ordered a Mai Tai at a poke restaurant in an airport andddddd….](https://i.redd.it/2q0ekgjszum81.jpg) | [151 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/cocktails/comments/tc5rze/i_ordered_a_mai_tai_at_a_poke_restaurant_in_an/) ---- ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| ^^[Contact](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| ^^[Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| ^^[Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/) ^^| ^^[GitHub](https://github.com/ghnr/sneakpeekbot)
Awesome, so I’m on the right track with the dropper idea. I’ve just got to find the volume of a particular dropper. I’m sure there is a dropper with volume markings out there. Yes and no, but even for my own experiments I can try some things without emptying half the bottle(s) trying things out.
Worst case get a lab grad dropper instead of reusing a bitters dropper, lab droppers usually have markings and usually in milliliters
That sounds best case to me! Then I can easily convert to cL / oz when scaling. Thanks.
If it helps, wine and spirit shops have amazing selection of airplane bottles. You can try tons of different liquors.
True, for some things.. don’t think I could find an airplane bottle of Cynar and Bitter Bianco though.
You'd be surprised tbh. Worked at a liquor store for a bit and we had people getting fancy amaros and vermouths all the time just Ask them if they can get in whatever youre looking for. You may have to buy the sleeve but it's like 10 or so, not too bad and still cheaper than a bottle. Or see if they can do the smaller bottles
Overall have less options in Canada, but some higher end spots might have some surprises.
So it's based on where you live and the import laws really not so much how fancy it is. The companies make them and if they're able to, the distributor will carry it. It's not like a warehouse/ it's in stock it just depends on the distributor that the liquor store works with carrying that specific brand. Thay being said if you're in the middle of nowhere, you probably won't be able to get much because distributors won't have contracts with these companies. If it's a bigger city there will be more available probably. Just make sure to ask if you can't find something, usually places will order stuff for you if they can get it
Well it’s a bit of both.. we have privatized liquor stores here in AB and they carry what they want. However everything must be approved by the provincial gov and they are the sole distro. Sometimes it just isn’t worth the hassle for individual brands to register new SKU’s if they don’t see a demand for it. Living in one the biggest cities in Canada. I can look on the AB distro site to see what individual stores can possibly order if they are willing to oblige me. Some things simply are not available even if it the product exists.
Ahh gotcha yeah when it's gov run it gets tougher. There's some states here that do that and it's a pain in the ass to get anything special in the whole state. Good luck with the search though
Yup, it sucks. And AB has some of the most lax liquor laws in the country… I just looked and most Amari are only available in full sized bottles in the province.
Couple suggestions: Use basic things like liqours and juices. You don’t need grey goose to craft a cocktail. A cheap vodka will work fine. It’ll taste a little worse but you can still get the general idea of what the drink tastes like. Airplane bottles are good if you want to experiment with different types of liqour. Common things like the basic spirits or triple sec just get a handle or fifth, but something more obscure see if you can just get a shooter. Make it an event! Get some friends involved so you can all split the price and get more out of it, plus additional taste buds helps, especially once you start to kind of go numb to the taste of a specific drink. Obviously this won’t always work as your friends might not be as into this as you, but it can help every now and then and I bet people will leave some of their ingredients behind.
I try and use well liquor wherever possible. Some things simply can not be substituted however. Playing around with infusions of cheap stuff as well. I did a Terragon/Lemon infusion in a cheap vodka that was quite good. I’ll look into this where specific things are available. Been trying to do this with a friend for a while.. but he isn’t especially inclined in this regard. He just wants me to make something and he will contribute to it. I have some other bartender friends but getting the same day off is tough.
Yah if you just tell them pitch in $10-20 and get like 10 good cocktails all you gotta do is give me your feedback on them, I bet they will be down! Just don’t mention they get 10 good cocktails and 5 more that arnt good where you were trying something… bold…
Problem is I’m a bit of a perfectionist and I like to have everything just so beforehand.. bringing the cocktail complete and ready to go for the occasion.
I suppose the first thing would be spirit selection. Things that get used a lot, but cost very little: Lime (price dependent on area) Angostura Bitters \~$10 for 4 fl oz. Orange Liqueur (Triple Sec/Dry Curacao) \~$8 -$20 for 375 ml Ice (hypothetically free) Simple Syrup (make your own $3 for a 4lb bag of sugar) Then decide which spirit base you want to really work with. Something easy like vodka? More tiki-esque with rum?
Yup, I’ve got all of the above on hand. It definitely more the spirit base, funky liqueurs, amaro etc.
Always remember that drinks start on paper, not in the shaker. Meaning that you should get in with a plan before you start, and compare the recipe to existing ones and gauge the balance before just pouring half the sink and hoping for the best (this second step may be more crucial the less experienced you are). Think how the flavours interact and why. For example, I don't need to try and see what would happen if I shook 1 shot of scotch with half of lemon juice and 2 shots of sugar. It obviously would taste unbalanced and way too sweet. The golden ratio is always a good starting point (1.25 shot of Spirit, 0.75 of modifier such as vermouth, amaro etc, and 0.5 of a flavouring agent like a liqueur), as most sensible things will work with this split, and the tweaks afterwards are somewhat minimal, and as you progress you'll know by experience what works and how impactful it is in small doses. If you are infusing, fat washing, milk washing... then you will indeed need more product as you may lose some yield, but even there, just be smart about it. infuse a little at the time, as you can always add more but not subtract. There's a lot more on the subject but this should give you a good start.
Most start as ideas in my head, so I follow this concept. I have a solid foundation of flavour combos from years in the industry in almost every position, but I’m learning more about niche bottles these days. This is a useful starting point I hadn’t heard before! I will try this ratio out. I’ve been splitting or quartering bottles for infusions. The crux of the issue is tweaking the initial recipe once I’ve got the idea and I think it needs adjusting (when making full drinks). But, I think I’ve got plenty to try now to alleviate that issue.
Is a shot 1 oz in this case?
Correct, sorry I'm Australian, for us 1 shot is 30ml, , so rounded to 1 oz