Cocktail ingredients

Whether it's a fresh mojito, sweet tequila sunset, classic margarita or tart old fashioned - cocktails inspire. And the non-alcoholic versions also taste delicious and refreshing. They are perfect at the bar, on the beach, at a party at home, at birthdays and weddings, but also simply for a cozy get-together with friends. With the right equipment, you'll be an experienced bartender in no time, but even with just a few bar accessories, you can make delicious drinks in no time at all.

How do you use glitter sugar to achieve a perfect result?

With glitter sugar, the rim of any glass can be decorated in no time at all. There is only one thing you need to do to make the rim perfect: make sure it is even. This is very easy to achieve. Use a small shallow bowl or a plate with a rim so that there is room for the desired glasses. Then pour in the desired gluing liquid and prepare the glitter sugar in a second small plate. Suitable liquids are lemon and lime juice, other sticky fruit juices, honey, agave syrup or syrup. Choose the variant that best suits your drink. Then dip the rim of the glass into the liquid, you may need to let it drip off very briefly. Before the fine film dries out, hold the glass in the sugar. Then lift the glass again slightly and tap it so that any excess sprinkles fall off. The rest will stick to the rim of the glass and the glass can be put to one side. Instead of holding the glass in the liquid, you can also simply run a lime wedge, a piece of lemon or pineapple along the rim and then decorate the glass with sugar. Other ingredients are also ideal for the rim of the glass. You can use anything from colorless granulated sugar and various types of salt to toasted coconut flakes and cocoa powder. You can even use chocolate to create a delicious and decorative rim. Let your creativity run wild and find the perfect combinations!

Cocktail set - What do you need if you want to mix your own drinks like a professional bartender?

Cocktail shaker

When you think of the always friendly service staff behind the bar, the cocktail shaker quickly comes to mind. The ingredients of the drinks are mixed and shaken well in the two- to three-part cup before being poured into the glass. There are different types to meet the needs of all users. From the simple two-piece shaker to the popular three-piece cobbler and the professional Boston shaker. There is no more elegant technique for mixing cocktails!

Barmass or jigger

This little helper is also quite well known - at least when it comes to appearance. It is a two-sided measuring cup, often made of stainless steel and is usually used to measure 2 and 4 cl quantities, but there are also other standard measures. Experienced bartenders use the jigger between their fingers to measure out the required quantities at lightning speed and pour them into the shaker or glass.

Bar strainer

Use the strainer to catch any remaining ice, fruit, peel, herbs and other bits and pieces before pouring the drink into the glass. This ensures that neither lumps nor zest affect the mouthfeel of the cocktail. Some shakers even have an integrated strainer so that the liquid is automatically strained. This enables the preparation of high-quality drinks with a pleasant mouthfeel. Because even after selecting the right spirit, measuring the ingredients precisely and shaking, it is still necessary to filter the cocktail, as the mouthfeel can make the difference between a good and a great cocktail.

Bar spoon

Admittedly, a normal spoon can often be used here, but the bar spoon has several advantages. On the one hand, it looks really elegant, but its practical shape is much more important. It is usually very long, making it easy to stir even in a deep mixing glass. The spoon is also rather small and fits into narrow glasses. Its back can also be used to pour in liquids that should only mix slowly or partially with the rest of the drink.

Bar pusher or muddler

Various ingredients can be easily crushed or squeezed using a suitably shaped plunger. This allows the full aroma of herbs to unfold and the juice of berries or fruits such as limes to easily get directly into the drink. Remains of the crushed pieces are simply removed again with the bar strainer.

Ice cube molds

Most cocktails taste best when they are properly chilled but not watered down. Large ice cubes are particularly suitable for this, as they have the same volume but a smaller surface area than several small cubes. This means they melt more slowly, chill for longer and water down the cocktail less. Spherical shapes maximize this effect. You can also fill the moulds with fruit juice, syrup or even tea instead of water, so the ice cubes even add to the flavor of the drink as they melt. You can also achieve great effects by inserting small sprigs of herbs, berries or fruit slices.

Other tools and aids

You need a sharp knife to cut decorative fruit slices or halve limes and lemons. Pieces of peel can also be cut with a knife or a zester. If you frequently mix drinks that require fresh fruit juice, a juicer will serve you well. This allows you to obtain fresh lemon, orange or lime juice for your cocktails in no time at all. Decorative materials can also take your drinks to the next level. With a practical lid for the glasses, you can give your drinks a great, summery look. At the same time, you protect them from insects and other things that could fall in. The opening for straws makes it easy to drink the drink without removing the lid. You can also serve your cocktails to all your guests and everyone can find their own glass thanks to the different lids.

Not exactly a tool, but practical, especially for more complex cocktails, is a recipe book. This allows you to create professional cocktails in no time at all, just as if you had ordered them at the bar. To begin with, make sure you follow the recipe exactly when measuring ingredients, as precision is the key to repeatable results and initial success. If you like to adapt cocktails to your own taste or prefer to experiment with different ingredients yourself, you can of course also use your cocktail equipment for delicious experiments. 

Ingredients for high-quality and delicious cocktails

The world of cocktails is huge and there is definitely something for everyone! The ingredients are just as varied as the drinks themselves. What exactly is needed therefore depends very much on the desired creation.

In the past, a cocktail consisted of water, sugar, spirits, bitters and, in the meantime, chili or ginger. Today, the recipe can vary greatly and mocktails or virgin cocktails, i.e. non-alcoholic versions, are also very popular. In many cases, however, alcohol is still an important ingredient in the preparation of festive mixed drinks. In a well-stocked bar, you will therefore find gin, whiskey, tequila, white and brown rum, vodka and various bitter flavors. Make sure you check in advance which drinks you want to serve and which alcohol is required for them. There are also non-alcoholic versions of many of these spirits. This gives you the typical taste of the cocktail without the alcohol.

Another essential ingredient for many cocktails is syrup and fruit juices. Sugar syrup can be found in various forms in almost all cocktails. In addition to the basic syrups, there are also various flavored versions. We particularly recommend the syrups from Monin. These are perfect for mixing drinks, flavoring mousses and baking. Monin offers an incredible variety of flavors and therefore the right one for every drink. The biggest advantage of Monin syrups is definitely the genuine taste. While flavors often seem artificial, this syrup always tastes natural, whether it's coconut, strawberry, vanilla or amaretto. The rich taste also means that large quantities are not needed to flavour mousses, for example.

Fresh fruit juices make a cocktail lighter and fresher. While a little freshly squeezed lime juice adds the finishing touch to many drinks, other drinks such as the Tequila Sunrise require several different fruit juices. Freshly squeezed juices are of course particularly elegant and delicious, but ready-made juices and fruit syrups from Monin are also ideal.

For a variety of cocktails, you will also need tonic water in your cocktail bar. This gives the cocktail some carbonation and a delicious taste.

Other ingredients such as pieces of fruit, berries and various herbs add a particularly fresh note. These can be lightly crushed and crushed and then shaken in the shaker and then strained out, but can also be added to the drink whole or used as a stylish decoration. When it comes to herbs, various mints are ideal for this, but lemon balm and basil are also ideal for certain drinks.

The last ingredient we would like to mention here can probably be considered one of the most important, as it is found in the production process or final product of almost every cocktail; the ice. In the meantime, of course, there are also hot cocktails, but when you hear the name, most of us still think of a fresh, cool drink. The primary purpose of ice is to cool and dilute. Crushed ice is often used to mix cocktails in order to cool them down quickly thanks to the large surface area. However, the remaining pieces are then strained out again. The glasses with the finished cocktails, on the other hand, often contain large ice cubes to keep the drink cool for longer. These can also be very decorative. For completely transparent ice cubes, filtered water and very rapid freezing are required. It is therefore very difficult to achieve a perfect result in your own freezer. The cubes - or balls and other shapes - can also be spiced up with solid ingredients such as a herb leaf, a small twig, a berry or a piece of fruit. To do this, simply add the chosen item to the mold and freeze it inside.

How can a cocktail be decorated?

Here, too, you can play with different elements. Well-known are of course pieces of fruit, cherries or berries, which are placed on the rim or in the glass. Lemon and lime pieces or even olives are also suitable. Sprigs of herbs can also be placed in the drink. Herbs, berries and fruit also look good directly in the ice cubes. Depending on the choice of ice cube shape, these also contribute more or less to the attractive appearance of the drink.

The elegant sugar rim at the top of the glass is also very popular. This is very easy to make. The rim of the glass can first be held in a little alcohol or surrounded with a lemon or lime wedge. Normal granulated sugar or the beautifully colored glitter sugar for cocktails is placed in a shallow bowl beforehand. The glass can then simply be held in it and turned once or twice. The sugar adheres easily to the moistened areas and the result is a perfectly even sugar rim.

Take your drinks to the next level with glitter specially developed for drinks. The fine powder is added in small quantities; you only need 0.1 to 0.7 grams per liter of liquid. Stir gently to distribute the glitter in the liquid and give it a sophisticated shimmer. The more powder is used, the stronger the color of the drink will be. The powder is absolutely harmless and does not change the taste of the drink. It can therefore be used for a sophisticated cocktail, a spiced-up mocktail and even for drinks at children's birthday parties. 

Where does the cocktail come from and how did it get its name?

The history of the cocktail is confusing and started in many places at the same time. It is therefore difficult to trace today and the gaps have to be filled with assumptions. The drink seems to have originated in the USA. Alcoholic mixed drinks found favor with the population early on, but at that time the bartenders were still the pharmacists who sold them as tonics. After a while, such mixed drinks also found their way into restaurants. There they had several advantages. The alcohol distilled at the time was often cheap, of poor quality and did not taste particularly good. The other ingredients made the drink much more enjoyable overall. As the high-proof alcohol was also diluted, customers were less likely to get drunk. During Prohibition, mixed drinks were also a way of drinking alcohol in secret.

The ingredients and definition of a cocktail have changed considerably over the years. A long accepted composition consisted of spirits, any kind of bitters, water and sugar. In the meantime, chili and ginger also found their way into drinks. And even later, fruit juices were added to the possible recipe. Today, the drink is incredibly variable. The old fashioned still corresponds to the original version in terms of its composition, but there are also very fruity and even alcohol-free cocktails that no longer have much in common with it. However, they have retained and expanded the name. It is not known where this came from, but there are numerous assumptions.

If you take the words apart, you get cock and tail. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the name developed from the cockfights that were often organized at the time. The owner of the winning cock was allowed to keep some of the tail feathers of the killed opponent. These were then pinned to the glass and a toast was raised "on the cocks tail".

Horses' tails were also sometimes called cock's tails, namely when they were cut very short. This marked all non-purebred horses to distinguish them from the more noble, purebred animals. A cock's tail carried high was considered a sign of a particularly thoroughbred and strong animal. Chili and ginger were used here to trick the horse into carrying its tail higher. As these were also used as fresh ingredients in some mixed drinks, the name may have found its way via the horses.

The last theory is based on a different origin, namely the coquetier. A pharmacist served the invigorating drink in egg cups, coquetiers in French, and so it was named after this, and over time it became a cocktail. 

How can Monin syrups be used for mixing cocktails?

With the delicious syrups from Monin and the right ingredients, you can easily mix a variety of impressive cocktails. The syrups are particularly practical as a substitute for rather special fruit juices or for an extra flavor boost. Here you will find a recipe for an alcohol-free but wonderfully fruity Piña Colada and a variation of the colorful Tequila Sunrise.

Virgin Piña Colada

20 ml coconut syrup from Monin

20 ml cream

90 ml pineapple juice

Pour all the ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake or, alternatively, mix well in a glass. Decorate with silver or gold glitter, yellow glitter sugar on the rim of the glass and a slice of pineapple.

Strawberry Tequila Sunrise

40 ml tequila or non-alcoholic tequila

10 ml fresh lemon juice

130 ml orange juice

10 ml strawberry syrup (or grenadine juice)

Shake your tequila, lemon juice and orange juice in a shaker with ice cubes and then pour into a large glass. Then let the syrup or juice run down the back of the spoon into the drink. This prevents the color from mixing immediately and creates a nice color gradient. To decorate, you can mix the orange juice with gold glitter and the syrup with red glitter before pouring the liquids into the glass. The rim of the glass can be decorated with red, orange or yellow glitter sugar or even a mixture of these and an orange or lemon wedge. Candied cherries also work well here. Incidentally, the recipe can also be made with other syrups or juices, but unfortunately you have to do without the beautiful color gradient with some of them.

Own creations

There is no such thing as the perfect cocktail, because everyone likes something different. So dare to create your own cocktails! With basic cocktail equipment, your home bar becomes a drinks laboratory. You decide for yourself what makes the best cocktail. Cheers!