Bartender reveals how to improve your cocktails at home with one simple trick – and your guests will be very impressed
- A bartender has revealed how to improve cocktails at home with simple tricks
- She says smoking a glass of cinnamon is easy and very effective
- She also recommends using fruits and herbs to add flavor to simple syrup
Hayley Dixon, the National Spirits Specialist for Proximo Spirits and a lover of all things tequila, told FEMAIL that elevating a drink is easy
One of Australia’s top bartenders has shared her tips on how to make sophisticated cocktails at home — including how to smoke a glass for the perfect old-fashioned.
Hayley Dixon, the National Spirits Specialist for Proximo Spirits and a lover of all things tequila, told FEMAIL that elevating a drink is easy.
And you can use things you already have around the house, such as fruits, rosemary, and cinnamon.
When you smoke a glass, you have to choose what you want to smoke it with: wood chips, cinnamon or rosemary.
“If you’re smoking a glass, it’s best to have a completely flat plate or plate (no wood, of course). This allows you to ‘seal’ the glass when you place it upside down and gives you a more intense smoke flavor,” she says.
The glass should also be moist, swirling ice around it is sufficient as this gives the smoke something to stick to.
‘If you have a small blowtorch available, just break off a cinnamon stick and make a small ‘stack’ to light. That way you get the full glass over the top and you don’t have to waste an entire cinnamon stick,” she said.
But setting the end of a cinnamon stick on fire and tucking it under the glass once you’ve blown it out also works.
The method is the same for specialty wood chips and rosemary, she said.
The next thing people can do to create their own sophisticated cocktails is to perfect their sugar syrup.
“If you have some herbs or fruits that look a little worse for wear and tear instead of throwing them away, add equal parts water and caster sugar to a jar and toss them in.” If you’re using citrus, only the peels in this will work well,” she said.
‘Cooking times depend on what you’re using, but generally about 15-20 minutes is enough. Strain everything out and bottle.’
Hayley says you can take homemade old fashion to the next level by smoking your own glasses
This can be added to tequila and club soda for an ‘easy highball’.
It’s also possible to make fancy cocktails for many guests—without having to wait, she explained, recommending “pre-batch” hosts.
“When you make a shake cocktail, pre-batch your ingredients, but don’t skip the shaking! It gives your cocktail much-needed aeration and thinning and gets it nice and cold before you serve it.’
Liquor cocktails need to be diluted a bit so that they are ready to drink as soon as they are put on ice.
Ms. Dixon is also a proud advocate of her favorite spirit and says it can easily replace whiskey or vodka in your favorites.
“Tequila is an extremely versatile spirit, as you can easily trade it in for the traditional base. The 1800 Silver flavor palette is great for any gin or vodka drink, swap a lighter whiskey for 1800 Reposado. 1800 Anejo offers a deeper and richer taste and can be exchanged for a whisky,’ she said.
Ms. Dixon shares her tips following an explosion in Australia’s cocktail culture over the past 12 months.