Bar techniques you need to know

From basic bar techniques to higher skilled foams and fat washing, leading Irish bartender Andrew Dickey runs through some techniques that will create depth and flavor and impress your customers!

The Basics

Every single bar mentor will tell you differently, "stir clockwise for 30 seconds, shake for 22 seconds, that Ramos Gin Fizz isn’t ready until you are crying with exhaustion!" So first things first, let’s look at some basics that will help with any serve you are creating.

My top 3 tips when making any serve:

• It is important that your shaking technique is vigorous and between 8-12 seconds long, but also comfortable!
• For stirred drinks, you should be tasting the drink every 20 seconds to tell if the drink is diluted appropriately.
• For best results, use large block ice for shaking and 3-4 ice machine cubes. This gives drinks a beautiful texture and the few ice cubes help to give the correct dilution.

Heightening Your Skills

So, now we have gone through some of the basics, let’s look at three higher skilled techniques.

FOAMS AND AIRS

Why: This is a great technique for adding flavors and textural differences in drinks, other than classic sour styles, that include egg whites. Foams are easily made and they can be used for any style of drink.

How to do it:

For airs which are light and fluffy, the best way to achieve this is by using Lecithin. Lecithin is a fatty substance found in egg whites and comes in powdered form. Follow these steps:

• Simply add Lecithin to the water and other flavors you want to incorporate, e.g., lime juice.
• Using a hand blender, blend these ingredients together vigorously until a light air forms.
• Scoop out the foam with a Julep strainer and place on top of your cocktail of choice.

CORBONATION

Why: Another craze that came back to the cocktail scene last year was homemade sodas. This again is a great way to add flavor and fizz to your drinks and give a classic serve a twist.

How to do it:

Homemade sodas are easy to create and can add a beautiful effervescence to long drinks or spritzers. All you need is a soda siphon and CO₂ charges, which can easily be picked up online or at local home appliance stores. At the moment there are great local tea and coffee merchants that have great tasting fruit teas and the flavors match perfectly with some base spirits (e.g., Tanqueray No. TEN and a lemongrass and ginger soda that also contains hibiscus, pomegranate and juniper). Simply follow these steps!

• Infuse 1 liter of water with chosen ingredient. For teas, brew in boiling water for 10-15 minutes and strain. For fruits and vegetables e.g., cucumber or lime husks, macerate for 24 hours in fridge and strain.
• Pour your chilled, strained liquid into soda siphon and double charge with CO₂ cartridges.
• After each charge, shake and vent carbon dioxide out of siphon by holding the release nozzle.
• It is important to note that liquids need to be chilled and strained through cheesecloth as any excess residue from tea will form nucleation sites meaning the carbonation won’t be as effective.

FAT WASHING

Why: A technique that can really bring culinary flavors into drinks, including those that customers may not naturally associate with drinks.

How to do it:

Fat washing is incorporating fats and oils from fruits, poultry or dairy products into spirits. It adds unbelievable flavor and texture and can be a really impressive if done right! You can use bacon, butter, duck fat and coconut oil. Butter and bourbon is a must but being Irish, butter is a way of life! Follow these steps:

• Simmer the chosen ingredient you wish to incorporate the fat/oil off on a frying pan, making sure you do not burn the fat/oil as it will not taste good.
• Pour the fat into a container with the chosen spirit you wish to infuse.
• Place the fat/spirit mixture into a freezer for 6-8 hours.
• Once you take it out of the freezer you will see the fat has risen to the top of the container and the liquid to the bottom.
• Fine strain off the fat and you will be left with a fat-washed spirit with great flavors.

Practice – Foam & Airs

Margarita with a twist

• 1.5 oz. DON JULIO Blanco Tequila
• .75 oz. Agave Sec
• .75 oz. lime juice

For the Foam:

• 17 oz. water
• 6.75 oz. lime juice
• 1.5 g lecithin
• 2 tsp. table salt
• .5 tsp sugar (depending on preference)

METHOD:

Add ingredients to a tin shaker and shake vigorously.

Fine strain into pre-chilled coupe glass and layer salted lecithin foam on top.

Practice - Carbonisation

The Mexican Rose

• 1.5 oz. DON JULIO Blanco Tequila
• .25 oz. Fino Sherry
• .25 oz. Green Chartreuse
• .25 oz. lime juice
• .25 oz. lime sherbet
• 2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
• Cucumber and rose water Champagne soda

METHOD:

Place ingredients, except soda, into shaker and throw 6-8 times until chilled.

Strain into ice-filled Red Wine glass.

Add cucumber and rose water Champagne soda and stir.

Garnish with edible rose, cucumber or edible flowers.

For Soda:

1 Liter of cucumber and rose water (infuse 1 liter of water with chopped cucumber with 1.75 oz. rose water for 24 hours)

Add 1.75 oz. Champagne acid solution* and charge with two CO₂ cartridges in soda siphon (*Champagne Acid -6g Tartaric Acid, 6g Lactic Acid mixed with 3.5 oz. water)

Practice – Fat Washing

Dutch Summer Punch (serves 10)

• 17 oz. coconut-oil-washed KETEL ONE^® Family-Made Vodka
• 4 oz. Crème de Peche
• 10 oz. pineapple juice
• 5 oz. water
• 6.75 oz. lime juice
• 2.5 oz. simple syrup
• Pineapple chunks, pineapple leaves, lime wheels and fresh mint for garnish

METHOD:

Add all the ingredients to punch bowl over block ice.

Stir and garnish with pineapple chunks, pineapple leaves, lime wheels and fresh mint.

* For coconut-oil-washed KETEL ONE^® Family-Made Vodka:

Add 7 oz. of coconut oil to a pan and let dissolve on a low/medium heat.

Pour the oil into container along with one 750 mL bottle of KETEL ONE^® Family-Made Vodka.

Leave in freezer for 6-8 hours until the alcohol and oil have separated.

Strain off the Vodka and you are ready to make punch.

Remember

These are just some techniques bars are utilizing and for any newbie bartender reading this it will be a lot to take in. We all start somewhere so please don’t be put off! Experiment with flavors and techniques and they will become a daily part of your routine. Enjoy!

(*One standard drink contains 0.6 fluid ounces of alcohol)