A Guide to Mixing Bad Drinks: Four Common Errors that Can Ruin a Cocktail

Glass Too Warm
Even if you’re not mixing bad drinks, they’re not going to taste great in a warm glass. A warm glass means that the drink warms up, causing the ice to melt faster and dilute the taste. The ideal temperature for a cocktail is cold enough to keep the ice from melting quickly. If the ice sticks around, the cocktail will stay cool. The best way to keep a drink cool is to cool the glass, then fill it with ice before your pour the drink in. You can cool glasses beforehand by keeping them in a refrigerator, or you can chill them on your counter by keeping them filled with ice water until you need them. Once you’ve got a cold glass, keep it cool by adding lots of ice before you pour anything else in. The more ice you add, the more slowly it will melt. Of course, a cold glass won’t help you if you’re mixing bad drinks because of a problem like warm liquor.

Liquor Too Warm
No matter how advanced your mixology skills are, and no matter how expensive your liquor is, if you’re making cocktails with warm or room temperature vodka, you’re mixing bad drinks. Likewise, if you’re making cocktails with cold whiskey, you’re mixing bad drinks. Liquors that should always be kept chilled include vodka, gin, and rum. When you add ice to chilled spirits, it will help to keep the drink cold, but it won’t melt quickly enough to seriously dilute the flavor. On the other hand, if you add ice to a drink that is room temperature, it will start to melt immediately, which means your cocktails will taste watery and weak, no matter how strong they actually are. Of course, not all liquor is meant to be served cold.