This is the single most important skill when it comes to making delicious drinks.
Using your nose and palate to test if a drink is in perfect balance BEFORE it’s drunk is THE fundamental rule for making and serving great drinks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG23IGMwMw8
Don’t take a sip out of everyone’s glass just before you hand it to them! Use a clean spoon or a straw as a pipette. Taste from the mixing jug or shaker if you are using them, and if you are making the drink straight into the glass, do it BEFORE you add all the ice or any garnishes. No point making the drink look perfect until you know that you don’t need to tweak the ingredients before you serve it.
ALWAYS TASTE YOUR DRINKS BEFORE YOU SERVE THEM!
A chef won’t make a sauce, then sling it onto a plate and send it out to a paying guest without first tasting it. You must apply the same rationale to your drinks making.
Every piece of fruit is different, ingredients get forgotten, ice melts at different rates, and sometimes you want to try a variation on a classic. If you don’t taste your drinks, any one of these variables can ruin your drink and you won’t know if what you‘re serving tastes any good until it’s too late.
However, if you taste your drinks, adjust when needed and trust your nose and palate, then you should never serve another poor drink again. Hooray!
So, what’s this all-powerful ‘BALANCE’ that we keep harping on about, and how are you expected to know when you have reached it? Well, we’re going to help you understand when you’ve nailed it, and as importantly, when it’s all gone wrong!
Simply put, balance is when you taste a drink and…
No ONE flavour overpowers or dominates any other. Instead it allows you to taste every element of the cocktail in perfect harmony – THIS is the definition of a drink in balance.
Simple eh? Yes, yes it is…and yet, sadly, not every drink is served balanced, and there’s really no excuse for it!
Let’s divide different ingredients into broader categories to make it easier to get your head around the concept.