Post #599640 by TikiHardBop on Thu, Jul 28, 2011 10:22 AM

Although most drinks call for the standard "Shake with ice and strain", there are many variations of preparation methods. Some popular (but by no means all) methods include:

• Shake with ice and pour into glass, ice and all.

• Build in glass (e.g. Old Fashioned and Mojito)

• For drinks without fruit juice, stir with ice and strain (e.g. Martini and Manhattan).

• For drinks with egg whites, a vigorous "dry shake" without ice and a quick "shake and strain" with ice (e.g. Pisco Sour).

And if you read through the old tiki books, you'll see that they can get very specific with blender drink preparation as well. The tasting experience for a crushed ice drink (think Mint Julep) and the fully blended texture of a Pina Colada are very, very different.

Sometimes between a good drink pic and the guidelines above you can figure it out, but the bottom line is that preparation method should absolutely be included with any recipe.