How you mix yours....

Hi guys

The point of this thread is 'how do you mix yours?'

By this I mean:

When you get a new drink to try out or on your steps to 'perfecting' a drink do you...

E.g.

• Follow the recipe to the letter?
• Follow it approximately?
• Garnish appropriately?
• Try different versions (e.g. Don The Beachcombers Vs Trader Vics)
• Compare different rums?
• Use expensive rums?
• Substitute styles of rum? (i.e. swap a bajan for a jamaican?)
• Return to the same rums in each style?
• Approximate that half a lime = Xml of juice?
• Use canned / pre squeezed?
• Substitute lemon / lime?
• Add more citrus?
• Add more bitters?
• Add more sweetener?
• Add more Pernod?
• Use absinthe?
• Leave out Pernod or absinthe?
• Use cubed or crushed ice as your go to?
• Blend it because you like it?
• Tweak it because you think it has promise?
• Try it in a bar to compare?
• Etc etc...

I hope this can be a sharing of different methods!

What do you do?

[ Edited by: AdOrAdam 2013-07-05 16:22 ]

I usually follow the recipe a few times & approximate the citrus juice volumes from on then on (unless I think it matters).

I stick to the rum styles but will substitute between them, for each drink I will work out the best combo.

I wont mix an expensive rum, I prefer to keep them to sip.

I tend to add more sweeteners & bitters, I like to blend the drink if it has 3+oz of alcohol in - I figure blending makes it a longer drink.

If make a drink & it doesn't hit it off with me, I give it a few more attempts, if it doesn't improve, I ditch it & move on!

[ Edited by: AdOrAdam 2013-07-05 16:25 ]

I will usually start by following the recipe to the letter; tasting it and then making adjustments to the original ingredients based on my likes, and the strength of my ingredients. For example, for my simple syrup I use a 2 to 1 mix of turbanado sugar to water - generally much richer than basic simple syrup. The same for my honey mix, and passionfruit syrup. And then, I usually find pineapple juice to be a generally a strong flavor that overpowers others in a drink and thus will usually scale back a bit on that. My cinnamon infused syrup is usually quite rich, so I have to scale back on that a bit as well. What it boils down to is one's individual taste; ingredients on hand at the time the proportions of which, produces a balance acceptable to your palate.

I bet you feel more like you do now now than you did when you came in.

GENT

[ Edited by: gentlehangman 2013-07-06 11:00 ]