One of the most satisfying things about sipping on your easy home cocktails lies not only in the final product but the fascinating process of mixing and infusing flavors.
But what if you don’t have a jigger on hand to accurately measure your ingredients? or a Boston Shaker; considered essential barware and the hallmark of mixology?
Sometimes, the thought of investing in specialized equipment for occasional use can feel daunting and unnecessary. And if you’ve already made the jump and splurged on a cocktail set, there might still come a time when you need to quickly improvise with everyday household items.
Let’s quickly explore alternative techniques and common kitchen items that can, with a little creativity, be repurposed to whip up your favorite cocktail
No Shaker? No Problem, We Rock On!
Have you ever had a Sidecar or Long Island that starts relatively easy on the palate but ends with a cringe because the taste of cognac is just too overpowering?
Well, this is what shaking aims to prevent.
To ensure your homemade cocktails have a consistent taste from the first sip to the last, a mason jar with a screw-on lid to prevent leaking can work wonders in place of a shaker.
A standard-size mason jar has plenty of room to fill up on ice and other ingredients and is arguably one of the most realistic alternatives to shake things up quite literally.
If you don’t have access to some sort of glass jar with a tight-fitting lid, a protein shaker is just as effective.
A protein shaker, especially one with a metal mixing ball like the BlenderBottle, will also give your easy home cocktails a smooth, frothy finish after vigorously shaking for 15 seconds.
Jigger Alternatives for Easy Home Cocktails
The main argument for using a jigger when making cocktails stems from the idea that they’re more accurate and consistent than free pouring.
While you could easily get by with free pouring the base liquor in a Martini, for example, other more flavorful recipes call for a certain degree of accuracy when measuring out ingredients.
Cocktail ingredients are often measured in 15-ml, 22-ml, 29-ml, 44-ml and 59-ml increments and a regular tablespoon is just as handy as the trusty jigger.
It’s slightly more work and takes a bit of math but you only need to keep in mind that one regular tablespoon holds 15 milliliters and then adjust your measurements accordingly.
For large cocktail batches, you might want to reach out for a measuring cup instead for added convenience; a quarter cup usually holds 59 milliliters.
Using a Rolling Pin as a Muddler
A mojito is the perfect example of a muddled cocktail. Often referred to as Little Havana’s best export to the world, this classic combines a healthy dose of rum, peppered with a hint of mint and citrus.
If you’d like to replicate this cocktail at home, muddling the mint and citrus is a crucial step you shouldn’t miss.
Your improvised muddler can be any kitchen item with a wide, flat base to mash the fruit and herbs that you want to infuse into your cocktail, like a rolling pin, salt shaker or the butt of a wooden spoon.
Crafting Cocktails with Ingenuity
The lack of professional bartending tools shouldn’t deter you from making easy home cocktails. After all, it’s the ingenuity you bring to the table when crafting your cocktails that carries more weight.
You don’t need a cocktail spoon to stir a classic Negroni when any long-handled spoon or chopstick will work just as well. Nor do you need a jigger when a tablespoon or measuring cup can accurately measure out ingredients.
So, shake, stir, or muddle away, but remember; cocktails are best savored, not hammered.