How To Make Fancy Cocktails At Home Without A Shaker
Almost any upscale cocktail has a specific chilling process, whether shaken, stirred, or on the rocks. If you're enjoying something like a cosmopolitan or a margarita, you'll ideally shake the drink before serving it. This not only chills it but also combines the flavors and dilutes it a bit as the ice melts. In turn, this gives you a greater volume of liquid. But what if you want to indulge in a fancy cocktail, and you don't have a shaker set?
While the shaker set is the easiest vessel to use because it contains both a lid and a strainer, it's not something you can expect to find in every kitchen. Thankfully, there is one sure-fire alternative to making delicious drinks without a shaker — a mason jar and strainer. And if you don't have a mason jar, you can make do with any type of sealable jar that will allow you to vigorously shake your drink.
You don't need a cocktail shaker to make great drinks
Though a shaker set might be easier than sourcing objects from elsewhere in your kitchen, if you don't make cocktails often or are just getting started on developing your mixology skills, it might not make sense to invest in one. In that case, the best alternative is a mason jar for a couple of reasons. Most importantly, it comes with a sealable lid, which is essential for properly shaking a cocktail and avoiding a mess. Plus, mason jars also have embossed measurements, so you can see how much liquid is in the jar to make sure you added all of the necessary amounts.
From there, you'll need something to help strain the drink; what better than a handheld strainer? The narrower the mesh lining, the better, but use whatever you have. If you don't have a handheld strainer, it's not always absolutely necessary. Depending on the contents of your drink, you might not even need one. However, if you added fresh fruit juice or shook the drink with any fruit, it's better to strain it, but if you don't mind a few fruit fibers, don't worry about it.
What's the difference between shaken, stirred, and on the rocks?
If you don't have a cocktail shaker or the objects necessary to properly shake one, you can always make a drink that's stirred or on the rocks. The main objective of each is to chill the drink and increase its volume, but the processes are all slightly different.
When a drink is stirred, it's prepared right in the glass it will be served in. Ice is added, along with the drink's ingredients, and it's stirred in a circular motion with a cocktail stirrer, while also allowing the ice to melt slightly into the drink and dilute it a bit. The Manhattan and Negroni are two examples of cocktails that are traditionally stirred.
On the other hand, when a drink is served "on the rocks," it simply means that it's served over ice. While shaken and stirred cocktails are also made with ice, on the rocks is a term often used for drinking liquor straight. In other words, it doesn't require any blending and only needs dilution. Whiskey, for instance, is a spirit that is commonly ordered on the rocks.