The Easiest Formula To Make A GREAT Cocktail (Using What’s In Your Fridge)

I’ve made a lot of horrible cocktails in my day, but since I’ve been at home, I figured it’s time to make a change. This, afterall is a great time to pick up some new hobbies that can bring a little joy into life right now. For example, I’ve tried playing the recorder, oil painting, and even picked up the art of jump rope. But that’s probably not what you signed up to read by clicking on this post, so let’s focus on mixology (besides, the recorder is NOT going well anyway). Now while I am grateful for my quarantine set up, we really miss those delicious cocktails we used to consume at bars and restaurants. So we asked ourselves, “how can we make good cocktails while we’re stationed at home?” It’s a highly intimidating and confusing science, therefore, we did a large amount of cocktail research (in the name of the blog, of course) and here’s what we found works for us. It’s so simple, I promise.

Before I begin, I would like to say a quick disclaimer that cocktails to-go are a thing right now and you should support your favorite local restaurant if you’re able…some great So-Cal cocktails to-go are from Playa Mesa (Orange County), Little Doms (Los Feliz), HomeState (Hollywood)…name your favorite restaurants with to-go cocktails in the comments section below in your area!

I’d also like to note that I am not in any way a certified bartender, but rather just a mere 22-year-old girl that misses going to rooftop bars with frilly drinks (proof above). My boyfriend, Chase and I figured out this formula that changed our cocktail making lives (well Chase figured most of it out but I wrote the blog post about it). It has lead us to making better, more interesting at-home cocktails AND has given us way less stress making them. So I thought I’d share what we’ve been doing. So consider this “a basic beginner’s guide to making drinks that seem fancy but are actually easy to make and taste great written by a beginner.” Woof. That’s a long title –– sorry. Let’s start with our go-to formula for most every cocktail:

OUR FOOL-PROOF COCKTAIL FORMULA

FEAST YER EYES. I’m going to break this bad boy down, but the first thing you need to know is that you can swap out anything in each category (I’ll show you examples below). The second is that you need to follow the golden bartender’s ratio: 2-1-1. That’s 2 ounces of liquor, 1 ounce of sweet, and 1 ounce of sour. If you do those things, you can get however fancy you want. Now let me walk you through step-by-step how to use this formula:

STEP ONE: Grab your cocktail shaker and muddle any fruit you want at the bottom. This can be blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, kiwi, mango, blackberries, cucumber…THE LIST GOES ON FOREVER.

STEP TWO: Add Ice. And LOTS of it. If you think you added enough, add more. This makes your drink cold, refreshing, and balanced. It will taste 400% more delicious if you fill your shaker (and your glasses) to the tippy top with ice.

STEP THREE: It’s time for your 2-1-1. This is where the golden rule comes into play: 2 ounces of liquor, 1 ounce of sweet (agave, honey, etc), and 1 ounce of sour (lemon juice, lime juice, etc).

HOT TIP: We get tired of squeezing limes and lemons, so we buy pure lemon and lime juice (we usually get this brand) and it tastes the same as if we had spent hours squeezing each lemon into the jigger. It’s crucial to get pure lemon or lime juice (check the ingredients to make sure there’s no added sugar or it will mess with your ratios).

STEP FOUR: Add an herb, spice OR BOTH. For herbs, we usually use cilantro, thyme, or basil, and for spice, we usually use jalapeño or serrano peppers. It really just comes down to whatever we have in our fridge that day. Also, if you’ve been wanting to grow your own herbs and want to support a wildlife non-profit simultaneously, you can sign up to get The National Garden Life Federation’s guide to growing your own cocktail herb garden.

STEP FIVE: SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE for between 15-30 seconds (it will feel like forever). Shake hard with a firm grip so you don’t lose all your precious ingredients.

STEP SIX: Time to serve. Again, the #1 most helpful thing we’ve learned is that you should PACK your glasses with ice. We found that our drinks stay colder and our cocktails go much farther so we can serve more people in one batch.

Here are two VASTLY different drinks that both work incredibly well using our made-up formula:

The first one is a Blueberry Thyme Rye Lemonade and the second is a Spicy Kiwi Cilantro Margarita. As you can see here…EVERYTHING IS SUBSTITUTABLE. Use whatever is in your fridge, just be sure to stick with the formula. Here’s what our finished products looked like for each drink:

Not too shabby for two 20-somethings that didn’t go to bartending school or bartend at a real bar (but Chase does read the Death and Co’s book OFTEN, so he does know more than your average cocktail-joe). If you want some more ideas of what we’ve tried and tested and therefore know will work, here’s a list of 10 drink ideas that we’ve made (not all of these were made in the last 2 months, don’t worry):

1. Rye, blueberry, honey, lemon, thyme (pictured above)
2. Tequila, kiwi, agave, lime, cilantro, jalapeño (pictured above)
3. Bourbon, cherry, honey, lemon
4. Gin, blackberry, honey, lemon
5. Vodka, cucumber, honey, lemon, lavender
6. Tequila, strawberry, agave, lime, basil
7. Tequila, cucumber, agave, lime, serrano pepper, cilantro
8. Tequila, watermelon, agave, lime, chili pepper, cilantro
9. Tequila, pineapple, agave, lime, serrano
10. Tequila, grapefruit, agave, lime, sage

Wow that’s a lot of tequila…as you can see, we’re big margarita people above all else, but the formula works for vodka, gin, whiskey, YOU NAME IT, we’ve tried it and were very happy with the results. ALSO, please note, this formula is just the basics – let’s call it “a jumping off point” eh? – if you want to get really fancy by adding triple sec AND agave, or you want to add some special bitter, egg whites, or liqueur in your bar cabinet, by all means GO FOR IT. Then let us know how it is in the comments 🙂

Now for more hacks and products.

Ice Matters

Having a lot of ice is so important. MAJOR HACK: buy a bag of ice. A big bag. Ice trays or your fridge ice machine can only make so much, and you will run out and you’ll be sad. Plus it’s just so much easier to dump your glasses into a big ol’ bag versus fill them from the fridge. This was a real game-changer for us.

Also, if you’re feeling spunky –– I’m a firm believer that cool ice is the easiest way to make your non-fancy drink feel fancy. I personally think a drink tastes and feels better if it has a flower on top and one big solid ice cube that you can see through. There are some awesome trays for giant sphere ice or cube ice, or you can go for a cool ice machine like that makes this kind of ice that Emily has this ice in the Mountain House. ALSO, I found out recently that YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN CLEAR ICE…I’m planning to try it out this weekend. Stay tuned.

Zhush Up Cocktail Station

Do not underestimate the power of good bar supplies. I’m not just talking about your cute cocktail shaker (although that is arguably the most important and I did round up a bunch below). I’m a huge fan of having a jigger and a muddler (wouldn’t “Jigger and The Muddler’s” be the best band name ever?), they make your life VERY easy and overall will make the process more enjoyable. Even Emily has been wanting to expand her cocktail tool game because she too misses the simple pleasure of a truly delicious and fancy cocktail. BUT if you don’t have these items, don’t fret, you can in the meantime sub in the back of a big utensil/something big ‘n round for a muddler and a shot glass for a jigger (we’ve been doing this because we lost our jigger to the garbage disposal…RIP), just PLEASE NOTE that a shot glass is 1.5 ounces, so you have to eyeball a lot to get your 2-1-1 ratio perfect and it can go very wrong. If you’re in the market for a jigger (it will make your life easier), I’d go for one that has a 1 oz & .5 oz (not 1.5 oz because that’s just a shot glass). This set is perfect because for $14 you can get 1 & 2 oz., 3/4 & 1 1/2 oz., 1/2 & 1 oz. It’s basically every measurement you would ever need. I just convinced myself to order it.

Now that you know all about bar supplies and also ere are the best cocktail sets, glasses, and bar junk that will make you feel special and is ACTUALLY USEFUL. Enjoy…

COCKTAIL SETS & SHAKERS

1. Cocktail Kingdom Set | 2. Gold Cocktail Set | 3. 12 Piece Cocktail Set | 4. Gunmetal Cocktail Set | 5. Rose Gold Cocktail Set | 6. Terrazzo Cocktail Shaker + Jigger | Cb2 Marble Cocktail Tools

Couple things to point out here, Jess told me that #1 is the brand that a ton of cocktails bars in New York used when she was working (and probably still are). Very fancy but good stuff, guys. Also #4 is my favorite (plus the stir spoon can double as a muddler), and #5 is the best deal (originally $86…it’s 43% off!) If you already have a shaker or a cocktail set, next up are your MOST important tools. I’m truly baffled why not all cocktail sets are required to come with these. If yours doesn’t, here they are:

JIGGERS AND MUDDLERS

1. Walnut Wood Muddler | 2. West Elm Thatcher Jigger | 3. Hammered Metal Muddler | 4. Stainless Steel Jiggers (Various Measurements) 5. Winco Netted Head Muddler | 6. Project 62 Gold Jigger with Handle

ICE MAKERS & GLASSES FOR SERVING

1. Nugget Ice Maker | 2. Colossal Cube Ice Tray | 3. Silicone Round Ice Tray | 4. Short Tumbler 4 Pack | 5. Scribble Highball Glass 8 Pack | 6. Single Coupe Glass

Hopefully, that was helpful and enjoyable to read. If you want more info on making AWESOME cocktails, we highly recommend you read Death & Co’s book (it’s really pretty to display on a coffee table or bar cart so that’s a plus), or Jess also highly recommends this beginner cocktail book. The authors, John and Carey are cocktail geniuses. There are mood-based flowcharts, people.

PLEASE drop any knowledge you have in the comments…I’d love any tips you have on how to make cocktails EVEN BETTER. Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone xx

Opening Image Credit: Photo by Ryan Liebe | Our Updated Living Room