Easy Cocktail Garnishes & Techniques | Lesson 07
#wine #winetasting
Everyone needs a good lesson on easy cocktail garnishes. There are great arguments for a cocktail garnish: aroma & sexiness. A cocktail with a nice garnish can be more alluring. And, the key to a great cocktail experience is the aroma.
The most common citrus garnish is the classic citrus twist. While it may take some practice to get looking fantastic, this is still fits into the easy cocktail garnishes mantra. The best citrus twists come off fresh citrus fruit. Older fruit with a drier peel becomes difficult to work with and loses a lot of the appeal that makes twists fun.
Playing with citrus zest can be a rewarding experience. Especially when you get to flame them and make fire! A citrus zest is most often a slice of citrus off your fruit, cut with a sharp knife (leaving little pith on the skin/zest) or a potato peeler.
A fruit flag is a garnish which wraps a cocktail cherry in a slide of citrus, usually an orange slice. Using a garnish pick, stick the sharp end through the left side of an orange slice, then add a Luxardo Maraschino Cherry on the stick. Lastly, poke your sharp pick end through the right side of the orange slice.
Spring and summer time are your chances to excel at herbal garnishes! Garnishing with herbs is simple easy. For a refreshing mojito or tiki drink you'll find a sprig of mint makes a perfect garnish.
The salt rim technique is well established in the margarita market. No doubt you've ordered a margarita at a bar, pub or restaurant and encountered a salt rim. Many establishments will use a margarita salt, which is often a blend of salts and spices. A margarita salt is typically larger / course salt that really pops off the rim and looks impressive.
By far the easiest garnish is the whole garnish, those that you just spear and top. An olive in a martini on a bamboo garnish pick is a great example. Or, onions in a gibson martini which gives the drinker both a savory onion aroma alongside a treat when the drink is finished.