Chapter 7 - Garnishes &
Mixers for Bartenders
A well dressed drink - the kind of drink you’d take home to
mother
Garnishes can serve the purpose
of making the drink look pretty and festive, or can have the very
practical application of enhancing flavor and mixing with the ingredients
to create a finished and more enjoyable taste.
In the
world of the bartender, garnishes are considered to be anything from
fruit, vegetables and spices to decorative placements and other add-ons.
Fruit Garnishes Lemons,
Limes, Oranges, Maraschino Cherries or Pineapple.
Many share the same preparation
while others require zero preparation.
Vegetable Garnishes Celery
& cocktail onions (pearl onions) Dairy
Garnishes Whipped Cream, Shaved Chocolate
Decorative Placements Umbrellas,
plastic swords, monkeys, etc.
These are mostly a function of
the style of the bar you’re working in.
Spices, Salt,
pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon sticks.
Garnish Rules at a glance:
Any drink mixed with lime juice
- Lime Wedge
Any drink mixed with tonic water or club soda - Lime Wedge
Any drink mixed with sweet & sour or lemon juice - Lemon Wedge or
slice
Bloody Mary - Celery stalk and lime wedge
Cappuccinos and lattes - Shaved Chocolate
Coffee Drinks - Whipped Cream and Nutmeg
Hot Drinks - Cinnamon Stick
Ice cream drinks- Whipped Cream
Margarita - Salted Glass rim and lime wedge
Old fashioned- Orange slice and cherry
Pina colada - 1 Pineapple slice
Sambuca - 3 coffee beans
Sweet & sour with 1 type of liquor (e.g. Amaretto sour or Midori
sour) - Cherry
Any drink with lime juice - Lime wedge
How to make Garnishes
As you know, much in the world
of bartending is about the flamboyance, style of presentation, or name
of the drink as opposed to how it tastes. Mind you, DME will DEFINITELY
be able to distinguish between a well made Martini and a hack job, however,
is there really a need for 5,000+ different types of shots? If it makes
your customer happy, I suppose the answer is yes. Getting
to the point, Garnishes won’t always help the flavor of your drink,
but often, they are part of the tradition of the drink or a need to
improve the aesthetic value of the drink you serve. Sometimes,
on some unconscious level, this can make a drink seem well worth the
money you charge. Perception is reality. The
well created garnish is part of the art of bartending.
Lemon & Lime Wedges
a) Slice the lemon or lime in half
length wise
b) Place both halves, fruit side down on your cutting board
c) Cut each halve length wise four times from top to bottom, with each
slice angled toward the center, creating 8 wedges from each lime
Lemon & Lime Slices
a) Cut off the ends of the lemon
or lime (the nubs on each end)
b) Slice the lemon or lime in half, length wise
c) Place both halves fruit side down on your cutting board
d) Cut each half straight down to create half circles. (Depending upon
the size of your lemon you should get 4-6 slices).
Lemon Wheels
These will have the end result
of adorning the edge of your customer’s glass and can be either
full moons (1 full lemon slice) or half moons (1 half lemon slice)
a) Cut off both ends of the lemon
b) Slice the lemon the short way to create full circles (you should
end up with 4-6 slices).
c) For full moons, make a slit in each slice from the peel to the center
(being careful not to slice the peel itself) so it can lodge onto the
rim of your customer’s glass
d) For Half moons, cut each slice in half again, and make a slit in
each half slice from the peel toward the center (being careful not to
slice the peel itself), as you would with full moons
Lemon Twists
a) Use a paring knife to peel the
outer skin from the lemon lengthwise from top to bottom, the thinner
the better (about 1/8th of an inch)
b) Cut the strip in half lengthwise to create two twists, which will
twist on their own as long as your cut is not too thick
Orange Wedges
a) Cut off both ends of the orange
b) Cut the orange in half, lengthwise, then cut the orange in half again
to end up with four, length wise orange quarters
c) Cut each quarter horizontally (short side) into wedges. (Your final
number of wedges will vary depending upon the size of the orange, but
in general, one quarter should produce around eight wedges Miscellaneous
Additional Mixers & Adders – Tabasco Sauce, Worchestershire
Sauce, Bitters, Grenadine & Triple sec
Free Bartending School Test Questions
& Hands on Homework
Please find your test questions
relating to Chapter 7.
We’d still like you to enjoy
a libation as you go through your test questions, however also suggest
putting some time toward the listed
garnishes, whether you choose to use them in a drink or not. So now
is the time to get out your fruits, cutting board and knife!
We suggest 1 of the following cocktails to practice
some of the more difficult garnish preparations:
• Lemon Drop
• Tom Collins
After completing the test questions
and your drink, we would suggest practicing each of the garnishes listed
above.
7-73 What are the three glassware
preparation methods?
7-74 What garnish is used in a drink mixed with tonic water or club
soda?
7-75 What garnish is used in a drink mixed with sweet & sour or
lemon juice?
7-76 What garnishes could be used with a standard Margarita?
7-77 To create a Lemon or Lime wedge, do you first slice the fruit lengthwise
or the short way?
7-78 What is the first part of the fruit cut when making lemon or lime
slices?
7-79 How do you get a lemon twist to "twist"?
7-80 What drink calls for Tabasco sauce, worchestershire sauce and celery?