Say cheers! Tips to make great cocktails

Always use fresh cubes by rotating new and older ice cube trays in the freezer. Ice that was stored for a long time will pick up the flavours of frozen products near them. Keep your ice trays away from fish and meat unless you want a meat-flavored drink.

Clear cubes indicate purity. Avoid using cloudy ice cubes because oxygen bubbles and impurities trapped in the ice make the cube appear cloudy. Impurities transfer unwanted flavour to your drinks and oxygen can make your cubes melt quicker.

Large ice spheres have more surface area than large cubes, making them a great choice for cocktails.

Hot water makes better ice. Boiled and distilled water is best. Hot water also freezes more slowly, producing clear and smooth ice. Cold water chills quickly and produces brittle ice with lots of air bubbles trapped inside.

Never keep your spirits in the freezer. Proper dilution can only be achieved if the spirit is served warm enough to melt the ice.

Garnish: Cocktail garnishes are decorative ornaments that add character or style to a mixed drink, most notably to cocktails. They are used to complement and enhance the flavours in a drink by stimulating the special nerve cells in the nose and mouth. A large variety of cocktail garnishes are used. Many rum-based cocktails, especially those with fruit flavours, tend to be decorated with tropical-themed garnishes or slices of fruit. Tequila-based drinks favour lime and other citrus fruits.

Gin- and vodka-based drinks tend toward garnishes with a more dignified flair (olives, onions, or possibly a citrus twist or a single maraschino cherry), unless they are variations of a fruity rum-based drink. Whiskey- and brandy-based drinks tend toward minimal garnishment, if any. Restaurant chains and hotel bars tend to use larger and more ostentatious garnishes, and neighbourhood bars tend to go the other extreme. Some garnishes are essential to completing the recipe, as in the case of the olive in the Martini, or the cherry in the Manhattan, or the onion in the Gibson. Another reason for garnishes is to make cocktails more "camera ready" so that when photos are taken for the press or social media, different drinks will not look so much alike.