Build your own cocktail

I am not any kind of mixologist but I do like messing around with cocktails and simple syrups. I used to come up with flavors I wanted and then google like crazy, hoping to find a recipe that used exactly the ingredients I had in mind. Look at enough drink recipes and you'll realize that there's a fairly standard ratio you can use as a cocktail base. Now when I want a simple drink and have flavors in mind I just start with this base and adjust from there.

{rye and sage}

Basic cocktail recipe - serves 1
2 - 2 1/2 oz liquor
1 oz citrus juice
1/2 oz - 1 oz simple syrup
2 - 3 dashes bitters, if they make sense

Couldn't be simpler. I usually start with the lower volumes of everything (2/1/0.5)and then adjust on the next round. (If you need a third round to adjust, I really recommend waiting until the next evening)

Once you get good enough at it, you can combine multiple liquors, juices, etc. I'm not quite there but I can see the potential. I was going to write that I would never be able to create something as fabulous as, say, The Rooster with this formula but then I double checked the recipe and what do you know, it's a 2/0.75/0.5 ratio, not too far outside my starting points.

Instead I will say that I'm never going to come up with, say, a crazy ten ingredient tiki drink via this method, but I can make a pretty respectable cocktail out of whatever I happen to have on hand.

Make sure you jot yourself some notes as you go along, even if they happen to be scribbled on a napkin.

Tomorrow - the sage simple syrup I've been obsessed with lately.