As a professional bartender, I’ve been mixing drinks and shaking cocktails for years.
Recently, I’ve started thinking more about how we do things behind the bar, especially when it gets super busy and everyone’s waiting for their drinks.
One thing that’s really been on my mind is how we make cocktails with egg whites.
You might not know this, but there’s a unique way we’ve been taught to shake these drinks, and I’ve been wondering if I can stop dry-shaking cocktails.
Why Would I Want to Stop Dry Shaking Cocktails?
So, let’s talk about making drinks with egg whites. Usually, bartenders do this thing called a “dry shake” first. That means we shake the drink without ice to mix the egg white well.
But then, we must open the shaker, add ice, and shake it again. That’s a lot of steps, right? Well, I’ve been thinking, what if we skipped the first shake and only did the shake with ice? Would it make a big difference?
Putting the New Technique to Use
I tried this out at the hotel bar where I worked. Instead of doing the dry shake, I just put the egg white and the other drink ingredients together added ice, and shook it all at once, really hard, for about 15 seconds.
And guess what? It worked just fine! The drinks still looked and tasted great, and I could make them faster, which meant I could serve more people.
To see if there was a difference, I made two whiskey sours: one with the dry shake and one without. They both looked pretty much the same and tasted great.
So, it got me thinking that maybe we don’t always have to do things the way we’ve always done them. Perhaps there’s room to try new things and see if we can improve our work behind bars.
Creating More Mixology Experiments
I want to keep experimenting and trying out new ideas. It’s important to always ask questions and see if there’s a better way to do things. That’s how we get better at our jobs and ensure everyone gets their delicious drinks as quickly as possible.
So, next time you’re at the bar, remember that there’s a lot of thought and care that goes into making your favorite drinks, and maybe, just maybe, we’re trying out some new tricks to make them even better!