The Proper Pour with Charlotte Voisey

The old fashioned is arguably the first cocktail created. Within its structure you will find spirit, water, sugar and bitters, which means it is open to a great deal of interpretation. Switch out spirits, change up the bitters, use a different type of sugar or sweetener; it is up to you. You will still have an old fashioned!

There is not much better than a chilled, glistening martini. Don't muddy the experience by shaking it. Properly stirred, the martini becomes a jewel of refreshment.

The fizz is a classification of mixed drink that is a variation on the Sour family of cocktails. The addition of carbonated water (soda) adds the "fizz". First mentioned in the 1887 edition of Jerry Thomas' Bartender's Guide, the fizz has many variations, most having to do with additional ingredients such as egg white, egg yolk or whole egg. For example, the Ramos Gin Fizz, one of the most famous variations, includes not only egg white but cream, sugar, orange flower water and both lemon and lime juices. Charlotte fell in love with the Violet Fizz at the venerable Varnish in Los Angeles. This beautiful cocktail epitomizes all that is wonderful about the Fizz and its numerous variations and is perfect for Spring brunch.

Choosing the right mixing technique for making a cocktail is straight forward. In the case of the Daiquiri, it is shaken because it contains the juice of a lime. Charlotte demonstrates how to make a classic daiquiri cocktail as well as how to properly shake a cocktail.

"Improving" a cocktail does not necessarily mean making it better. The term simply means something was added to the traditional combination of spirit, sugar, water, bitters associated with an old fashioned style cocktail. In this case, Charlotte "improves" this tequila old fashioned by adding Maraschino and two types of bitters.

Scotch can be a tough cookie when it comes to incorporating it into cocktails. More and more though, bartenders and mixologists are creating cocktails that go way beyond classics like the Rob Roy. In this episode of The Proper Pour, Charlotte Voisey shows you how to make the aforementioned classic as well as a modern Scotch cocktail, the Balvenie Smash.

Have you ever thrown a cocktail? Not at someone. FOR someone. Throwing a cocktail is another way to mix a cocktail for your guests by "throwing" the ingredients back and forth from mixing glass to tin. Charlotte Voisey demonstrates this technique while making her Unusual Negroni cocktail.

When you think Manhattan, what spirit comes to mind? Most likely it is not tequila. During barrel aging, Añejo Tequila takes on flavors similar to bourbon and rye whiskies and lends itself well to mixing like any other brown spirit.

If you were alive in the late 18th and early 19th century, as some of you might have been, you know that it was no guarantee that your cocktail would be served or cooled with ice. In fact, there was a good chance the tavern or bar you were in had no ice at all. Especially if you lived in the American South or a stones throw from the equator. You can thank Frederic Tudor, the "Boston Ice King", for remedying that. His ice deliveries from the Northeast to hotter climates paved the way for creative uses of ice like the crushed "cobble stone" like pieces of ice found in the cobbler. Grab your Lewis Bag and get crackin'!

Decadent and smooth, the Espresso Martini is part cocktail, part dessert. Nothing could be finer than finishing off a great meal with dessert in a glass!

Perfect any time of year, the Farmer's Daughter plays off the indigenous American flavors of Lebkuchen, or German ginger snap, inherent in SNAP. Serve this drink cold in summer and ht in the winter. You can mix up one or two or an entire bowl for a big party.

Juleps are the perfect drink to beat the heat. Crushed ice helps give a deep chill and slow dilution over many sips on a hot afternoon. A julep can really be made with any spirit. In this variation, Charlotte uses ROOT, a spirit distilled from organic, indigenous American ingredients, as the base for her julep.

Regulars come in to your bar for various reasons. Their friends and colleagues go there. They enjoy the ambience. Maybe they really like you and the other bartenders behind the bar. More than likely, they have a cocktail they really enjoy every time they sit at the bar. Serving that cocktail and the others on the menu consistently is key to keeping your best patrons coming back again and again and is really quite simple. Proper measuring using a jigger is paramount to creating consistency behind the bar.

Thinking of tiki cocktails conjures up visions of rum, tropical fruits and exotic ingredients. There is no doubt that rum plays a leading role in the tiki cocktails of yesterday and today. That being said, many great tiki cocktails use gin as a base. Charlotte adds her Tiki Time cocktail to that list.

This twist on a classic Southside Cocktail utilizes tea as a flavor component. It is easy to add the flavor of tea to any cocktail by steeping tea as one normally would then using the tea as the base for simple syrup.

Exotic ingredients are available almost anywhere these days. Because of this, getting creative with your own cocktail creations is easy and fun. The Maracuja Mosquito, created by Charlotte Voisey, is a great example of how to take a classic cocktail, like the mojito, and add your own twist to make something new.

Originally created for the W Hotel in New York, the Bond St. Sparkler is the epitome of a seasonal twist on a classic champagne cocktail such as the Bellini. Add a bit of flair to your next brunch and pour a sparkler inspired by the seasonal fruits available to you. It is sure to please.

This twist on the classic New York Sour brings Glenfiddich Single Malt Whisky from across the pond to take the place of American whiskey. The solera aging process of this 15 year old single malt, lends itself well to a touch of red wine, or in this case, Lillet Rouge, as a bit of a float over the top of the cocktail. Rounded off by layers of citrus, this sour style cocktail is perfect whether you are in New York or Edinburgh.

A warm baked apple aroma and flavor treat the palate when taking a sip of the Treacle. With wonderful notes of cinnamon the Treacle is the perfect cocktail to show off a delicious spiced rum like Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum.

Delicious ripe strawberries are the epitome of summer freshness. Muddled into this Collins style cocktail, the strawberries provide an enticing base for the flavor of blood orange and a decent helping of Peychaud's. Lengthened by vodka and balanced with a touch of sweetness and a bit of lemon juice for acidity, this cocktail is surely the perfect way to end a nice summer evening.

Inspired by the delicious produce of South Carolina and Georgia, Charlotte created the South Carolina Swizzle Cocktail to celebrate one of her favorite regions of the United States. Served in a julep style, this refreshing libation is perfect as a summer sipper.

Using classic cocktail books to research cocktails is a great way to come up with new drinks for your menu at home or behind your bar. In this episode, Charlotte twists up Harry Craddock's Alaska Cocktail by making it in a sour style.

The most popular cocktail in America is the Margarita. Making one is simple. Creating a special Margarita is just as easy. Playing off the agave in the Tequila and adding agave nectar and bumping up to a reposado or añejo Tequila, as Charlotte Voisey does here, takes the Margarita to the next level.

The swizzle is a classification of a cocktail. "Rum swizzles" have been mentioned in literature since the late 18th century and originated, like many rum drinks, in the caribbean. Instead of shaking or stirring a swizzle, the drink is, well, "swizzled" with a special stick made from the Quararibea turbinata tree. If you don't have access to the authentic version, a bar spoon will do the trick.