How to make cocktails in a mixing glass?

Making cocktails in a mixing glass is a technique well known to bartenders but less so to amateurs. Here's everything you need to know about the mixing glass technique to make your cocktails like a true bar pro.

Everything you need to know about the mixing glass

The mixing glass is a large glass in which the ingredients will be mixed and cooled with ice cubes. Cocktails made in a mixing glass are generally short drinks, therefore mainly composed of alcohol, which need to remain clear with controlled dilution because they are served without ice.

Equipment needed to make so-called “mixing glass” cocktails:

• The mixing glass of course
• A “mixing spoon” which is a long twisted spoon for easy mixing
• An ice strainer to filter the mixture into a cocktail glass
• A measuring spoon to measure your ingredients
• Ice tongs or shovel

Know that making a cocktail in a mixing glass has 2 main advantages:

• Obtain a clear cocktail because this technique has very little aeration
• Better control of dilution, allowing a cocktail to be less drowned than with a shaker

How to make cocktails in a mixing glass?

1. First you need to cool the cocktail glass into which you will pour the mixture. The manual method involves swirling a few ice cubes in the cocktail glass with the mixing spoon, then discarding the ice cubes once the glass is chilled.

2. Fill the mixing glass halfway with ice. The best thing at this time is to swirl the ice cubes in it using the mixing spoon to cool the glass, then throw out the water that the ice cubes have released with the ice strainer.

3. Pour the alcohols into your mixing glass, then the fruit juices, syrups and others. Use a measuring spoon to measure the ingredients correctly.

4. Stir for a good twenty seconds using your mixing spoon.

5. Place your ice strainer on your mixing glass.

6. Strain the contents into the cocktail glass you chilled in step 1.

By following these steps, you will be able to successfully make a delicious mixing glass cocktail, although stirring in a mixing glass is a technique that requires some practice (see video below).