What to know for perfectly chilled, ready-to-pour Negronis, Martinis, Manhattans and more.
“Cold” is as essential a part of a good cocktail as the spirit, alcoholic or otherwise. You can buy top-tier liquor, shop incredible mixers and source garnishes of the highest quality, but getting homemade cocktails bar-made cold ain’t as easy. There’s only so many ice trays you can keep in your freezer, and only so many bags of ice from the petrol station your friends will pick up. Babe, if the quest for a cold cocktail (and easy hosting) is close to your heart, you need to know about batch freezing, AKA freezer door cocktails.
Like meal-prepping, topping up your super or ironing your clothes the night before, freezer door cocktails pay dividends from a little bit of forethought. But unlike making bolognese to eat five days in a row, preparing and freezing cocktails ahead of time yields a more layered flavour and richer mouthfeel than one just made. It’s perfectly ice-cold, without the ice, and as easy to serve as a glass of wine. No stirring, no shaking, just pour.
Batch-frozen cocktails (and a seriously great wine list) has made Melbourne bar PAR a must for any dedicated bar-lover. The process at PAR is a 72-hour affair, including freeze integration, racking and resting and, occasionally, sonic ageing. “It's a complex balance of processes,” says Tim Pope, PAR’s owner and award-winning bartender, “but necessary to achieve our NEO (‘new, experimental and original’) cocktails.” Tim admits the NEO process isn’t very home friendly, but encourages utilising your freezer to elevate your next cocktail creation.
Ahead, we share how to create consistent, efficient cocktails ready to pour, in your freezer door.
Freezer Martini
- 3.5 parts gin or vodka
- 1 part vermouth
- 1.5 parts water
Optional: If you like them dirty, add a few olives to the bottle for 24 hours. If you like them with a twist, do orange peel instead.
Freezer Negroni
- 1.5 parts gin
- 1.5 parts sweet vermouth
- 1.5 parts Campari
- 1.5 parts water
Optional: Orange peel or a few drops of orange bitters work well.
Freezer Manhattan
- 3 parts rye whiskey
- 1.5 parts sweet vermouth
- 1.5 parts water
- 12 dashes Angostura bitters
Optional: Experiment with a maraschino cherry in the mix.
