Common cocktail fails and how to fix them

If you’ve worked in kitchens or bars before, there’s no doubt you’ve heard someone in the kitchen talking about – or, more accurately, yelling about – ‘mise en place’ (meez-ahn-plahs). The French term means ‘putting in place’ and it’s the bread and butter of kitchens that basically determines whether you’ll have a bad service or snag that Michelin star. As the late chef and TV personality Anthony Bourdain said: “The religion in kitchens is your mise en place, your set-up, knowing where everything in your station is. There’s layer upon layer upon layer of people thinking about what might happen and how they’re going to be ready for it. And things go wrong, a lot.”

The same goes for bars and cocktails. Pro bartenders will be cutting citrus, separating egg whites and juicing fruit hours before the venue opens. That level of prep probably isn’t necessary for your home cocktails, but a bit of mise en place certainly doesn’t hurt. 

Take, for example, a recipe that calls for homemade syrup – if you’ve already dumped all your other ingredients into the shaker before making that syrup... well, you’ve just wasted that mix (or it’ll need to be repurposed). Likewise, if you’re slicing fruit right when it says to add juice instead of prepping it beforehand, you risk dealing with rotten fruit or under-ripe citrus because you haven’t already checked it. 

The same thing applies to all your gear. Having it all out and staring at you from the kitchen counter means you won’t waste time rummaging through cupboards, only to find it’s somehow ended up in the sock drawer. Expect things to go wrong – and have everything ready to go when they do. It’s not the most glamorous way to live, but it’s a bloody great way to cook or bartend.

And if you’re missing the fancy jiggers and bar tools, but still want to make a top-notch cocktail, measuring cups will do the job, and mason jars (WITH LIDS) are perfect for shaking.

Before you start, read and re-read your recipe carefully. Attention to detail is what separates a cracking cocktail from a watery disaster. So, underline, highlight, write it on your arm – whatever it takes to make sure you fully understand the recipe and process before you start pouring, mixing and shaking.

Finally, the best way to avoid disaster is to taste as you go – and no, we’re not talking about swigging straight from the tin. Grab your barspoon, place a splash onto your hand and suck it up. This will give you a good sense of what the drink needs (or doesn’t) and help guide you from there.

Sometimes you do everything right, your mise en place is tight and clean, you’ve juiced the appropriate fruit and made your syrups when you were supposed to…and stuff still goes pear-shaped. As Mr Bourdain said, it happens a lot. So, are there any tricks or hacks that can revive a faulty cocktail? Or is it better to start from scratch? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. 

• Too boozy or over diluted

If you’ve accidentally under-diluted your cocktail (i.e. not enough ice or not stirring/shaking properly and it tastes too strong), simply toss it back in the shaker or mixing glass with some extra ice. Give it a few more shakes or stirs until it’s just right. Over-dilution, though, is a whole different story. Fixing this is tricky, if not impossible. Our advice? Start again – especially with something like an Old Fashioned, where once it’s over-diluted, there's really no saving it. If you're feeling adventurous, you could try mixing the same cocktail again, but this time without dilution, and then blending it with your overly diluted mix to create a batch. Gradually add a bit more dilution to drop the temperature. But be warned – this approach is risky and will likely taste a fair bit different from the cocktail you intended.

• Too much of something or not enough

Gone a bit heavy-handed with one ingredient? Or didn’t realise how punchy the flavour was? No need to stress – here are some quick fixes that could save your cocktail.

If it’s too sweet, just add a few more dashes of bitters to balance it out. Not sweet enough? Simply add a little more of your sweetener. Overdid the lime in your Margarita? Just balance it with a barspoon of Cointreau. Or maybe your lime’s a dud, and your drink’s lacking that citrus zing – mix up a citric or malic acid solution (2:1 with water) and slowly add it, or juice another lime and add a barspoon or two to your Marg until it’s tasting spot on.

Too many bitter flavours creeping in? Your first instinct might be to grab the sugar syrup, but hold off – that won’t make your cocktail less bitter, it'll just mess with the balance even more. Instead, whip up a little saline solution: mix one-part salt with two-parts hot water, stir, let it cool, and then use an eyedropper to add a drop or two to your cocktail.

If you’re whipping up a spicy cocktail like a Bloody Mary and go a bit overboard on the ol’ hot sauce, mix through a bit more tommy juice and you should be golden. If it's something like a Spicy Marg, add more Marg mix (sans spice) to the blend or a touch more sugar, and taste until it’s right.

We’re not perfect. Sometimes human error – or just plain clumsiness – can ruin a cocktail. Take, for example, when you’ve jammed your shaker tins shut (it happens). Don’t go banging them against the bar, and for the love of all things good, DO NOT run them under hot water – that will just make them expand and make things worse. Gently rock the tins back and forth, and they’ll loosen up – but be gentle. If you get too heavy-handed, you’ll end up with the cocktail all over everything. 

Ice can make or break a cocktail, so pay attention to what the recipe needs. Don’t go tossing tiny ice shards in your Old Fashioned or a massive cube in your Mojito. The recipe specifies a particular style of ice because that cocktail needs a specific type of dilution to taste good. 

Lastly, and we say this a lot here at Dan’s Daily – always use good quality, fresh ingredients. Over-processed or bottled juices are often packed with sugar and will throw the balance off your cocktail. Stick to fresh ingredients and quality bottles, and your cocktail will taste top shelf.