Keen to level up your cocktail game? Top mixologist Matt Stirling will have you impressing your mates – and tastebuds – in no time.

Matt Stirling knows how to make a killer cocktail. As the co-founder of Melbourne’s Caretaker’s Cottage – ranked #23 best cocktail bar in the world, thank you very much – and with almost 20 years of hospitality experience behind him, Matt has mixed thousands of drinks in his time.

That’s what makes him the perfect person to ask about taking our home cocktail-making skills to the next level. “Attention to detail is the overarching rule,” says Matt, before launching into years’ worth of knowledge that everyone can use to step up their game, even if you’re brand new to this whole cocktail thing.

Want to know how to make the best cocktails at home? Below, Matt shares the top seven small details that can have a massive impact on the quality of the drinks you mix up.

1. Good ingredients make good cocktails

“Quality spirits, quality modifiers, quality ice, and quality produce – it really does matter,” says Matt. If you want good cocktails, you’ve got to start with good ingredients. When building your home bar, set yourself up for success by investing in quality spirits from the very start. After all, a cocktail is only as good as the sum of its parts.

2. Glassware matters more than you think

Most cocktails are meant to be served in certain glasses, and that’s often for a good reason. “Just like the type of glass you serve wine in matters, it does for cocktails, too,” explains Matt. “Get a good selection of glasses – they don’t have to be expensive, they just have to be the right glass.” A lowball (sometimes called a rocks or whiskey glass) and a highball are two starter glasses worth investing in.

3. Temperature is everything

It sounds obvious, but a cold drink should go in a cold glass and a hot drink should go in a hot glass. “The energy transfer of putting a cold drink in a warm glass, or a hot drink in a cold glass, means you’ll lose temperature,” Matt says. Nobody wants to drink a lukewarm cocktail that is meant to be served frosty cold. Take the time to chill your glassware while you’re mixing, and you’ll notice an immediate improvement in your cocktails. Always give your glass a quick stint in the fridge or freezer while you make your drink.

4. Do all the work before guests arrive

Be prepared! Otherwise you’ll get stuck playing bartender and miss out on all the fun. “Just like you prepare food to cook, prepare in the same way for drinks. If you need to make syrups or take seeds out of fruit, do that well ahead. Don’t make it a huge process that takes you away from being at the party,” Matt says.

5. There’s more than one type of ice

Crush, cubed, king cubed, spherical – there’s more than one type of ice. If you’re looking at a recipe, pay particular attention to the type of ice it recommends. Take the Negroni – generally savoured over a longer time period, this classic Italian cocktail is served over large ice to keep it cool while also ensuring it doesn’t get watered down. “Dilution is important, across all types of drinks. Too little dilution and it’ll taste really alcoholic and too much dilution means it loses body,” says Matt. You can also fancy up your ice, including by freezing sliced fruit and juice in your cubes.

Ice is a critical ingredient when making cocktails

6. Measure everything

We don’t mean to sound like sticklers, but yes you have to follow the recipe (just as well we have hundreds in our collection of tried-and-tested cocktails). Experimentation is great, but there’s a time and a place for that, and that’s not when you’re early in your cocktail knowledge. Some cocktail recipes are over a hundred years old, so treat them with respect. “You’ll get non-specific results if you don’t pay attention because there is an ideal ratio,” explains Matt.

Garnishing a cocktail with a skewered cherry

7. Presentation matters

“You’d be surprised how much a garnish affects the experience,” says Matt. Try to think about a garnish as punctuation – it makes a cocktail look and feel complete. Matt suggests grabbing some fresh fruit from your fruit bowl or the tree out the back, or even some flowers or fresh herbs will make a nice addition. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.