From a classic Toddy Template to complex Mezcal heaters and a delightful Frangelico Cocoa, explore this collection of hot cocktails perfect for winter.

The Classic Toddy

Bookmark this template for use with any aged spirit. Though Bourbon and Scotch are the most popular, we also enjoy it with an aged Tequila.

Get the recipe for Classic Hot Toddy.

Anjou Glad I Made It?

Mezcal, Ancho Chili, and spiced pear syrup make this a unique and craveable Hot Toddy.

Get the recipe for the Anjou Glad I Made It.

Grand Toddy

Grand Marnier’s base of Cognac and bitter orange liqueur offer a refined, smooth take on the classic Toddy.

Get the recipe for the Grand Toddy.

Frangeli-Cocoa

This Hot Cocoa is chocolatey hazelnut bliss! A perfect option for a frosty winter evening.

Get the recipe for the Frangeli-Cocoa.

Jarnac Hot Toddy

An easy tea infusion compliments the delicate floral and fruit notes from Courvoisier VSOP.

Get the recipe for the Jarnac Hot Toddy.

Bush Doctor

A heater with a point of view! This cocktail pulls in big flavors from Appleton rum, Averna, and a spiced Honey syrup.

Get the recipe for the Bush Doctor.

As a garnish, the humble brandied cherry doesn’t carry much weight in our direct experience of a cocktail—it changes neither temperature nor texture—and arguably very little of its sweet viscous coating ends up in the flavors you sip. And yet it remains an icon behind the bar. Like the mint on a pillow or the bow on a gift, it’s a small gesture of hospitality, a little treat for your guests.

Plus, who doesn’t want dessert with their drink?

Why Make Your Own Cocktail Cherries?

Unfortunately, nice cocktail or brandied cherries can be quite pricey, and in some markets, challenging to source. The solution? Make your own!

We tapped David Bates, Bar Supervisor for the Wild Turkey Distillery Visitor Center in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, to share his fantastic DIY Cocktail Cherry recipe.

Not only does it produce delicious, complex cherries, but the luxurious infusion liquid can pull double duty as a house cherry liqueur replacement, or simply enjoy it poured over shaved ice. This small yet thoughtful project is an easy way to implement a cost-saving sustainability element to your bar…it also happens to taste very, very good.

Watch our easy how-to video, and read on for the recipe, plus David’s notes on ingredients and storage.

Homemade Cocktail Cherries Recipe

Yield: Roughly two 16 oz Jars of Cherries

Ingredients

• 450 g Frozen Cherries (One 16 oz bag, preferably dark cherries, if available)
• 90 ml Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon*
• 60 ml Wild Turkey 101 Rye*
• 250 ml 2:1 Simple Syrup
• 50 ml Averna**
• 3 g Citric Acid***

Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients except cherries, and stir until the acid has dissolved (at this volume, using a small blender may be easier than stirring).
2. Pour the mixture over the still frozen cherries in a sealable container. 
3. Seal cherries and allow to infuse in the fridge for at least one week (David prefers at least two weeks, time permitting).
4. Store cherries refrigerated, and submerged in the infusion liquid. Depending on your freezer temp, surplus cherries can be kept in freezer for extended shelf life. More on that below.

Notes on Ingredients:

*101 Bourbon and 101 Rye: The 101 proof whiskey increase the shelf stability of the cherries and give a degree of barrel-aged flavor, making them a great addition to whiskey cocktails. The ABV of the solution after the cherries have been allowed to steep overnight will be between 23% and 28% which will inhibit things like bacterial growth and secondary fermentation.

**Averna: Adds complexity and darker notes. Raise amount to 75ml if desiring a more bitter final product.

***Citric Acid: The pH level that makes food shelf stable depends on multiple factors, but in general a pH below 4.5 prevents the growth of disease-causing organisms. The small addition of citric acid in the syrup brings the pH down to the 3.75 range and helps to enhance the brighter notes in the cherries.

Additional Flavors: This recipe can act as a template for additional spice infusion—he recommends adding whole dry spices like cardamom, cinnamon, or clove.

Notes On Storage and Usage:

Made as indicated in the recipe, the infused cherries should have a high enough proof and sugar content to not freeze in most freezers. Tested at 10F, cherries did not refreeze or crystalize.

Looking for more great Bartending How-To’s? Learn how to make Aperol Caviar, Campari Dust, and Sage Brown Butter Fast-Washed Savory Martini.

Miso has been a staple of Japanese cuisine for centuries, popular enough that the fermented paste has been produced at an industrial level for at least 500 years. It’s a kitchen staple for adding Umami to a variety of foods, and has been steadily finding its place in bar programs.

Production techniques and aging vary, resulting in a wonderfully diverse array of Miso options. Today, many grocery shelves are stocked with multiple options, but we’ll focus on White Miso Paste, a wonderful starting point and the most widely available.

Scroll on to learn how to make Miso Simple Syrup, and check out three cocktails that show its range.

How To Make Miso Syrup

Miso Syrup Ingredients:

• 2 cups Water
• 2 cups Granulated Sugar
• .5 Cup White Miso Paste

Instructions:

• Bring water to a boil, and then lower heat.
• Add sugar and whisk until combined.
• Add Miso paste and whisk until combined.
• Fine Strain into a non-reactive container and store refrigerated.

How to Use Miso Syrup in Cocktails

Miso syrup is your cheat code to easily add umami and depth to a whole range of cocktails.

A quick Google search for Miso flavor pairing affinities yields so many options it will make your head spin. From the simplest Dashi to Peanut Butter Cookies with 7,000+ reviews, and fish glazes to roasted winter root vegetables to caramel ice cream drizzles, Miso is a versatile and powerful tool to surprise and delight your guests.

As a syrup, it’s just as generous. And while we love our base recipe for White Miso Syrup, we suggest thinking of it as a template, a jumping off point for your creativity—swap out the white sugar for alternative sweeteners like Agave or Jaggery. Try an aged Miso. Make a compound syrup, make a shrub…Go wild.

Below are three recipes that show just a hint of what you can do with Miso syrup behind the bar. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Miso Old Fashioned

Peanut Butter and Miso Syrup double down on the savory and sweet combo in this Old Fashion riff. The fatwash provides a lush mouthfeel and the Umami highlights the Bourbon’s vanilla and caramel notes.

Ingredients

• 2 oz Peanut Butter fat-washed Wild Turkey 101*
• .5 oz Miso Syrup
• 2 dashes each Orange Bitters and Aromatic Bitters

Instructions:

• Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice.
• Stir and strain over a large cube. Garnish with expressed lemon and orange twists.
• *Peanut Butter Wild Turkey: Spread 16 oz peanut butter across a large baking pan with a lip, creating a thin layer. Pour one 750 ml bottle of Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon on top. Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap to prevent evaporation and allow it to sit overnight at room temperature. The next day, strain the bourbon through a coffee filter and funnel it back into the bottle. Discard the peanut butter.

Miso Dark and Stormy

This riff replaces the layered build with a whip shake, better aerating and marrying all the components. Appleton’s apricot and molasses really sing with the umami counterpoint, and the dark rum float gets replaced with Averna, whose bitter orange and licorice add a complex undercurrent to the affair.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz Appleton Estate Signature Jamaica Rum
• 1 oz Lime Juice
• .75 oz Miso Syrup
• .5 Averna
• Club Soda

Instructions:

• Add all ingredients except soda to a shaker tin with a small handful of pebble ice.
• Whip shake until ice dissolves. Add soda and quick stir to incorporate.
• Pour into a chilled highball glass full of ice. Garnish with Lime wedge.

Thai Basil Miso Margarita

Thai Basil, more opinionated and often more anise-forward than other basils, is an obvious addition to the Margarita.

This recipe is sweetened by a Miso Agave syrup, which nicely highlights the flexibility of the template. What you end up with a perfect accompaniment to quality Tequila – bright, vegetal, and complex.

Ingredients:

• 2 oz Espolon Blanco Tequila
• .75 Lime juice
• .5 Miso Agave Syrup
• .25 Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge
• 3 Thai Basil leafs

Instructions:

• Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice and shake hard.
• Fine strain into a chilled rocks glass with ice.
• Garnish with a Thai Basil leaf and a Lime wheel.

Want more bartender how-to’s? Learn to make Aperol Caviar, ferment DIY Ginger Beer, and Create Campari Dust.

It’s the season! Whether you’re prepping for a last-minute catering gig or just got an invite to a big dinner party, the odds are good that in the near future your bartending skills will be needed for an “away game.”

We checked in with the Academy team to see what pro bartenders are bringing to the festivities. The criteria? Recipes should be crowd-pleasers and easily batchable (unless, you know, you want to spend the whole party working).

Within these parameters, the team hand-picked a creative, wide-ranging quiver of cocktail recipes: From a fool-proof blender Egg Nog to eight-ingredient Mezcal Negroni to a piping hot Tiki cocktail, there’s something on this list for everyone!

Kalimotxo – Lo Logsdon, Academy Bartender

Lo Says: “Typically seen in Spain as a split between cheap red wine and cola, a Kalimotxo can be elevated and turned into a fun and easy punch for the holidays by using a blend of Cynar and Averna.

This recipe is infinitely riffable. Very good with the addition of sweet vermouth as well! The idea here is to be able to batch your amari at home, and grab a bottle of wine and a couple cans of Coke on the way to the party.”

Kalimotxo Recipe
Ingredients:

• 1 bottle of juicy red wine, typically a Rioja
• 1-2 12 oz cans of cola, depending on your sweetness preference
• 4 parts Cynar
• 4 parts Averna

Instructions:

• Add all ingredients together in a pitcher with ice.
• Garnish with orange twists and star anise.

Hot Zombie – Jelani Johnson, Academy Head Bartender

Jelani says: “One of my all-time favorite holiday recipes is the Hot Zombie. This recipe below is adapted one Brian Miller shared with me. I’ve made it just about every year since I first got into cocktails.

The drink is complex, tropical, warming, and altogether satisfying. A batch of this can be kept in the fridge and heated anytime for a quick trip to the islands during the holiday season.”

Hot Zombie Recipe (serving size: 8 oz)
Ingredients:

• 1 bottle (750ml) Appleton Estate 8 Year Reserve
• 1.5 quarts Hot water
• 12 oz Pineapple juice
• 6 oz Passionfruit puree
• 6 oz Lime juice
• 6 oz Honey syrup (2:1)

Instructions:

• Batch & serve from a hot drink percolator, or bottle and heat in a saucepan or kettle to serve.
• Serve 8 oz in an Absinthe-rinsed coffee mug.
• Garnish with a pat of butter.

Blender Egg Nog – Jessamine McLellan, Academy Director

Jessamine says: “This is, by its very definition, easy to batch. This recipe is delicious (and much quieter) if prepped before your event. If you’re running on the fly, though, it can also be made quickly and quite easily à la minute.”

Blender Egg Nog Recipe
Ingredients:

• 3 parts Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon
• 3 parts Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge
• 1.5 cups Whole Milk
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• 4 large eggs
• .75 cups Granulated Sugar
• .5 tbsp Ground Cinnamon
• .25 tbsp Ground Nutmeg
• .25 tbsp Ground Cloves

Instructions:

• Add eggs to a blender and blend on medium for 4 minutes to emulsify the eggs.
• With the blender running, remove the lid cap, and add sugar and blend for 30 seconds.
• Add milk, heavy cream, spices, Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon, and Grand Marnier. Blend for 30 more seconds.
• Transfer to a non-reactive container and store in the refrigerator. This recipe can be served immediately, or let it rest in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks to let the flavors combine. 
• To serve, pour over ice and garnish with freshly ground nutmeg.

Reverse-ish Manhattan – Matt Merkin, Academy Digital Manager

Matt says: “The Manhattan is a nearly perfect Winter cocktail; something to sip contemplatively in a warm, low lit bar. Not really a party vibe, right? But there’s hope…

Built off the chassis of a Reverse Manhattan, the vermouth here is split with a Black Manhattan’s Averna and brightened by Grand Marnier, guest starring from the EO spec. These bring in complexity, dark cocoa and bitter orange. The rye’s spice notes keep the whole thing upright. And the sherry? That’s in there to dry things off a bit and add a nutty counterpoint…but mainly because it’s my recipe and I want it there.

The final result is still complex and sophisticated, but lower octane for longer evenings.

Reverse-ish Manhattan Recipe
Ingredients:

• 1 part Wild Turkey 101 Rye
• 1 part Sweet Vermouth
• .5 parts Averna
• .25 parts Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge
• .25 parts Amontillado sherry

Instructions:

• Full batch in an empty 750. No Dilution. Store in refrigerator.
• Serve “Midwestern style” over rocks, with a quick stir.
• Garnish with lemon twist.

Eddie’s 8 Ingredient Negroni – Eddie Hansel, Academy Operations Manager

Eddie says: “I invented this so I had something to order when I visit a friend at work and they’re on service bar, deep in the weeds.

In all seriousness, though, this drink is delicious. You can tell the average Joe “it’s a Mezcal Negroni” and they will be happy. You can tell your bartender nerd friends what’s actually in it, and they will be happy. It’s complex but balanced and approachable. Make it. Take a sip. You will be happy.”

Eddie’s 8 Ingredient Negroni Recipe
Ingredients:

• .5 parts Montelobos Tobala
• .5 parts Montelobos Pechuga
• .25 parts Mayenda Blanco
• .5 parts Cynar
• .5 parts Del Professore Vermouth Rosso Classico
• .5 parts China-China
• .5 parts Campari
• 3 dashes of Mole Bitters

Instructions:

• Full batch in an empty 750ml bottle. No Dilution. Store in Refrigerator.
• To serve, pour over ice in a rocks glass.
• Garnish with orange twist.

Rockefeller Center – Hector Sam-Roman, Academy Bartender

Hector says: “The Boulevardier’s whiskey base already makes it a great batched cocktail for holiday season parties, but the Chai and Wintry spice infusions really take it to another level. This is a great option if you want something that feels custom and special without giving a ton of prep work.”

Hector’s Rockefeller Center Recipe
Ingredients:

• 1.25 parts Wild Turkey 101 Rye
• 1 part Chai-infused Campari*
• 1 part Christmas Vermouth**
• Water (15-20% of batch volume)

Instructions:

• Measure out desired amount of first three ingredients.
• Multiply this volume by .18 (“Total # of ounces” x .18) to get the amount of water needed.
• Add water to your batch, and store in refrigerator.
• To serve, pour into a chilled Nick and Nora. Or, if possible, inside of a clear tree ornament, garnished with skewered cranberry and mint.

Sub-recipes:

• *Chai-infused Campari: Add 2 Chai tea bags to 750ml Campari. Let infuse for 8 hours.
• **Christmas Vermouth: Add 15 white peppercorns, 15 whole cloves, 15 whole green cardamom, 1 cinnamon stick and one bottle of 1757 Vermouth di Torino Rosso to a pot and turn the heat to low and stir for 5-10 mins until it starts to boil. Immediately remove from heat, strain back into bottle, and cool.

Eddie Hansel, Campari Academy Operations Manager, shared field-tested insights on the gadgets and concepts behind many of today’s best bars. The Academy bar team led guests through the mechanics of clarification, spherification, foam, carbing, canning, and more!

Scroll down for photos from the event!

Watch the digital version of this class.

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The Sangrita is one of those wonderful curiosities of bartending—often red, sometimes green, with wide-swinging regional variations and a shopping cart’s worth of possible ingredients that someone will inevitably tell you are mandatory and traditional.

Here, though, we’re sharing one of our favorite versions.

Though traditionally sipped as an accompaniment to a neat pour of Tequila, this zingy, eye-opening version is shaken directly into a Mezcal Margarita, making something even better than the sum of its parts. Here’s how to make both:

First, grab your produce, blender, and fine strainer, and get your Verdita ready.

Verdita Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 Pineapple, chopped
• 1 Cucumber, chopped
• 1 Jalapeño, chopped
• 1/2 bushel Cilantro
• 1 handful Mint
• 100ml Water

Instructions:

• Blend all ingredients and fine strain through a mesh sleeve.
• Store in a non-reactive container, and serve within 24 hours.

This Verdita is great enjoyed as a traditional side-by-side, but it really sings shaken into the Margarita. This crushable version, built around Montelobos Espadin and Grand Marnier, also happens to be an irresistible, tropical green.

Get the recipe for the Verdita Mezcalita.

Verdita Mezcalita

By Hailee Catalano (@haileecatalano)

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz Montelobos Espadin
• 1.5 oz Verdita
• 1 oz Lime Juice
• .5 oz Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge

Instructions:

• Combine all ingredients into a shaker tin, add ice and shake.
• Double strain over a large block in a rocks glass with a Tajin Salt rim.
• Garnish with mint and a slice of cucumber.

By Matt Merkin

When Deniseea Head answers the phone, it’s immediately clear why she’s so successful as an educator in the bar world: she’s warm and disarmingly funny, asking good questions and explaining her work’s philosophical masonry with the easy fluency of someone who knows exactly what she’s doing, and why.

In other words, she draws you in.

Before you know it, you’re swapping bar tales and pandemic hustles when something she said clicks: It’s all about connection. Connection is why Deniseea chose cocktails as her classroom. Connection is why she uses simple ingredients. Connection, she says, “is meeting people where they are.” Once you’re there together, the learning can begin.

Though a natural organizer and host, it was only after moving to New Orleans that she found bartending, and almost by accident. The owner of a neighborhood spot needed help and Deniseea happened to be sitting at the bar. She started for a flat day rate plus tips. “It was what we call a ‘hole in the wall’,” she explains, “and there were lots of locals who gave me first hand experience of Nola drinking culture.”

The bar training dovetailed with her love for research, scrolling newspaper archives and old cookbooks, in search of rabbit holes to explore. She found that recipes—and the spices and ingredients available at the time—opened up deeper questions and histories. Even the humble Daiquiri has a lot to teach about the histories of sugar and the transatlantic slave trade. Cocktails could make that history immediate and tangible without feeling like a history lesson.

She had unlocked something. The vision came into focus and guests began to understand that what they were getting went beyond the drink in hand. “It was,” Deniseea says, “like they had drunk a cocktail of curiosity.”

As an educator and cocktail maker, much of Deniseea Head’s work stems from her focus on community, accessibility and connection. Below, she shares her top three philosophies in her own words.

Philosophy #1

“We don’t have to recreate the wheel”

Why It Matters:

Innovation is amazing but sometimes we overlook things that are simple.

Bartenders can get caught up with the newest technique or the flashiest trend, when actually the best answer is not only the simplest, it’s also cheapest and most time-efficient…unless you just love extra prep work that much? I know I don’t!

In Action:

I travel a lot for work and not all ingredients are available in different parts of the country. Therefore, I rely on ingredients that are common amongst people everywhere. REGULAR DEGULAR SMEGULAR kitchen items are the best.

For the Grand Encounter, I created a cocktail using strawberry jam as the sweetener. Instead of traveling with bottles of syrup or trying to source produce on the road, I utilized a ready-made product I knew would be available and consistent. As a bonus, this also means my guests can recreate it easily at home.

Philosophy #2

“We don’t want to sit with the cool kids. We just want to sit down.”

Why It Matters:

My experience the past few years is that there’s a lot of community within the industry. That can be the sharing of resources and recipes, or just exchanging helpful info. I’ve watched and been a part of what seems like a cocktail union forming.

Years ago when I got into the industry, it sort of felt like there was major gatekeeping within these bar spaces. This “You can’t sit with us vibe” was unspoken but very loud, not demure at all. That’s over. We’ve all been through so much as people and an industry that we have to make things accessible to one another, to make both our lives and our jobs easier.

In Action:

Down in New Orleans I’ve been a part of a community that thrives on sharing knowledge with one another. I’ve worked with Turning Tables since its conception and I’ve watched how a community can thrive with the help of one another, with industry leaders guiding up-and-coming hospitality folks. From techniques and bar tips to how to get your first job behind the bar, to transitioning from behind the bar and beyond. Things like this make me feel like we aren’t competing with one another—we want to share and make things accessible to build our industry together because we are better in numbers.

Philosophy #3

“Use things your audience is familiar with.”

Why It Matters:

Using familiar things allow guests to understand what we have in common, which puts them at ease and allows connection.

I understand we all come from different walks of life and have different beliefs and traditions. But the beautiful thing about history is that we all have a connection: No matter where you are from, there are traditions you’ve adapted. We all have them. With my guests I can share traditions or stories that have been passed down for many generations, and that story alone can spark a memory or connection to their traditions.

In Action:

A bar is place where people enter as strangers and most of the time leave as friends, with ultimately a better understanding of another person. On the surface it may just seem like a fun night with drinks flowing, but when done correctly (and responsibly), it’s actually a night filled with an exchange of information, traditions and rituals.

What I’ve witnessed with pairing storytelling with cocktails is that my guests are more interested in listening and learning new things. It’s like they’ve drunk a cocktail of curiosity.

Follow Deniseea Head on IG: @chickenandchampagne.

Watch her Grand Encounter video and get her Grand Jam cocktail recipe.

Subscribe to Campari Academy for bartender education and free events right in your inbox.

The Grand Encounter: Behind the Bar journey now comes to its end with the final episode of the season. We now travel to New Orleans, the homeland of jazz and the city where one of the biggest global events in the bar industry takes place, Tales Of The Cocktail. It’s New Orleans that enables another Grand meeting, the one between the series’ host, Carina Soto Velasquez, and an industry pioneer, award-winning cocktail consultant and educator, Deniseea Head.

The last episode, elevated+local, concerns the great ability of Deniseea Head to combine elevated experiences with a local and approachable way, creating a grand encounter in her own cocktail activations. And she has been doing so since the creation of her companies, Chicken and Champagne and Good Trouble, through which she uses spirits and cocktails to tell stories about Black and American history and Activism.

According to Deniseea, “Local bars are more connected to the city…they are the heartbeat of the community”. Thanks to that unique positioning, they can make elevated experiences more inviting and approachable. Ingredients can do the same too, since “You can make a great cocktail anywhere. The space doesn’t dictate what you put in a glass”. And ingredients are the focus of her Grand Encounter cocktail, the Grand Jam, creating specially for The Grand Encounter Behind the Bar: a simple cocktail inspired by NOLA’s local drink scene and made of both superior ingredients and ingredients that come straight from your kitchen, mixed up through an easy technique. Nothing but the Grand Encounter between Local and Elevated.

The Grand Jam by Deniseea Taylor

Ingredients

• .75 oz Espolòn Blanco Tequila
• .75 oz Grand Marnier
• .75 oz Lime Juice
• 1 spoon of Strawberry Jam

Garnish: Dehydrated strawberries and pinch of Tajin.

Instructions:

• Add all ingredients to shaker tin and agitate with bar spoon to incorporate the jam
• Add ice and shake vigorously and pour unstrained into a rock glass over pebble ice.
• Top with additional pebble ice and garnish with dehydrated strawberries and a pinch of Tajin.

Watch Episode 1 with Hugo Togni and Episode 2 with Takuma Watanabe.

Discover Deniseea’s Top 3 Philosophies as a Drink Maker and Educator.

Get Campari Academy’s newsletter for more great bartender education and inspiration.

By Laila Ghambari.
Over two decades, Laila Ghambari has held just about every position you can in the coffee world. Before settling into her current roles as a business owner, consultant, and educator, she became the US Barista Champion and was elected to the executive board of the Council for the Barista Guild. Follow her at @lailaghambari and visit one of her cafes next time you’re in PDX: guildercafe.com.

What is Mouthfeel?

Mouthfeel is more than just a sensation: it’s the tactile experience of a drink that can elevate or diminish its overall enjoyment. While flavor often steals the spotlight, mouthfeel is arguably just as important to the overall drinking experience and deserves consideration and attention.

Why Mouthfeel Matters for Bartenders

As bartenders, you’re not just mixing drinks; you’re curating experiences. The texture, weight, and feel of a drink in the mouth are integral to that experience.

Imagine serving a cocktail, only for the guest to find it too thin, too heavy, or overly astringent. Understanding mouthfeel allows you to anticipate these reactions and adjust your creations.

Most bartenders are used to judging a drink’s merits on flavor and aroma—but building your ability to understand and articulate mouthfeel allows you to craft more balanced and enjoyable drinks. For example, if a drink is too drying due to high alcohol content, adding an element that provides a coating sensation, like sugar or salt, can enhance the overall experience.

Words Are An Ingredient

Developing a robust mouthfeel vocabulary is a powerful tool for communication and education.

When developing new recipes, being able to lucidly describe a drink’s physical sensations not only offers another way to consider its overall impact, it helps you unlock problems of taste and aroma. Consider you are working on a new cocktail and the flavor is great but as a stirred, up serve, it’s too aggressive or uneven. It’s just not there. Being able to identify and describe these sensations enables you to better explore solutions. Would the drink work better shaken and served on the rocks, where increased aeration and dilution could tame the more aggressive notes? Or would clarifying it as a milk punch make for a more rounded, cohesive experience?

Want to describe your creations to entice customers and pique their interest? Learn to talk mouthfeel. You’ll craft more attractive menus and drop lines, and be able to better guide guests to the right option. When you can describe a drink’s mouthfeel with confidence, you’re not just showcasing your expertise—you’re enhancing your guest’s experience.

Key Terms for Describing Mouthfeel

In order to train this sense, it’s critical to develop your ability to communicate it. For that, you need a vocabulary!

When discussing mouthfeel, essentially you are talking about two experiences: the physical sensations (the tactile) and the liquid’s “weight” (the body).

TACTILE
This refers to physical sensations we experience when eating or drinking something. There are lots of tactile descriptors but they often fall into these categories:

• Coating: The way a banana coats your mouth as you eat it. 
• Drying: When eating things like a biscuit, which remove moisture from your mouth.
• Contracting: Have you ever bitten into a lemon? It can provoke physical reactions and intense sensations.

BODY
This refers to qualities associated with the weight of a liquid. It generally breaks into three categories:

• Light: Watery, tea-like, silky, soft. Ex: green tea, non-fat milk, vodka.
• Medium: Smooth, syrupy, creamy. Ex: whole milk, salt water, reposado Tequila
• Heavy: Full, round, thick, coating, velvety, chewy. Ex: heavy cream, PX Sherry.

Mouthfeel Vocabulary List

Before starting your tasting exercise, here are some vocabulary words to help guide in communicating mouthfeel. Use them as a starting guide:

Training Your Palate: An Interactive Exercise

To sharpen your skills in identifying and describing mouthfeel, I’ve laid out an exercise using common kitchen liquids. This method, adapted from coffee industry practices, will help you break down different sensations and understand each one individually.

Activity: Solutions Tasting

Prep: Below are a series of tastings designed to isolate and identify various mouthfeel sensations. Prep the following solutions:

• Half & Half: (100g Distilled Water + 30g Half & Half)
• Olive Oil: (100g Distilled Water + 5g Olive Oil)
• Lemon Juice: (100g Distilled Water + 6g Lemon Juice)
• Salt: (100g Distilled Water + 0.5g Salt)
• Tea #1: (8 oz Distilled Water + 1 Tea Bag, steeped for 4 minutes)
• Tea #2: (8 oz Distilled Water + 1 Tea Bag, steeped for 15 minutes)
• Distilled Water (Control)

Instructions: Make each of these solutions and add to a glass. Take a sip of each one and make notes of the mouthfeel sensations that you experience, using your new vocabulary. Note both the tactile experience and the body. Drink from the control (water) in between sips to use as a comparison. 

Closing Thoughts:
This exercise can be tested with all sorts of other beverages—Use everything you eat or drink as an opportunity to consider mouthfeel!

That could be as “official” as formally tasting through a category on your back bar, or simply contemplating your pre-shift drink, noting the rough and irritating qualities of the bubbles while enjoying its coating and slippy qualities. Happy drinking!

The second episode of Grand Marnier’s exclusive mini-series, The Grand Encounter, we head south from Montreal to the Big Apple, where host Carina Soto Velasquez meets Takuma Watanabe for a conversation about everything from his earliest cocktail memories and the importance of tradition and classics in building contemporary drinks.

In this episode, modern+classic, Watanabe discusses the importance of classic drinks as an essential element for contemporary bartending, just like Grand Marnier combines past, present and future in its recipe. As Takuma remembers his upbringing: “Classics are very important to me: my father worked at an hotel bar in Japan and I used to drink their cocktails and feel like wow, this is history”.

Takuma is the well-known bartender and owner behind several beloved and awarded spots in NYC. His reputation, built through spotless hospitality and utmost attention to details, has earned him a spot on the coveted Top 50 list.

Check out the recipe for Takuma’s Orangetini cocktail, a Martini riff built around tea-infused gin and his love of the chocolate-covered orange snacks.

It goes without saying at this point that the Aperol Spritz is the undisputed champion of the Aperitivo Hour. Not only is it delicious and hugely popular, but it’s a cinch to make right—hint: learn the PASS method to ensure a perfect serve.

We love this creative twist on the classic, and your guests will, too. We particularly like this recipe from Lorenzo Amati (@stasera.cucina.lo.chef), because it’s easy to follow, scales well, and can be done quickly (we’ve all worked with that one opener).

All you need is Aperol, cold oil, and Agar Agar, which is a plant-based gelling and thickening agent used in many modernist culinary applications.

Watch our video on how to make Aperol caviar using Agar Agar or read on for step-by-step instructions.

How To Make Aperol Caviar

Recipe by Lorenzo Amati (makes one serving)
Ingredients:

• 100 ml Aperol
• 1 gram Agar Agar
• 1 glass Cold Vegetable Oil

Instructions:

1. In a sauce pan, combine Aperol with Agar Agar over medium low heat until it thickens. If it doesn’t thicken, add additional .1 gram Agar Agar.
2. Add mixture to a squeeze bottle and drop into a glass of chilled oil.
3. Strain, and rinse with water before serving.

Use your Aperol Caviar in this deconstructed Aperol Spritz!

Instructions:

1. Add Aperol Caviar to a Champagne flute.
2. Top with Cinzano Prosecco and serve.

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Over the course of a bright, bluebird Monday in Manhattan, guests received free range to explore the Academy’s pantry and tool kit, utilizing everything from foams to floral chocolate to rapid infusions and even a Searzall!

After breaking into teams to ideate and construct their perfect Negroni riff from scratch, visitors received guidance from Kapri and Tommaso, Italian Icons Ambassador Olivia Cerio, plus Eddie Hansel and the Academy bar team.

After finishing their creations, attendees were invited to pull up a stool at our brass bar top, where they received final feedback on their recipes, presentation and garnish. Finally, Tommaso stepped behind the bar to whip up some Shakeratos, ensuring no one left thirsty!

Scroll on for photos from this fun, educational day—and make sure to follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our newsletter.