cocktail proportions are the ratios of ingredients that are needed for a drink. They are typically written using ounces (in the United States) and either milliliters or centiliters throughout the rest of the world. There are also recipes that are listed in “shots” or even simply in fractions, as seen in the recipe for the Sidecar from the Another variation of this is to reference the recipe in “parts,” with a “part” being the unit of measure. For example, in The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks by David Embury, the Sidecar recipe is 1 part Cointreau, 2 parts lemon juice, and 8 parts Cognac. To make a reasonably sized drink here utilizing Embury’s ratios, your “part” might be 10 ml, which would result in 10 ml Cointreau, 20 ml lemon juice, and 80 ml cognac—making this particular Sidecar recipe a fairly dry and sour one. By understanding and following the proper proportions of a cocktail recipe, it is easier to scale that recipe up (or down) in order to make more than one drink at a time. By keeping the proportions properly in sync, it will ensure that the resultant drink will always be properly balanced, provided that the original recipe is a good one. When writing cocktail recipes, always use measurements that are of a similar type; otherwise it can be difficult to understand what is intended or how to scale the drink if necessary. For example, a recipe that lists 1 part of X, 2 parts of Y, and 1 teaspoon of Z is technically impossible to recreate properly, since the relationship between a “part” and a “teaspoon” is unexplained. Similarly, recipes that use measures of indeterminate size are impossible to recreate properly. The term “splash” can mean different things to different people, particularly with different ingredients. Sometimes recipes will state “juice of half a lemon” (or lime). This reference should only be viewed in very loose terms in a recipe. The size of fruit can vary considerably, with one piece of fruit yielding only 1/2 ounce of juice and another providing more than 2 ounces. Trying to follow such a recipe verbatim can quickly disrupt the cocktail’s balance. While there are basic parameters for the proportions of a sweet + sour + strong (or any recipe for that matter), they are also mutable. Over the last couple of decades, most drinks seem to have become stronger and drier. A good example is the formula for a classic sour: The standard recipe fifteen years ago for a fresh-juice sour was: 22 ml sour (lemon or lime juice) + 30 ml sweet (simple syrup or liqueur) + 45 ml strong (spirits). Today an oft-utilized standard recipe is: 22 ml sour + 22 ml sweet + 60 ml strong. On the other hand, drinks from the Manhattan family have generally gotten softer and sweeter: fifteen years ago, it was common to find a formula like 5 ml maraschino cherry syrup + 10 ml vermouth + 75 ml whisky, with no bitters, where now the older style generally prevails: 2 ounces (60 ml) whisky + 1 ounce (30 ml) vermouth + 2 dashes bitters (these proportions are sometimes known as the “212” formula, which happens to be the area code for Manhattan). Yet even those ratios are subjective. Having basic parameters for drink proportions is very useful, but the most important outcome is that it pleases the individual imbiber. While Embury’s Sidecar may perhaps be a bit on the tart side for most people, he said it best here: The truth of the matter is, of course, that the proportion of sweet and sour is best which best pleases the taste of the individual drinker, provided always, that for the aperitif cocktail the final blend with the liquor base will produce a drink that is dry, not sweet. Just how dry, again, is a question of personal preference, but let it never be sweet. This is a matter not of ruining the drink but of ruining the appetite and the digestion. We agree. See also cocktail recipes; Embury, David; Manhattan; and sour. Embury, David. The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks. New York: Doubleday, 1948. By: Audrey Saunders
