What makes a great cocktail?

Here are some things to look for when you go out and order a cocktail that is worth your money.

• First off, the service! Did your bartender or wait staff greet you with a friendly demeanor? Did they go through the menu with you, give any recommendations or suggestions if you were having trouble deciding or if it was your first time?

• Balance. A good cocktail will balance the flavors together instead of giving a one overall flavor profile. Something to consider when you are ordering any cocktail is if you ask for lite or extra ice. This can throw off the balance of the cocktail giving you more or less mixers in your cocktail to compensate for the ice level, leaving you with an unbalanced cocktail.

• Liquor. The type of liquor used will absolutely change the flavor of your cocktail. A bar doesn’t have to use name brand liquors to make a good cocktail, but they do need to use liquors that don’t taste cheap. A cheap tasting alcohol is one that taste more in burn and poor flavor like gasoline vs smooth. Tasting a strong burning flavor in your cocktail doesn’t mean your a drinking a strong cocktail, it means you are drinking cheap alcohol that will leave feeling sick the next day. Good tasing well made liquor may not have a strong burn and in the right cocktail may not have much of a taste, but will leave you feeling good after.

• Mixers. If a bar is using quality ingredients in their cocktails, you will taste the difference immediately, but you will also feel the effects later. One of the reasons people feel so sick after cocktails is if they are made with low quality high sugar ingredients. That with not drinking enough water can leave you feeling sick the next day. And overly sweet ingredients will be used to hide the taste of poor alcohol.

• Finally price. Was the cocktail worth the price? Do you feel like you got your moneys worth? Would you order it again?

Hopefully when you order your cocktails at Game Night you will be left saying ‘hell yea that was a great cocktail!”