Mixology for misanthropes

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If you love a good drink, but hate the crowd on a Saturday night at the bar, a cocktail night at home is just what you ordered.

"It's fun, it's easy and there's no need for fancy equipment or ingredients," says Slink and Bardot's Head Mixologist, Santosh Kukreti. He advises using a jam jar in place of a shaker and a belan or rolling pin instead of a muddler. For measurements, a shot glass is ideal.

The key to a good cocktail, he says, is balance. The formula stays the same, ingredients can change. Fundamentally, you need alcohol, citrus and sweet. Muddle these along with any seasonal fruit such as a passion fruit along with some ice, and voila, that's your mix. Add fun toppings like berries or mint leaves.

If you really want to leave your guests impressed, you can also go a step further and use oven-dried fruit slices as a finishing touch. For this, you'd need to cut thin, round orange or lime slices and heat them at about 76C. Certain citrus fruits that are less juicy, like limes, will likely take less time to dry out (closer to four hours). Juicier citrus fruits like grapefruits and oranges will take closer to six hours.

Kukreti' s recipe for first timers:

>>  Take 60ml of alcohol, preferably a white liquid like vodka, tequila or rum
>>  Muddle a big strawberry along with some mint leaves
>>  Add 15 ml of lime juice and 15 ml of honey
>>  Shake in a jam jar with ice
>>  Top it off with ginger ale or sparkling wine for added oomph

Crash courses for those who wish to know more:

>>  Basics with Babish, Bar essentials: Chef Andrew Rea gives you a breakdown of how to use the bar tools such as a shaker. The episode also walks you through classic cocktail recipes such as the Dirty Martini.
>>  The Educated Barfly, Six Drinks Everyone Should Know: This one is slightly advanced. Leandro DiMonriva describes what a basic bar kit should have and also gives a tutorial of six drinks that he says every adult should know how to make.