Technique

Pousse-café
Pour ingredients over the back of a spoon and let them flow down the side of a straight sided glass. A minimum of 3 ingredients are used in order of density to allow layers to form, for example a mix of Grenadine, Baileys and Amaretto.

Flair Bartending

Involves doing tricks while mixing cocktails which could include; pouring from heights, flipping bottles, juggling tools, etc.
 

Highballs are iced drinks containing liquor and water or a carbonated mixer served in a tall glass. In practice, the term highball is used to refer to any drink prepared in a highball glass with ice. These drinks are prepared directly in a 9 oz (270 mL) highball glass.
 

Making a Highball

To make a highball, follow the below directions.

• Fill a highball glass two-thirds full with ice. Use an ice scoop or your hands; never use the glass. If the glass breaks in the ice, it will leave shards indistinguishable from ice. This makes it impossible to locate all of the shards; it is likely that small chips will be scattered through the ice as well as the big pieces. It may be illegal in your area to use anything but an ice scoop for this reason.
• Pour in one jigger (45 mL) of liquor. Note: some bars save money by putting in 1 oz (30 mL) instead of a whole jigger (45 mL).
• Pour mixer to the top.
• If the mixer is non-carbonated, stir it; or stick a straw in it and let the drinker stir. If it's carbonated, the bubbles do the stirring for it.
• Garnish, if necessary.

Highballs
 

Highball with Gin

• Gin and Tonic
• Gin Highball
• Gin Buck
• Gin Rickey
• Gin and Orange Juice
• Greyhound

Stirred cocktails are drinks such as Martinis, Manhattans, and Gimlets. They are stronger than highballs and typically are 4 oz. (120 mL) of liquid.

Stirred cocktails can be served straight up, without ice; or on the rocks, with ice. In either case, the drink is mixed with ice and then strained; drinks on the rocks are strained into a glass with fresh ice. Stirred cocktails should be strained into a glass with a stem so that they keep cold longer, especially when served straight-up; a cocktail glass is exactly this.
 

Making a Stirred Cocktail

To prepare a stirred, follow the below directions.

• Fill a 12 oz. (350 mL) shaker glass two-thirds full with ice.
• Add ingredients from smallest to largest amount, so that if you pour in too much you don't have to discard a whole drink.
• Stir very well.
• Strain the drink into a serving glass. For drinks on the rocks, strain into a glass with fresh ice; for drinks straight up, strain into an empty glass.
• Garnish as necessary.

You can add the smallest ingredient before the ice; this is recommended for drinks such as Martinis, where you have to add a very small amount of dry vermouth.

Stirred cocktails can also be prepared as shaken cocktails in many cases; this may mix the drink better, but it may also make it cloudy. Shaking can also chip or break up the ice, increasing the water content of a drink. Stirred drinks should be stirred unless the patron requests it be shaken. As a rule of thumb, drinks made entirely of clear ingredients should be stirred, while drinks containing other ingredients such as fruit juice or egg white should be shaken.
 

Stirred Cocktails
 

Martinis

• Martini
• Dry Martini
• Extra Dry Martini
• Extra Extra Dry Martini
• Gibson
• Vodka Martini
• Tequini Martini
• Black Martini
• Chocolate Martini
• Cosmopolitan
• French Martini
• Saketini

Shaken Cocktails

Shaken cocktails are similar to stirred cocktails, but have the obvious difference of using a shaking motion to combine the ingredients. Drink components are poured over ice into either a cocktail shaker or a Boston Shaker. The vessel is covered, vigorously shaken, and the resulting mixture is strained into a glass of appropriate size and shape. When preparing cocktails that contain syrups, fruit juices, or dairy (including eggs), shaking is generally preferred over stirring, as the violent action will better combine these ingredients.

Some drinkers will prefer to order a cocktail that is shaken regardless of the ingredients, the assumption being that this will result in a smoother, colder beverage. James Bond popularized the idea of a shaken cocktail on screen when he ordered a "Martini. Shaken, not stirred." Some drinkers believe that shaking cocktails will "bruise" the ingredients, meaning the liquor will be overly diluted, resulting in a flat, watery taste.

Blended Cocktails

Frozen drinks, freezes, or blended drinks all refer to drinks made by blending ice, liqueurs, and mixers. Smoothies are popular in many parts of the United States now, and in much the same fashion involve blending ice, juice, and fruit.

Almost any of these can be made virgin by simply removing the alcohol; it is recommended to blend the drinks virgin and pour into a glass with the alcohol waiting. This allows a single, large blender to be made full of the drink and served to minors and other non-drinkers as well as legal drinkers; and also allows you to avoid washing the blender if you're hammering out, say, 4 Pina Coladas for some kids, 1 for the designated driver, and 2 for a couple teachers needing a good nerve relaxant.
 

Blended Drink

Follow the below instructions when mixing a freeze. Remember to use a heavy-duty blender capable of continuously crunching through ice; most residential-quality blenders will quickly dull, wear, or break if given the task of constantly chopping ice cubes into bits and pieces. If you're going for simple preparation at home, make sure the blender you buy can handle ice; if you want to hold parties or open a bar as a small business, get a heavier duty one that can stand the workload.

• Make sure the blender is off.
• Stack the blender a quarter full of ice.
• Begin adding the mixers until the ice just begins to float.
• Put the lid on. If you're wondering what will happen if you don't, then leave the lid off.
• Make sure no hair, fingers, or clothing are trapped in the blender or anywhere they can get caught up in.
• Hold the lid down with one hand.
• Start the blender at low speed.
• After a few seconds, switch to high speed until the ingredients are well blended.
• Pour the mixed drink into the glass, over whatever alcohol is being added.

Blended Drinks
 

Coladas

• Pina Colada

Virgin Blended Drinks

• Pink Snowman

Source: wikibooks.org - the open-content textbooks collection