The subtle art of balance

Quite like it’s the case with most things in life, balance is surprisingly crucial when it comes to making cocktails as well. Even the most trained and experienced bartenders and mixologists strive hard to get the balance in a cocktail just right. After all, if the flavours aren’t balanced, chances that your cocktail will taste good are next to none.

Understanding your ingredients, as well as the proportions to use with respect to one another, is fundamental to a successful cocktail. One also needs a sound knowledge of what complements one another.

A bartender once told me that in order to make a balanced cocktail, one must use 60 ml of a base spirit, about 22 ml of sour and about 30 ml of sweet, simple syrup (1:1 sugar and water,) or 22 ml of rich simple syrup (2:1 sugar water). And this invaluable tip has been firmly implemented in my mind.

For stirred drinks, the formula is 60 ml base spirit, 30 ml flavouring agent and three to four dashes of bitters. I agree with this and have tried it for myself; bitters can add excitement to simple drinks like a vodka tonic or balance the sour and sweet flavours of sours and fizzy drinks. They also add the requisite complexity to a drink. For example, in a Manhattan, it’s the Angostura bitters that complete it and add the necessary aroma.

One must always remember that the sugar and acidity balance in a cocktail is equally integral to its taste. When sugar overpowers acidity, the cocktail automatically seems cloying and heavy. The other way round too results in a sharp, diluted and unpleasant drink. A chocolate martini, for instance, can at times be so sweet, that the sugar actually overpowers the base spirit; the balance is naturally lost.

I personally recommend that you never exceed 25 ml for either sweet or sour. An excess of any of these will result in tilting the balance rather than maintaining it. Dry vermouth is known for its complex balance of sweetness, acidity and slight bitterness, and when combined with gin, it offers and astutely balanced cocktail.

Cocktails today are undergoing a makeover, as taste profiles of guests are rapidly changing — drinks are becoming more nuanced. Interestingly, today some bartenders are making use of vinegar in several forms to add an interesting dimension to cocktails. After all, vinegar proves to be diametrically opposite to sugar, and by cutting the sweetness of a cocktail, helps in balancing it.

A Tom Collins can be given a fruity twist and yet be perfectly balanced — vodka, lemon juice and sugar syrup. The twist could come in form of fresh strawberries, raspberry flavoured syrup and some lemonade. The addition of strawberries and raspberry liqueur, switching from soda to lemonade can bring the desired extra sweetness, thus achieving the balance.

Mini is a food writer