How to make a cocktail at home: a step-by-step guide for beginners
Quick answer: to make a cocktail at home you need a base (syrup, liqueur or spirit), ice, a glass, and one of three basic techniques — stir, shake, or top up with soda. Here's each step in more detail.
Step 1 — the base. For your first tries, start with a syrup (no alcohol) or a 15–25% liqueur — they forgive proportion mistakes far better than a 40%+ spirit. Once the basic technique feels natural, move on to gin, rum or whiskey cocktails.
Step 2 — technique. Build: pour everything straight into a glass with ice and stir — good for highballs and the simplest mixes. Shake: shake in a shaker (or a tightly sealed jar) for 10–15 seconds — for cocktails with juice or syrup, to blend and chill properly. Stir: mix with a bar spoon over ice in a mixing glass — for spirit-only cocktails like a Negroni, where you don't want extra air bubbles.
Step 3 — proportions and serving. The classic base for home cocktails: 30–45 ml of your base per 150–200 ml of liquid (tonic, soda, juice). Serve right after making it, before the ice melts and waters down the flavour.
If you'd rather not measure everything yourself, BrandBar's ready-made cocktail sets already have the recipe and proportions on the label — just add ice and, if you like, alcohol.