Food & Drink
Bartending
Three or four things in proportion, shaken cold, and the ice matters most
The tools are cheap; the bottles are where the money goes, and three or four base spirits plus a couple of liqueurs cover most of the classics. Ratios are the skeleton, and once 2:1:1 is in your head you can improvise. Ice is the underrated part: bad ice tastes like a watered-down drink. It has to be drunk immediately, so it is made for other people.
First stepBuy one spirit, lemons and simple syrup, shake a sour at 2:1:1, then make it again with a different spirit on the same ratio.
Barriers
Cost to start
$50–300
Going deep → $2k–10k
Alone or with people
On your own
Effort
Light
Without a teacher?
Self-taught
One session takes
Under 30 min
Where
At home
Why people take it up
Related guides
Try a hobby before you buy the gearStarting costs $50–300Skills
BuildsPutting taste and smell into words