Organise your cocktail recipes and ingredients

Connect the recipe with what you have

When I started, one of my biggest frustrations was finding a cocktail I wanted to make, then reading the ingredients and realising I didn’t have them. Before a gathering now, I begin by checking what is in the bar, particularly the base spirits I know my family enjoys. That helps me work out what I need before choosing the final menu.

Keep three things distinct as you do that. Your recipe collection holds drinks you make, enjoy or want to explore. Your stock record describes what you actually have, including quantities worth checking. Your guest menu is the selection you intend to offer for a particular occasion.

A drink can stay in the collection while you look for an ingredient. Before adding it to a guest menu, check that you have enough of everything its recipe needs. That small connection between the collection and the cupboard makes it easier to turn an interesting find into something you can share.

Save a complete recipe record

Example recipe record: the IBA Daiquiri, with a note showing how to preserve a reference version.

Name

Daiquiri — IBA reference version

Ingredients and units

60 ml white Cuban rum; 20 ml fresh lime juice; 2 bar spoons superfine sugar.

Method

Combine the ingredients in a shaker and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add ice, shake, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Glassware

Chilled cocktail glass.

Ice

Ice for shaking; strain it out when serving.

Garnish

None in the referenced recipe.

Source

International Bartenders Association, Daiquiri.

Personal note

Keep this reference unchanged; save adjustments as separate variations.

Keep every ingredient’s quantity and unit with the method. If you develop a variation, record the new measures alongside the bottles you used.

Copyable recipe record

Download the blank recipe record.

Name:
Ingredients — product, quantity and unit for each:
Method — steps in order:
Glassware:
Ice — preparation and service:
Garnish:
Source — author/book/link and access date where useful:
Personal notes — what you enjoyed or want to change:
Variation of — original recipe, if applicable:

Make your own versions easy to recognise

Experimenting with flavours, tastes and textures is what made me fall in love with making cocktails. Trying different ingredients and proportions was part of the enjoyment. When you find a combination you want to make again, give that success a clear record.

Keep an original recipe and your changes side by side. A note such as “less sweet” is a memory; a separate record of what you actually changed lets you repeat it. Include the particular bottle when its character matters to the result.

Use a few labels that help you find drinks: main ingredient, style, method and whether you have tried it. “Want to try”, “tried” and “house favourite” may be enough.

Check quantities against the occasion

If four planned serves each require 25 ml, those serves need 4 × 25 ml = 100 ml of that ingredient. Add any other selected drinks that use it before comparing the total with what you have.

Check the actual contents as well as your record. Separate fresh shopping for the gathering from longer-term additions you would like for the collection. Follow individual products’ storage instructions rather than assuming everything belongs on the same shelf.

Choose a menu, then leave a useful note

Pull a small selection from the collection for the evening. Afterwards, note a favourite, an adjustment or an ingredient you ran short of. Those details help the collection become yours.

• Complete measures, units, method and presentation recorded.
• Original source retained and variations clearly identified.
• Physical supplies checked against the chosen menu.
• Shopping gaps and notes for next time recorded.

Continue with Planning a cocktail menu or Preparing before guests arrive.