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<\/p>\nCopyright A Bar Above<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Table of Contents<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
What exactly is mixology<\/strong>?<\/p>\n At its simplest, it\u2019s the art and science of creating mixed drinks. But it\u2019s more than just following a recipe. Mixology involves understanding ingredients, techniques, balance, and flavor and then using that knowledge to recreate classics, develop variations, and eventually come up with cocktails of your own.<\/p>\n Think of it as combining the practical skills of bartending with some of the creative experimentation you\u2019d expect from a chef.<\/p>\n And while the word mixology<\/em> may sound fairly modern, humans have been mixing alcoholic drinks with other ingredients for a very, very long time. Cocktail culture as we know it today has evolved over centuries, shaped by everything from changing drinking habits and new ingredients to Prohibition, tropical cocktail culture, the modern craft cocktail revival, and\u2014yes\u2014even Instagram.<\/p>\n So let\u2019s look at the history of mixology<\/strong>, how it evolved, what modern mixologists actually do, and how you can develop these skills yourself.<\/p>\n (If you want to learn a lot more specifics after reading this article, check out our online mixology courses<\/a><\/strong>, too!)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Photo courtesy of DesignPickle\/stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Mixology is the study and practice of creating mixed drinks<\/strong>, with particular emphasis on understanding ingredients, flavor<\/a>, balance, technique, and cocktail development.<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t mean every drink needs smoke coming out of it or a garnish requiring its own structural engineer. A great mixologist should understand the fundamentals first: how spirits act and interact, how sweetness and acidity balance each other, what dilution does to a drink, why one cocktail should be shaken while another is stirred<\/a>, and how changing even one ingredient can affect everything else.<\/p>\n Classic cocktails provide the foundation. Once you understand why<\/em> drinks like the Manhattan<\/a>, Daiquiri<\/a>, Martini<\/a>, and Clover Club<\/a> work, you can begin experimenting with those formulas and creating something new.<\/p>\n Photo by Taylor Davidson via www.unsplash.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The words bartender<\/strong> and mixologist<\/strong> are often used interchangeably, with some people thinking \u201cmixologist\u201d is just a pretentious word that means bartender. And sure, there\u2019s quite a bit of overlap between them, but there are differences, too.<\/p>\n Traditionally, bartending<\/em><\/strong> refers to the broader profession of preparing and serving drinks while taking care of guests. A bartender\u2019s job can involve cocktail-making, customer service, taking orders, handling money, maintaining the bar, prepping ingredients, managing inventory, and doing approximately 47 other things at once when somebody walks in with a party of eight.<\/p>\n Mixology<\/strong><\/em> puts more emphasis on the drinks themselves: cocktail development, ingredients, flavor combinations, techniques, and experimentation. Being a mixologist is more akin to being a chef vs. a line cook.<\/p>\n But I don\u2019t really love treating one as somehow more prestigious than the other. An excellent bartender can have an incredible understanding of mixology, while someone who knows everything about cocktail development isn\u2019t automatically prepared to handle a busy Saturday-night bar. They\u2019re overlapping skill sets, not necessarily a hierarchy.<\/p>\n Copyright A Bar Above<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Like I mentioned, people were mixing alcoholic beverages with other ingredients thousands of years before anybody ordered a Martini<\/a>. Ancient cultures flavored fermented drinks and wines with ingredients such as herbs, spices, honey, and water for medicinal, ceremonial, and\u2014presumably\u2014because-it-tastes-better reasons.<\/p>\n But cocktail culture in the modern sense developed much later<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The word cocktail<\/em> itself famously appeared in an American newspaper definition in 1806, describing a mixture of spirits, sugar, water, and bitters.<\/p>\n Sound familiar?<\/p>\n That basic formula is essentially the blueprint for what we now recognize as an Old Fashioned<\/a>. And by the late 18th and early 19th centuries, punches<\/a>, slings<\/a>, juleps<\/a>, toddies<\/a>, flips, and other mixed drinks<\/a> had become established parts of drinking culture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Stock Photo via Dover Publications<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The 19th century was a hugely important period for American bartending. Bartenders became increasingly skilled and prominent, bars became more sophisticated, and advances in transportation and commercial ice made a wider range of ingredients and techniques available.<\/p>\n One of the most important figures from this period was Jerry Thomas<\/strong>, often called the father of American bartending. In 1862, Thomas published How to Mix Drinks; or, The Bon-Vivant\u2019s Companion<\/em>, one of the earliest and most influential American bartending guides.<\/p>\n It documented punches, juleps, cobblers, flips, sours, cocktails, and other drinks being served during the era and helped preserve techniques and recipes that otherwise could have disappeared.<\/p>\n Thomas was also known for showmanship behind the bar\u2014most famously his Blue Blazer, which involved pouring flaming whisky and water between two mugs. (Please don\u2019t interpret that as me telling you to start throwing flaming alcohol around your kitchen, but it probably looked pretty cool, if you\u2019re into that sort of thing.)<\/p>\n The later 19th and early 20th centuries gave us or helped establish many of the drinks and cocktail families we still recognize today. And because of that foundation, bartending had become a serious craft with its own techniques, terminology, tools, and celebrated professionals.<\/p>\n And then Prohibition happened.<\/p>\n Copyright A Bar Above, generated with AI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Prohibition lasted in the United States from 1920 until 1933<\/strong>, banning the manufacture, sale, and transportation of beverage alcohol at the federal level.<\/p>\n It disrupted America\u2019s established bar culture enormously<\/em>. Legal bars closed, speakeasies operated illegally, and many skilled American bartenders went abroad to continue working in cities such as London, Paris, and Havana.<\/p>\n Cocktails certainly didn\u2019t disappear during Prohibition, but the profession changed dramatically.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also a persistent romantic story that Prohibition cocktails were created primarily to disguise terrible bathtub gin. There\u2019s some<\/em> truth behind the prevalence of questionable illicit alcohol, but that explanation definitely oversimplifies the era. Many sophisticated cocktails already existed before Prohibition, and talented bartenders continued practicing their craft both inside and outside the United States.<\/p>\n And then when Prohibition ended in 1933, American cocktail culture had to rebuild.<\/p>\n Copyright A Bar Above, generated with AI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n One particularly colorful chapter was already beginning to take shape: tropical cocktail culture<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Ernest Raymond Gantt\u2014better known as Don the Beachcomber<\/strong>\u2014opened his influential Hollywood bar in the 1930s and developed elaborate rum<\/a> drinks combining multiple spirits, citrus, syrups, spices, and other ingredients.<\/p>\n Trader Vic Bergeron<\/strong> followed with his own influential restaurants and cocktails, and the two helped popularize what would eventually become known as Tiki drinks<\/a> and culture.<\/p>\n These weren\u2019t simply \u201crum plus fruit juice\u201d drinks. At their best, tropical cocktails<\/a> involved surprisingly complex layering, carefully balanced ingredients, specialized syrups<\/a>, and techniques that still influence bartenders today. (We\u2019ve seen a huge resurgence of tiki as a cocktail culture even in the last decade or so.)<\/p>\n Cocktail tastes continued changing throughout the mid-20th century, though. By the 1960s, \u201970s, and \u201980s, many classic recipes had been simplified, premade sour mixes became common (yuck), and the meticulous cocktail culture of earlier eras wasn\u2019t necessarily the norm\u2026. Which eventually set the stage for another major shift.<\/p>\n Copyright A Bar Above, generated with AI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Beginning in the late 20th century and accelerating through the 1990s and 2000s, bartenders began seriously revisiting historic cocktail books, forgotten recipes, fresh ingredients, quality spirits, and traditional techniques. This eventually became what we now generally call the craft cocktail movement<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Bartenders such as Dale DeGroff helped reintroduce fresh ingredients and classic cocktail technique to modern American bars, while later bars and bartenders continued digging into cocktail history and pushing drink development forward. Suddenly, bartenders weren\u2019t only resurrecting old recipes: They were using classic cocktail structures as starting points for completely new drinks.<\/p>\n Many cocktails developed during this era\u2014like the Cosmopolitan<\/a>, Espresso Martini<\/a>, Penicillin<\/a>, Paper Plane<\/a> (another personal favorite), and Oaxaca Old Fashioned\u2014have since become modern classics themselves.<\/p>\n That\u2019s one of my favorite things about cocktail history: It certainly isn\u2019t finished.<\/strong><\/p>\n Copyright A Bar Above<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n To really understand mixology, you need both knowledge and<\/em> practical skills. A few fundamental techniques include:<\/p>\n You\u2019ll also want a good understanding of your bar tools<\/strong>, including cocktail shakers<\/a>, jiggers<\/a>, Hawthorne and Julep strainers<\/a>, fine mesh strainers<\/a>, bar spoons<\/a>, mixing glasses<\/a>, muddlers<\/a>, citrus juicers<\/a>, and the appropriate glassware<\/a>.<\/p>\n Of course, you don\u2019t need every gadget ever invented. You just need reliable tools and enough practice that using them eventually becomes second nature. You can always add equipment as you progress in your cocktail-making skills.<\/p>\n Copyright A Bar Above<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n This is where mixology moves beyond memorizing recipes. Understanding flavor and balance<\/strong> gives you the freedom to experiment without simply throwing random ingredients into a shaker and hoping for the best.<\/p>\n Learn how sweetness interacts with acidity and bitterness. Taste spirits on their own so you understand what they\u2019re contributing to your drink. Compare different vermouths, bitters, liqueurs, citrus varieties, syrups, herbs, and spices to see how their flavor profiles not only differ from each other but how they affect your cocktail.<\/p>\n And definitely learn the basic structures<\/a> behind classic cocktails<\/strong>. Once you understand why a Daiquiri works, for example, you\u2019ll have a framework of spirit, citrus, and sweetness that you can play with. You can change the spirit. Swap the sweetener. Introduce another flavor. Adjust the ratios. Sometimes you\u2019ll make something fantastic.<\/p>\n And sometimes you\u2019ll make something that should never be discussed again. Both are useful experiences.<\/p>\n Copyright A Bar Above<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Mixology is constantly evolving, but many current innovations are really extensions of something that bartenders have always done: find new ways to manipulate flavor, texture, aroma, and presentation.<\/strong><\/p>\n Modern bartenders have access to techniques and equipment that previous generations couldn\u2019t have imagined, including clarification<\/a>, centrifuges, sous vide infusions<\/a>, carbonation systems, rotary evaporators, and other culinary and laboratory-inspired tools.<\/p>\n But innovation isn\u2019t only about fancy equipment. We\u2019re also seeing continued interest in low-<\/a> and no-alcohol cocktails<\/a><\/strong>, more thoughtful use of seasonal ingredients, creative approaches to sustainability and waste reduction, and increasing crossover between bartending, culinary techniques, coffee, fermentation, and food science.<\/p>\n Social media has also changed how quickly cocktail ideas travel. A bartender can create a drink on one side of the world and have bartenders experimenting with variations thousands of miles away almost immediately.<\/p>\n The tools and techniques may keep changing over time, but the goal of making delicious drinks definitely has not.<\/p>\n Photo by Aurelien Lemasson Theobald via www.unsplash.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n If you\u2019re interested in becoming a mixologist professionally, there isn\u2019t one required path. Start by learning the classics<\/strong><\/a>. You don\u2019t need to memorize every cocktail ever created, but understanding foundational recipes and cocktail families gives you a framework for everything else.<\/p>\n Then practice your techniques. Practice, practice, practice. Shake. Stir. Measure accurately. Learn dilution. Work with different ingredients. Taste what you\u2019re making and pay attention to why<\/em> something works\u2026 or doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n If you want professional experience, get into an actual bar environment<\/strong>. You may start as a barback<\/a>, server, or in another support position before moving behind the bar. But that\u2019s valuable experience, not wasted time. You\u2019ll learn workflow, prep, organization, hospitality,<\/a> speed, cleanliness, communication, and all the other things that are difficult to fully understand from a book or video.<\/p>\n Learn from other bartenders, too: Attend industry events, talk to people whose work you respect, read cocktail books, taste unfamiliar ingredients, and ask questions. And of course, it doesn\u2019t hurt to take a course or two\u2026<\/p>\n Copyright A Bar Above<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Formal education can also help you build those skills more efficiently. In-person bartending and mixology classes can be great if you want direct instruction, while online mixology courses<\/strong><\/a> give you the flexibility to learn and practice at home on your own schedule.<\/p>\n![\"Bartender](\"https:\/\/abarabove.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1267360-Stock-Photos-for-Bartender-Resume-article_4_122921.jpg\"\/)
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<\/p>\nWhat Is Mixology?<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nMixology vs. Bartending: What\u2019s the Difference?<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nThe Origins & History of Mixology<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nThe Golden Age of Cocktails<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nProhibition & Cocktail Culture<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nTropical Drinks & Mid-Century Cocktail Culture<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nThe Modern Craft Cocktail Revival<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\n\n
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<\/p>\nIngredients, Flavor & Cocktail Development<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nThe Future of Mixology<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nHow to Become a Mixologist<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nMixology Classes & Online Courses<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/assets.pinterest.com\/images\/pidgets\/pinit_fg_en_rect_red_28.png\"\/)